Dear Readers,

On Thursday, there was a downtick in U.S. stock futures as Wall Street's momentum decreased and interest rates increased slightly.

As of 12:13 PM ET, the Dow was up 162.5313 points, or 0.4162%, at $39218.92. The Nasdaq Composite lost -4.52 points, or -0.02%, at $18080.4923. The S&P 500 rose 13.63 points, or 0.2627%, at $5201.29. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed positive movement, with Utilities leading the way with a 1.78% increase.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note surpassed the significant 4.5% level, while the yields on the shorter-term 2-year note also experienced a rise. This has kept investors keenly observant of Treasury yields, amidst lingering questions about potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Investors' focus will now shift to the upcoming quarterly earnings announcements from Warner Bros. Discovery and Akamai Technologies, scheduled for release on Thursday.

Top Movers: Under $10

Pop Culture Group Co Ltd (CPOP) is up 68.22% today to trade at the current level of $2.86. This comes after the company announced an improvement in overall operations during the six months that ended December 31, 2023.

Safe and Green Development Corp (SGD) zoomed 43.55% in today’s trade to $0.89 after announcing its partnership with Affiliated Services Group (ASG) to offer mortgage banking related services on its innovative Xene platform across 49 states in the U.S.

In current trading, CareCloud Inc (CCLD) stock is at $1.32 following the announcement from the company that it has retained Citizens JMP as its exclusive capital structure advisor.

Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc (GWAV) rose 23.92% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.07.The company reported that it is expecting to generate revenues exceeding $40 million during the year ended December 31, 2024.

In the current trading session, Bluebird bio Inc (BLUE) jumped 20.05% to $1.17 over a previous close of $0.97 after reporting Q1 2024 results

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Apple Inc (AAPL) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.25 per share. It has fixed May 13 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on May 16. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.96 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, AAPL has a trailing yield of 0.52% on the current stock price of $183.68.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), having a market capitalization of $54.47B. It will pay a dividend of $0.6 per share, the payment date of which is May 24. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.68%.

Shares of Conoco Phillips (COP) will be the talk of the stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.78 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $2.17 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that COP has a trailing yield of 1.75% on the current share price of $123.68.

Tomorrow, United States Steel Corp. (X) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from X will amount to $0.05 per share. May 13 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for June 12. In the previous year, X distributed a total of $0.15 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for X stands at 0.39% based on the current stock price of $38.19.

Welltower Inc. (WELL) will be paying out a dividend of $0.61 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of May 13. Over the past 12 months, WELL has paid out a total of $2.44 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, WELL boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.49% on the current share price of $97.98.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Ethereum's Ether supply no longer deflationary post-Dencun upgrade, increasing to 120.1 million from 120 million pre-upgrade.

• Tether exec hails tokenized fiat as a major financial innovation, promising new global finance mechanisms.

• Taiwan proposes AML regulation amendments, targeting virtual asset service providers with potential jail terms and fines.

• Binance refutes DWF Labs market manipulation allegations, amid claims of $300 million wash trading.

• Emart24 partners with Bithumb for Bitcoin "meal box" purchase in South Korean stores.

• Nexo allocates $12.5 million worth of NEXO tokens to users in the crypto lending protocol.

Most Shorted Stocks

Microvision Inc. (MVIS) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 25.12% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 22.6. This represents a change of 4040000 shares, which corresponds to a +8.46% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $83.35 million. The average daily volume stands at 2.23M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $331.57M.

The Spirit Airlines Inc with the symbol SAVE currently has a short interest of 25.44%. The short interest has changed by 1520000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 2.8. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $101.15 million. On an average day, 6.70M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $401.73M.

With the symbol SPCE, the stock currently has a short interest of 24.71%. The short interest change is 5140000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +5.49%. It would take approximately 8.1 days to cover all the short positions. The company boasts an average daily volume of 14.96M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $417.47M.

The stock CNK has a current short interest of 27.32%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +6.20% while there was a change of 1730000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 9.4. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $1.71 billion. Trading activity averages at 3.17M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $2.10B.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Protagonist Therapeutics Inc (PTGX) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 59.0. The stock's profitability, financial strength, and stock sentiment are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, performance, growth, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Incyte Corp. (INCY) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 61.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of valuation, profitability, and growth. The performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Corcept Therapeutics Inc (CORT) has the ST Score of 58.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, and Piotroski Score but weak in value. Performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Ocuphire Pharma Inc (OCUP) stock has the ST Score of 53.0 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its valuation, profitability, growth, and financial strength, but its weaknesses are in its Piotroski Score. However, it shows a neutral outlook in performance, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Immuron Limited ADR (IMRN) currently has the ST Score of 54.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its performance, and financial strength, while its weak points are its Piotroski Score. The stock's value, profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.