Dear Readers,

The S&P 500 surged on Thursday in an effort to break a three-day decline, as traders anticipated Friday's crucial jobs report.

Investor attention centered on the job market this week, marked by a mix of data releases. Thursday's weekly jobless claims fell below economist predictions, and continuing jobless claims decreased, suggesting no uptick in layoffs. Despite the Federal Reserve's attempts to curb inflation, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield rose, reflecting concerns over labor market strength.

Wednesday's private payrolls data revealed fewer job additions than economists had expected. Additionally, October's job openings hit their lowest point since March 2021, as per the Labor Department's Tuesday release.

These contrasting signals left traders in uncertainty leading up to the anticipated highlight: Friday's official jobs report. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones anticipate an addition of 190,000 jobs in November, an improvement from the previous month. Investors are keen for signs of a labor market slowdown, which could align with the Federal Reserve's decision to pause interest rate hikes.

As of 11:45 AM ET, the Dow was up 25.1289 points, or 0.0697%, at $36079.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 203.6377 points, or 1.2898%, at $15991.686. The S&P 500 rose 31.3301 points, or 0.6887%, at $4580.67. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 7 showed positive movement, with Communication Services leading the way with a 1.12% increase.

Top Movers: Under $10

Save Foods Inc (SVFD) is up 120.58% today to trade at the current level of $4.74. This comes after its entry into carbon credits and greenhouse gas markets, securing a majority stake in Nitrousink Ltd.

Cyngn Inc (CYN) zoomed 105.00% in today’s trade to $0.50 after announcing the issuance of a new patent, US-11,837,089-B2, for the Company's autonomous vehicle (AV) and driving solutions.

In current trading, Satellogic Inc (SATL) stock is at $1.88 after announcing a collaboration agreement with Uzma, a leading energy and technology company, aimed to evolve the landscape of satellite imagery capabilities and geospatial services in Southeast Asia.

Lilium N.V (LILM) rose 21.62% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.35 following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore a strategic partnership on electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft operation in Europe.

In the current trading session, Jetblue Airways Corp (JBLU) jumped 14.32% to $5.41 over a previous close of $4.73 after lifting its outlook for fourth-quarter sales.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Walt Disney Co (DIS) 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 $0.3 per share. The company has fixed December 11 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on January 10. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.33 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, DIS has a trailing yield of 0.35% on the current stock price of $92.96.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Fedex Corp (FDX), having a market capitalization of $67.35B. It will pay a dividend of $1.26 per share, the payment date of which is January 02. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.88%.

Shares of VF Corp. (VFC) will be the talk of stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.09 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $0.78 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that VFC has a trailing yield of 4.26% on the current share price of $18.30.

Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from CMP will amount to $0.15 per share. December 11 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for December 20. In the previous year, CMP distributed a total of $0.48 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for CMP stands at 1.94% based on the current stock price of $24.72.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) will be paying out a dividend of $0.17 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of December 11. Over the past 12 months, HOG has paid out a total of $0.66 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, HOG boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.05% on the current share price of $32.13.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 28.36% 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 12.2. This represents a change of 5640000 shares, which corresponds to a +3.30% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $816.49 million. The average daily volume stands at 14.72M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $17.76B.

The Beauty Health Company with the symbol SKIN currently has a short interest of 27.43%. The short interest has changed by -1330000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 5.1. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $73.29 million. On an average day, 5.60M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $405.62M.

With the symbol SCPH, the stock currently has a short interest of 27.98%. The short interest change is 60000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +0.92%. It would take approximately 27.8 days to cover all the short positions. The company boasts an average daily volume of 332.98K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $204.04M.

The stock PLUG has a current short interest of 27.73%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +3.35% while there was a change of 4840000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 5.4. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $26.69 million. Trading activity averages at 31.16M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $2.45B.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Immuron Limited ADR (IMRN) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 60.0. The stock's performance, financial strength, and stock sentiment are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, profitability, growth, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LGND) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 66.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak value. The growth, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Zymeworks BC Inc (ZYME) has the ST Score of 66.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in valuation, profitability, performance, and stock sentiment. Growth, financial strength, piotroski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

MEI Pharma Inc (MEIP) stock has the ST Score of 65.0 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its valuation, profitability, performance, and stock sentiment. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, financial strength, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc (VNDA) currently has the ST Score of 63.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its valuation, profitability, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its performance, and growth. The stock's forecast indicate a neutral outlook.