Stocks faced a decline on Tuesday following unexpectedly strong September retail sales, leading to higher bond yields.

Simultaneously, the earnings season is gaining momentum, featuring prominent players in the banking, pharmaceutical, defense, and airline sectors. Prior to the market opening, three banks - Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Bank of New York Mellon - exceeded Wall Street's expectations with their financial results.

Pharmaceutical leader Johnson & Johnson, in its maiden earnings since spinning out Kenvue, also surpassed forecasts. In an early report, defense contractor Lockheed Martin delivered a robust quarter, coinciding with increased global tensions and turmoil in the Middle East.

As of 11:39 AM ET, the Dow was up 68.7109 points, or 0.2022%, at $34053.25. The Nasdaq Composite lost -35.4727 points, or -0.2338%, at $15137.26. The S&P 500 rose 5.5601 points, or 0.1271%, at $4379.19. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 11 showed positive movement, with Materials leading the way with a 1.66% increase.

Top Movers: Under $10

SciSparc Ltd (SPRC) is up 151.25% today to trade at the current level of $7.06. This comes after the company regained Nasdaq listing compliance.

Assembly Biosciences Inc (ASMB) zoomed 84.57% in today’s trade to $1.34 on the news of a 12-year partnership with Gilead Sciences (GILD) to develop novel antiviral treatments, starting with herpesviruses, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis D (HDV).

In current trading, Microbot Medical Inc (MBOT) stock is at $1.56 after announcing the successful initial outcomes of using the LIBERTY Robotic Surgical System in its pivotal pre-clinical study.

Cyngn Inc (CYN) rose 10.22% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.40. The company declared the issuance of a new patent, US-11767034-B2, for the Company's autonomous vehicle and driving solutions.

In the current trading session, Nkarta Inc (NKTX) jumped 27.36% to $1.88 over a previous close of $1.48 following the announcement of FDA clearance for the IND application of NKX019, Nkarta, Inc.'s innovative CAR NK cell therapy for lupus nephritis treatment.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

ArrowMark Financial Corp. (BANX) is about to trade ex-dividend Thursday, meaning that investors who buy the stock after Thursday will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.42 per share. The company has fixed October 20 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on October 27. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.80 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, BANX has a trailing yield of 10.14% on the current stock price of $17.74.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends Thursday is First Busey Corp. (BUSE), having a market capitalization of $1.10B. It will pay a dividend of $0.24 per share, the payment date of which is October 27. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 4.86%.

Shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL) will be the talk of stock market on Wednesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $1.3 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $5.24 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that CBRL has a trailing yield of 7.36% on the current share price of $71.12.

CRH Plc (CRH) is also set to go ex-dividend Thursday. The next dividend payment from CRH will amount to $0.19 per share. October 20 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for November 22. In the previous year, CRH distributed a total of $1.39 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for CRH stands at 2.38% based on the current stock price of $58.33.

Eagle Bancorp Inc (MD) (EGBN) will be paying out a dividend of $0.45 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of October 20. Over the past 12 months, EGBN has paid out a total of $1.80 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, EGBN boasts an impressive trailing yield of 8.81% on the current share price of $20.42.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Bluebird bio Inc (BLUE) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 22.54% 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 5.8. This represents a change of -4930000 shares, which corresponds to a -16.98% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $67.99 million. The average daily volume stands at 4.09M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $301.06M.

The Sunrun Inc with the symbol RUN currently has a short interest of 22.34%. The short interest has changed by 7340000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.8. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $601.04 million. On an average day, 10.19M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $2.69B.

For the stock AST SpaceMobile Inc (ASTS), the current short interest is at 24.92%. This represents a significant short interest change of 2380000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +13.79%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 10.8. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $64.42 million.

The stock ABR has a current short interest of 21.82%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -6.61% while there was a change of -2880000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 13.0. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $264.34 million. Trading activity averages at 3.12M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $2.74B.

EV Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Kandi Technologies Group Inc (KNDI) emerges as a high-quality stock in the EV industry, attaining an impressive score of 53.0. The stock's financial strength are strong. However, its profitability are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, performance, growth, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Alphabet Inc (GOOG) as a high-quality EV stock today, presenting a Score of 54.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak value. The performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Magna International Inc. (MGA) has the ST Score of 54.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, and Piotroski Score but weak in growth, and financial strength. Value, performance, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

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

Baidu Inc ADR (BIDU) currently has the ST Score of 51.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The EV stock's strong points are its profitability, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth, and financial strength. The stock's value, performance, stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.