Dear Readers,

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks climbed while awaiting the Federal Reserve's new policy announcement. The Fed is expected to maintain the current overnight borrowing rate between 5.25% to 5.5%, yet investors eagerly anticipate cues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on potential future rate cuts. Market indicators suggest the likelihood of rate reductions starting next spring according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

However, Powell might resist this notion, especially with Treasury yields recently declining. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 4.2% from its peak of 5% in October. Ahead of the decision, traders analyzed the latest inflation figures; the producer price index remained unchanged in November following a 0.4% drop in October, contrary to economists' expectations of a 0.1% increase.

Investors saw gains from a fourth consecutive positive trading session, driving the Dow and S&P 500 to their highest intraday levels since January 2022. Similarly, the Nasdaq Composite reached its peak since April 2022.

As of 11:53 AM ET, the Dow was up 13.3594 points, or 0.0365%, at $36591.3. The Nasdaq Composite added 26.6152 points, or 0.1627%, at $16380.862. The S&P 500 rose 5.5698 points, or 0.1199%, at $4649.27. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 7 showed positive movement, with Health Care leading the way with a 0.66% increase.

Top Movers: Under $10

Shattuck Labs Inc (STTK) is up 90.05% today to trade at the current level of $4.01. This comes after the company announced initial topline dose-expansion data from its ongoing Phase 1A/B clinical trial of SL-172154 in combination with AZA in frontline HR-MDS and TP53m AML patients.

LQR House Inc (LQR) zoomed 42.64% in today’s trade to $1.84 after announcing its new marketing campaign for Soda Jerk.

In current trading, SciSparc Ltd (SPRC) stock is at $6.08 after releasing positive results for MitoCareX Bio with its Drug Discovery Platform.

Eos Energy Enterprises Inc (EOSE) rose 22.70% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.37. The company announced that Eos and Pine Gate Renewables, have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand their existing partnership with a minimum additional volume of 500MWh.

In the current trading session, Adc Therapeutics SA (ADCT) jumped 27.18% to $1.31 over a previous close of $1.03 after declaring initial results from an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating ZYNLONTA® (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) in combination with rituximab demonstrated a high response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) follicular lymphoma (FL).

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) 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 $0.75 per share. The company has fixed December 15 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on December 28. Last year, the company distributed a total of $3.08 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, GILD has a trailing yield of 3.79% on the current stock price of $81.32.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is KBR Inc (KBR), having a market capitalization of $7.29B. It will pay a dividend of $0.14 per share, the payment date of which is January 16. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 0.92%.

Shares of Merck & Co Inc (MRK) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.77 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $2.70 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that MRK has a trailing yield of 2.56% on the current share price of $105.43.

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from ALB will amount to $0.4 per share. December 15 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for January 02. In the previous year, ALB distributed a total of $1.62 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for ALB stands at 1.21% based on the current stock price of $133.25.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) will be paying out a dividend of $0.35 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of December 15. Over the past 12 months, TMO has paid out a total of $1.37 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, TMO boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.27% on the current share price of $501.66.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Guess Inc. (GES) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 39.92% 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 8.7. This represents a change of 160000 shares, which corresponds to a +1.92% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $188.76 million. The average daily volume stands at 956.67K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.20B.

The Ebix Inc. with the symbol EBIX currently has a short interest of 39.22%. The short interest has changed by -2780000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.4. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $41.94 million. On an average day, 2.19M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $136.27M.

For the stock Novavax, Inc. (NVAX), the current short interest is at 36.29%. This represents a significant short interest change of 1960000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +4.76%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 5.6. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $228.91 million.

With the symbol FSR, the stock currently has a short interest of 21.98%. The short interest change is -17450000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -18.47%. It would take approximately 5.5 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $62.08 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 14.41M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $504.81M.

The stock GCT has a current short interest of 36.44%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -10.39% while there was a change of -240000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 2.3. Trading activity averages at 857.32K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $575.53M.

AI Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM) emerges as a high-quality stock in the AI industry, attaining an impressive score of 62.0. The stock's profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its growth are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 62.0. 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, Vertiv Holdings Co (VRT) has the ST Score of 62.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, growth, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score but weak in value, and financial strength. Forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Adobe Inc (ADBE) stock has the ST Score of 60.0 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its value. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, financial strength, and forecast.

AdTheorent Holding Company Inc (ADTH) currently has the ST Score of 60.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its profitability, financial strength, and stock sentiment, while its weak points are its performance, and growth. The stock's value, Piotroski Score, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.