Midday Market Rundown: Upcoming IPOs & Undervalued $10 Opportunities

Stocks moved lower on Monday as 2024 nears its conclusion, potentially putting a muted finish on what has been a standout year for markets. The decline lacked a clear news catalyst, and trading activity was light due to the holiday-shortened week.

As of 11:40 AM ET, the Dow was down -368.96 points, or -0.8582%, at $42623.26. The Nasdaq Composite lost -303.7 points, or -1.4143%, at $21169.3125. The S&P 500 declined -56.65 points, or -0.9488%, at $5914.2. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed negative movement, with Consumer Defensive leading the way with a -1.09% decrease.

Despite Monday’s dip, the major averages remain on track for an impressive 2024. The S&P 500 is up over 23%, the Dow has gained 12%, and the Nasdaq has surged more than 29%, marking the best annual performance for the indices since 2021.

The week’s economic calendar is sparse, with markets closed Wednesday for New Year’s Day. On Monday, the Chicago purchasing managers index for December came in below expectations at 36.9, missing the 42.2 forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

Top Movers: Under $10

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc (FFIE) is up 47.73% today to trade at the current level of $2.60. This comes after the company announced that Luke Hans, a prominent entrepreneur and leader in the Los Angeles Chinese community, will take delivery of his new FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance EV in January 2025 during a delivery ceremony with FF executives.

Vincerx Pharma Inc (VINC) zoomed 89.90% in today’s trade to $0.37 after announcing that it has entered into a binding term sheet for a proposed merger with Oqory, Inc., a privately-held, clinical-stage company developing ADCs for the treatment of multiple oncology indications.

In current trading, Castellum Inc (CTM) stock is at $2.44 following the announcement of pricing of $3.7 million public offering of common stock.

MicroCloud Hologram Inc (HOLO) rose 66.87% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $4.01 following the announcement of its groundbreaking development of Semiconductor Quantum Dot Hole Spin Qubit Technology, marking a major advancement in the field of quantum computing.

In the current trading session, SMX (Security Matters) Plc (SMX) jumped 61.20% to $0.57 over a previous close of $0.35. The company reported that it is redefining ethical sourcing, KYC, and data security in a tech-driven world of fashion and electronics.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Deere & Co (DE) 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 $1.62 per share. It has fixed December 31 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on February 10. Last year, the company distributed a total of $5.88 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, DE has a trailing yield of 1.38% on the current stock price of $424.59.

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) will be the talk of stock market on Tuesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.37 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.42 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that FITB has a trailing yield of 3.33% on the current share price of $42.63.

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (HST) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from HST will amount to $0.3 per share. December 31 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for January 15. In the previous year, HST distributed a total of $0.80 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for HST stands at 4.51% based on the current stock price of $17.75.

MFA Financial Inc (MFA) 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 31. Over the past 12 months, MFA has paid out a total of $1.40 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, MFA boasts an impressive trailing yield of 13.65% on the current share price of $10.26.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Agentic AI platform ai16z is considering launching its own layer-1 blockchain as part of a major tokenomics overhaul.

• MicroStrategy has acquired 2,138 Bitcoin for $209 million, increasing its total holdings of the cryptocurrency.

• The Hanoi City Police Department in Vietnam stopped 300 potential victims from falling for a crypto scam, which had already defrauded 30 billion VND ($1.17 million) from 100 businesses and 400 individuals.

• Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC) has ordered cryptocurrency exchange Bybit to cease operations, accusing it of operating an unregistered digital asset exchange.

• A Hong Kong legislator is pushing for the inclusion of Bitcoin in China's national reserves for financial security, leveraging the "one country, two systems" policy.

Most Shorted Stocks

Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 29.29% 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 7.2. This represents a change of -3580000 shares, which corresponds to a -8.18% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $139.42 million. The average daily volume stands at 5.61M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.03B.

The Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc with the symbol SPCE currently has a short interest of 28.00%. The short interest has changed by 740000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.5 Days to Cover. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $44.48 million. On an average day, 1.72M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $165.95M.

For the stock Coherus Biosciences Inc (CHRS), the current short interest is at 26.97%. This represents a significant short interest change of 350000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +1.14%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 6.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $46.92 million.

With the symbol LOVE, the stock currently has a short interest of 27.47%. The short interest change is -70000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -1.80%. It would take approximately 10.7 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $734.81 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 361.38K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $356.04M.

The stock OPK has a current short interest of 27.42%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -13.97% while there was a change of -13770000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 21.5 Days to Cover. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $5.56 million. Trading activity averages at 3.91M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $966.88M.

Upcoming IPOs

FBS Global Limited (FBGL) will be entering the market with its IPO on January 07, on the NASDAQ exchange. They are offering shares in the price range of $4.50 to $5.00. They plan to offer 2,250,000 shares, targeting a deal size of $10.69M.

Cortigent, Inc. (CRGT) is also scheduled to make its debut on the NASDAQ exchange on January 08. The shares will be offered at a fixed price of $10.00 per share. The IPO includes 1,500,000 shares, aiming for a deal size of $15.00M.

Decent Holding Inc. (DXST) is set to join the NASDAQ on January 10. They are offering shares in the price range of $4.00 to $4.50. They are offering 1,500,000 shares, with an estimated deal size of $6.38M.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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