Politics, Profits & Parabolic Stocks — This Market Is Wild 🎢📉

U.S. stocks fell modestly on Friday after President Donald Trump signaled that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett may not be selected as the next Federal Reserve chair.

The S&P 500 declined 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 140 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. 

The pullback came despite recent strength in chip stocks and follows a volatile week marked by political and geopolitical uncertainty, with the S&P 500 down roughly 0.5% for the week, the Dow off 0.3%, and the Nasdaq lower by about 0.8%.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Jeffs Brands Ltd (JFBR) is up 185.93% today to trade at the current level of $1.59. This comes after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, KeepZone AI Inc., has signed a non-exclusive distribution agreement with STI Ltd., an Israeli homeland security technology developer.

Locafy Limited (LCFY) zoomed 67.41% in today’s trade to $5.24 after announcing the formal expansion of its partnership with Experience.com, under which Experience will sell Locafy’s Localizer product across the United States.

In current trading, TNL Mediagene (TNMG) stock is at $3.4 after Benchmark analyst Fawne Jiang reaffirmed a "Speculative Buy" rating and raised the price target for TNMG from $3.50 to $14.

ImmunityBio Inc (IBRX) rose 26.33% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $4.99 after announcing updated efficacy and safety results from the ongoing QUILT-106 clinical study evaluating an off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapy.

In the current trading session, Profusa Inc (PFSA) jumped 16.55% to $0.11 over a previous close of $0.1 after announcing the launch of its Healthcare Research version of the Lumee tissue oxygen monitoring into the contract research organizations (CRO) market.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

APA Corporation (APA) 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 $0.25 per share. It has fixed January 22 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on February 23. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.00 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, APA has a trailing yield of 3.90% on the current stock price of $25.62.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends on January 23 is First Busey Corp (BUSE), having a market capitalization of $2.19B. It will pay a dividend of $0.26 per share, the payment date of which is January 30. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 4.04%.

Shares of Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc (COKE) will be the talk of the stock market on January 23 as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.25 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.00 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that COKE has a trailing yield of 0.67% on the current share price of $148.41.

Gladstone Capital Corp (GLAD) is also set to go ex-dividend on January 23. The next dividend payment from GLAD will amount to $0.15 per share. December 22 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for December 31. In the previous year, GLAD distributed a total of $1.93 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for GLAD stands at 9.09% based on the current stock price of $21.19.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp (KALU) will be paying out a dividend of $0.77 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of January 23. Over the past 12 months, KALU has paid out a total of $3.08 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, KALU boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.38% on the current share price of $129.56.

Crypto Market Highlights

• A Telegram-based escrow service tied to an illicit online marketplace is shutting down after refunding over $130 million in stablecoins, potentially disrupting a major hub for crypto scams.

• Jefferies’ Greed & Fear strategist Christopher Wood has dropped a 10% Bitcoin allocation in favor of gold, citing concerns over quantum computing risks to BTC, according to Bloomberg.

• Google is updating crypto app requirements in South Korea, a change that could sharply limit access to offshore exchanges by linking app availability to local regulatory approval.

• Moldova aims to pass its first comprehensive cryptocurrency law by the end of 2026, aligning national rules with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, per Finance Minister Andrian Gavrilita.

• Polygon Labs has laid off staff as it pivots to a payments-focused strategy centered on stablecoins and its “Open Money Stack,” shortly after announcing up to $250 million in acquisitions, including Coinme and Sequence.

Most Shorted Stocks

Cardiff Oncology Inc (CRDF) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 25.18% 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 14.4. This represents a change of -481170 shares, which corresponds to a -2.98% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $43.83 million. The average daily volume stands at 892.36K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $188.88M.

The Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc with the symbol SPCE currently has a short interest of 26.27%. The short interest has changed by 463042 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 2.5. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $47.46 million. On an average day, 4.38M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $230.06M.

For the stock Brand Engagement Network Inc (BNAI), the current short interest is at 36.84%. This represents a significant short interest change of 1101557 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of 856.01%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 0.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $8.43 million.

With the symbol HYPD, the stock currently has a short interest of 25.56%. The short interest change is -73967 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -3.82%. It would take approximately 6.8 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $4.08 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 348.93K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $27.09M.

The stock CMBM has a current short interest of 21.03%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -10.01% while there was a change of -282132 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 4.8. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $2.9 million. Trading activity averages at 16.37M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $44.13M.

Energy Stock to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Delek Logistics Partners LP (DKL) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 54. The stock's performance, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of profitability, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Dynagas LNG Partners LP (DLNG) as a high-quality Energy stock today, presenting a Score of 50. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak growth, and financial strength. The performance, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, DHT Holdings Inc (DHT) has the ST Score of 59, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, but weak in growth. Stock sentiment, and forecasts suggest a neutral outlook.

Torm Plc (TRMD) stock has the ST Score of 60, which implies that the Energy company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Scorpio Tankers Inc (STNG) currently has the ST Score of 61, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth. The stock's stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

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

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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