Dear Readers,

Stocks experienced a slight decline on Friday, although the major averages were set for a successful week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average poised for its strongest performance of the year. 

Market optimism was boosted by this week's Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank opted to keep rates steady. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks indicated that rate cuts are still on the horizon, despite recent concerns about high inflation.

Thursday saw all major indexes closing at record highs for the second consecutive day, reaching new intraday peaks. It marked the fourth consecutive winning session for the three indexes, with the Dow nearing the 40,000 mark.

As of 12:11 PM ET, the Dow was down -196.78 points, or -0.4947%, at $39584.6. The Nasdaq Composite lost -0.4297 points, or -0.0023%, at $18319.945. The S&P 500 declined -5.63 points, or -0.1074%, at $5235.91. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 9 showed negative movement, with Real Estate leading the way with a 0.61% decrease.

Top Movers: Under $10

Ontrak Inc (OTRK) is up 59.19% today to trade at the current level of $0.41. This comes after the company announced the launch of its Ontrak Advanced Engagement System.

Intellicheck Inc (IDN) zoomed 34.29% in today’s trade to $2.35 after announcing fourth quarter and full-year 2023 financial results.

In current trading, Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC) stock is at $6.04. The company is celebrating the German government's final approval legalizing cannabis, as well as advancing a clear victory for enhanced medical cannabis access.

Outlook Therapeutics Inc (OTLK) rose 26.24% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $8.89 following the receipt of European Union positive CHMP opinion for ONS-5010 as a treatment for Wet AMD.

In the current trading session, Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd ADR (FRSX) jumped 15.31% to $1.13 over a previous close of $0.98 after its wholly owned subsidiary Eye-Net Mobile Ltd. announced that SoftBank Corp. will collaborate with its business partners to initiate commercial validation efforts of Eye-Net's products in Japan following the successful completion of Eye-Net’s technology validation.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc (ASO) is about to trade ex-dividend Monday, 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 $0.11 per share. It has fixed March 26 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on April 18. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.36 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, ASO has a trailing yield of 0.56% on the current stock price of $63.79.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends on Monday is Trxade Health Inc (MEDS), having a market capitalization of $29.26M. It will pay a dividend of $8 per share, the payment date of which is March 22.

Shares of SIGA Technologies Inc (SIGA) will be the talk of stock market on Monday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.6 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.00 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that SIGA has a trailing yield of 0.00% on the current share price of $8.62.

International Game Technology PLC (IGT) is also set to go ex-dividend on Monday. The next dividend payment from IGT will amount to $0.2 per share. March 26 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for April 09. In the previous year, IGT distributed a total of $0.60 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for IGT stands at 2.78% based on the current stock price of $21.56.

Cato Corp. (CATO) 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 March 26. Over the past 12 months, CATO has paid out a total of $0.51 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, CATO boasts an impressive trailing yield of 9.03% on the current share price of $5.65.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Supreme Court of Montenegro postpones extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to South Korea pending decision on prosecutors' request.

• Worldcoin Foundation open-sources components of iris-scanning Orbs software.

• Solana blockchain predicted to surpass Ethereum in consumer applications by Colosseum co-founder.

• Avalanche Foundation launches liquidity mining program to boost memecoins within its ecosystem.

• WisdomTree granted a charter by NYDFS to operate as limited-purpose trust company.

• Kenya rejects US government request to lift suspension on Worldcoin cryptocurrency project.

Most Shorted Stocks

Lucid Group Inc (LCID) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 29.73% 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 6.1. This represents a change of -2440000 shares, which corresponds to a -0.96% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $707.08 million. The average daily volume stands at 36.89M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $6.46B.

The Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc with the symbol RXRX currently has a short interest of 29.22%. The short interest has changed by 4580000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 6.4. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $453.46 million. On an average day, 7.18M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $2.29B.

For the stock Kohl's Corp. (KSS), the current short interest is at 25.51%. This represents a significant short interest change of -1,880,000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of 6.35%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 5.3. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $50.49 million.

With the symbol TGTX, the stock currently has a short interest of 25.04%. The short interest change is -940000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of -2.63%. It would take approximately 6.7 days to cover all the short positions. The company boasts an average daily volume of 4.80M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $2.38B.

The stock SIRI has a current short interest of 24.43%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -4.48% while there was a change of -7120000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 11.1. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $135.53 million. Trading activity averages at 13.56M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $14.95B.

Energy Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Navigator Holdings Ltd (NVGS) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 58.0. The stock's valuation, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its profitability are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of performance, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies PBF Energy Inc (PBF) as a high-quality Energy stock today, presenting a Score of 58.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of valuation, profitability, and financial strength. However, it has weak growth. The performance, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Gulfport Energy Corp. (GPOR) has the ST Score of 59.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, growth, and stock sentiment. Value, performance, financial strength, piotroski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TNP) stock has the ST Score of 61.0 which implies that the Energy company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its valuation, profitability, growth, and financial strength. However, it shows neutral outlook in performance, stock sentiment, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Enerplus Corporation (ERF) currently has the ST Score of 55.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its profitability, and stock sentiment. The stock's value, performance, growth, financial strength, Piotroski Score, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

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