Dear Readers,

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks experienced a rise, with technology stocks bouncing back following consecutive sessions of losses on Wall Street.

CrowdStrike surged by over 17% due to surpassing expectations in both revenue and earnings for the latest quarter, coupled with a robust outlook. Palantir also saw a rise of more than 4% after securing a significant contract with the army.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in prepared remarks for his Capitol Hill appearances, hinted at the possibility of interest rate cuts later this year. However, Powell emphasized that the Fed is not immediately inclined to reduce borrowing costs.

Despite the rally in technology stocks, Nordstrom experienced a sharp decline of over 13% after warning of potential sales decreases in 2024. Another retailer, Foot Locker, saw a staggering drop of more than 24% due to disappointing guidance for full-year earnings.

The day's trading activity provided some relief after two consecutive days of declines in the three major stock indexes.

As of 11:54 AM ET, the Dow was up 252.08 points, or 0.6533%, at $38837.28. The Nasdaq Composite added 191.0547 points, or 1.0675%, at $18088.922. The S&P 500 rose 43.32 points, or 0.853%, at $5121.96. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 9 showed positive movement, with Health Care leading the way with a 0.58% increase.

Top Movers: Under $10

Aptorum Group Ltd (APM) is up 600.64% today to trade at the current level of $10.16. This comes after the company entered into an agreement and plan of merger with YOOV Group Holding Ltd and a split-off agreement to separate its legacy business.

BiomX Inc (PHGE) zoomed 153.14% in today’s trade to $0.58 after announcing merger agreement with Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and concurrent $50 million financing.

In current trading, Rail Vision Ltd (RVSN) stock is at $3.18. The company has announced the first commercial installation of its AI-driven Main Line Systems in a national railways line.

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (WVE) rose 34.93% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $6.46 following the release of its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023.

In the current trading session, Nexalin Technology Inc (NXL) jumped 55.30% to $0.54 over a previous close of $0.35 after announcing positive results of a clinical study of its Gen-2 tACS device (“tACS”) for the treatment of chronic insomnia.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

PPL Corp (PPL) 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 $0.26 per share. It has fixed March 08 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on April 01. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.96 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, PPL has a trailing yield of 3.55% on the current stock price of $27.02.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Noble Corp Plc (NE), having a market capitalization of $6.02B. It will pay a dividend of $0.4 per share, the payment date of which is March 21. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 1.59%.

Shares of Kraft Heinz Co (KHC) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.4 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.60 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that KHC has a trailing yield of 4.53% on the current share price of $35.35.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from OXY will amount to $0.22 per share. March 08 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for April 15. In the previous year, OXY distributed a total of $0.72 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for OXY stands at 1.18% based on the current stock price of $61.27.

Rio Tinto plc ADR (RIO) will be paying out a dividend of $2.58 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of March 08. Over the past 12 months, RIO has paid out a total of $4.02 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, RIO boasts an impressive trailing yield of 6.19% on the current share price of $64.98.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

C3.ai Inc (AI) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 28.81% 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 3.9. This represents a change of -4800000 shares, which corresponds to a -12.20% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $1.12 billion. The average daily volume stands at 10.03M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $3.87B.

The Medical Properties Trust Inc with the symbol MPW currently has a short interest of 32.94%. The short interest has changed by -7670000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 9.1. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $905.74 million. On an average day, 23.06M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $2.75B.

For the stock Irobot Corp (IRBT), the current short interest is at 33.20%. This represents a significant short interest change of 980000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +12.33%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 3.5. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $90.91 million.

With the symbol ULCC, the stock currently has a short interest of 32.67%. The short interest change is -1260000 shares. It would take approximately 4.5 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $104.03 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 2.89M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $1.81B.

The stock VTLE has a current short interest of 32.65%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +4.65% while there was a change of 290000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 7.9. Trading activity averages at 812.24K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $1.76B.

AI Stocks to Watch

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

Our ST Score also classifies SentinelOne Inc (S) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 50.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of growth, financial strength, and stock sentiment. However, it has weak value, and profitability. The performance, Piotroski Score, and forecast are neutral.

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

RELX Plc ADR (RELX) stock has the ST Score of 50.0 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its value, and financial strength. However, it shows neutral outlook in performance, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX) currently has the ST Score of 48.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its stock sentiment, while its weak points are its value, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

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