Dear Readers,

The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a rise on Monday, bouncing back from the previous week's decline. This surge was attributed to strong earnings from Goldman Sachs, positive retail data, and optimism regarding the situation in the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs saw a nearly 4% increase in its stock value after surpassing expectations for the first quarter. Similarly, JPMorgan shares rose by 1% during Monday's trading session, recovering from losses incurred on Friday due to concerns about future lending prospects.

Additionally, Wall Street received a boost from encouraging economic data, with retail sales showing a 0.7% increase in March, surpassing the consensus forecast of economists. Despite inflationary pressures, consumer spending remained robust.

Investor sentiment remained positive despite Iran's recent attack on Israel using drones and missiles. Although most threats were intercepted, apprehensions about potential retaliation lingered.

Meanwhile, gold futures experienced a slight decrease of over 1% to $2,346.00 per ounce, following a record high last week. The precious metal has gained approximately 15% this year as investors seek refuge from inflation and geopolitical uncertainties.

As of 12:33 PM ET, the Dow was up 39.64 points, or 0.1044%, at $38022.89. The Nasdaq Composite added 28.51 points, or 0.1584%, at $18031.9996. The S&P 500 declined -5.6699 points, or -0.1107%, at $5117.74. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed negative movement, with Real Estate leading the way with a 1.22% decrease.

Top Movers: Under $10

Soligenix Inc (SNGX) is up 34.16% today to trade at the current level of $0.52. This comes after the company announced that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the active ingredient in MarVax™.

Longeveron Inc (LGVN) zoomed 47.04% in today’s trade to $2.48 after announcing that it has been accepted for a Featured Research Oral Presentation to present the Company’s CLEAR MIND Phase 2a study results.

In current trading, Organovo Holdings Inc (ONVO) stock is at $1.27 following the release of the complete details of its 16-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 2 study of the non-steroidal, non-bile acid FXR agonist FXR314 for the treatment of metabolic function-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Medical Properties Trust Inc (MPW) rose 19.37% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $4.76 after declaring a regular quarterly dividend.

In the current trading session, LuxUrban Hotels Inc (LUXH) jumped 12.25% to $1.14 over a previous close of $1.02 after releasing 2023 financial results.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) 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 $0.15 per share. It has fixed April 17 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on May 01. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.41 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, AYI has a trailing yield of 0.16% on the current stock price of $255.91.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Dime Community Bancshares Inc (DCOM), having a market capitalization of $710.46M. It will pay a dividend of $0.25 per share, the payment date of which is April 24. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 4.10%.

Shares of AZZ Inc (AZZ) will be the talk of the stock market on Tuesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.17 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.68 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that AZZ has a trailing yield of 0.87% on the current share price of $78.03.

Tomorrow, Franklin Universal Trust (FT) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from FT will amount to $0.04 per share. April 17 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for April 30. In the previous year, FT distributed a total of $0.44 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for FT stands at 6.80% based on the current stock price of $6.47.

Guess Inc. (GES) will be paying out a dividend of $2.55 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of April 17. Over the past 12 months, GES has paid out a total of $0.90 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, GES boasts an impressive trailing yield of 3.26% on the current share price of $27.60.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Grand Base (GB) protocol on Coinbase's blockchain loses $1.7 million due to private key breach.

• South African exchange VALR obtains new CASP licenses from FSCA, complying with updated regulations.

• Norway introduces legislation concerning data centers, potentially impacting Bitcoin miners.

• Hong Kong approves spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ether, granting licenses to three local issuers.

• OKX jumps on memecoin trend, listing Solana-based tokens like Dogwifhat (WIF) and Cat in a Dog’s World (MEW).

• Germany's Landesbank Baden-Württemberg to offer cryptocurrency custody in partnership with Bitpanda, targeting institutional clients from H2 2024.

Most Shorted Stocks

Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (ZIM) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 34.68% 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 4.8. This represents a change of 3430000 shares, which corresponds to a +11.74% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $340.21 million. The average daily volume stands at 5.86M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.25B.

The Zynex Inc with the symbol ZYXI currently has a short interest of 31.73%. The short interest has changed by -80000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 22.9. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $69.58 million. On an average day, 232.82K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $389.10M.

For the stock Novavax, Inc. (NVAX), the current short interest is at 31.38%. This represents a significant short interest change of -4220000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -8.77%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 5.5. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $184.42 million.

The stock ACB has a current short interest of 32.80%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +32.98% while there was a change of 1260000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 1.2. Trading activity averages at 5.18M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $105.00M.

Upcoming IPOs

Top Wealth Group Holding Limited (TWG) is all set for its debut on the NASDAQ exchange on April 16. They are offering shares in the price range of $4.00 to $6.00. With a total of 2,000,000 shares available, the company aims to raise approximately $10.00M through this IPO.

Linkers Industries Limited (LNKS) will be entering the market with its IPO on April 19, on the NASDAQ exchange. They are offering shares in the price range of $4.00 to $6.00. They plan to offer 2,200,000 shares, targeting a deal size of $11.00M.

Ibotta, Inc. (IBTA) is also scheduled to make its debut on the NYSE exchange on April 18. They are offering shares in the price range of $76.00 to $84.00. The IPO includes 5,625,000 shares, aiming for a deal size of $450.00M.

Centuri Holdings, Inc. (CTRI) is set to join the NYSE on April 18. They are offering shares in the price range of $18.00 to $21.00. They are offering 12,400,000 shares, with an estimated deal size of $241.80M.

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