Dear Readers,

Stocks saw a slight retreat on Tuesday, with investors' focus split between parsing through the latest slew of corporate earnings and the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting. Amidst this, the market is on standby for pivotal earnings announcements from tech giants.

The afternoon is especially anticipated, as Microsoft and Alphabet are scheduled to release their reports. These industry leaders, part of the influential cohort dubbed the "Magnificent 7," are under the microscope for their significant role in propelling the S&P 500's growth through substantial gains. Investors are also gearing up for later in the week when Amazon, Meta, and Apple are expected to unveil their quarterly results.

This comes in the wake of Wall Street's robust performance, which saw the Dow and S&P 500 notch their sixth record close of the year. However, it was the Nasdaq Composite that outshone its counterparts, surging over 1% in the last session, buoyed by tech sector triumphs.

All eyes are now trained on the Federal Open Market Committee as it commences its two-day policy meeting. The market, aided by forecasts from the CME FedWatch tool, is leaning heavily towards a 97% chance that the Fed will hold interest rates steady in its declaration set for Wednesday.

As of 11:48 AM ET, the Dow was up 51.0195 points, or 0.1331%, at $38384.47. The Nasdaq Composite lost -60.5371 points, or -0.344%, at $17535.732. The S&P 500 rose 0.7798 points, or 0.0158%, at $4928.71. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed negative movement, with Information Technology leading the way with a -0.39% decrease. 

Top Movers: Under $10

Agrify Corp (AGFY) is up 56.16% today to trade at the current level of $0.79 as investors react to updates on ownership of the cannabis and hemp company’s shares.

Pixelworks Inc (PXLW) zoomed 41.22% in today’s trade to $2.09 after announcing an agreement with Walt Disney Studios to expand reach of TrueCut Motion Technology.

In current trading, Nuvve Holding Corp (NVVE) stock is at $3.70 after reporting the potential to launch the first V2G hub project in Taiwan.

2seventy bio Inc (TSVT) rose 18.34% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $4.13. The company announced that it is transforming the Company to focus exclusively on the commercialization and development of Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), its BCMA-targeted CAR T therapy for multiple myeloma.

In the current trading session, Lucid Group Inc (LCID) jumped 8.61% to $3.66 over a previous close of $3.37 after announcing the appointment of Matt Everitt as General Counsel.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) 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 $1.07 per share. It has fixed February 01 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 04. Last year, the company distributed a total of $4.25 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, VLO has a trailing yield of 3.05% on the current stock price of $139.24.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is AES Corp. (AES), having a market capitalization of $11.32B. It will pay a dividend of $0.17 per share, the payment date of which is February 15. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 4.03%.

Shares of Fastenal Co. (FAST) will be the talk of stock market on Wednesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.39 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.54 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that FAST has a trailing yield of 2.24% on the current share price of $68.82.

Tomorrow, Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from HAS will amount to $0.7 per share. February 01 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for February 15. In the previous year, HAS distributed a total of $2.80 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for HAS stands at 5.48% based on the current stock price of $51.09.

Ally Financial Inc (ALLY) will be paying out a dividend of $0.3 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of February 01. Over the past 12 months, ALLY has paid out a total of $1.21 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, ALLY boasts an impressive trailing yield of 3.22% on the current share price of $37.69.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

C3.ai Inc (AI) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 31.93% 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 4.3. This represents a change of -870000 shares, which corresponds to a -2.22% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $972.44 million. The average daily volume stands at 8.98M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $3.05B.

The Carvana Co. with the symbol CVNA currently has a short interest of 16.81%. The short interest has changed by -4120000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 3.9. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $1.48 billion. On an average day, 8.67M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $5.01B.

For the stock Sunnova Energy International Inc (NOVA), the current short interest is at 35.15%. This represents a significant short interest change of 530000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +1.44%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 6.2. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $386.26 million.

The stock LMND has a current short interest of 34.46%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +2.28% while there was a change of 380000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 8.3. Trading activity averages at 2.09M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $1.16B.

EV Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS) emerges as a high-quality stock in the EV industry, attaining an impressive score of 62.0. The stock's profitability, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its growth are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, performance, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Honda Motor ADR (HMC) as a high-quality EV stock today, presenting a Score of 62.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of valuation, profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak growth, and financial strength. The stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Li Auto Inc ADR (LI) has the ST Score of 60.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score but weak in value, performance, and forecast. suggest a neutral outlook.

Toyota Motor Corporation ADR (TM) stock has the ST Score of 59.0 which implies that the EV company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its growth, and financial strength. However, it shows neutral outlook in value, and forecast.

Ford Motor Co. (F) currently has the ST Score of 58.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The EV stock's strong points are its valuation, profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth, and financial strength. The stock's forecast indicate a neutral outlook.