Dear Readers,

On the first trading day of the year, stocks experienced a decline as interest rates saw a slight rebound, prompting investors to secure profits after the unexpectedly robust performance of 2023, where the S&P 500 surged by 24%. 

As of 11:57 AM ET, the Dow was up 52.1406 points, or 0.1383%, at $37741.68. The Nasdaq Composite lost -223.1953 points, or -1.3265%, at $16602.736. The S&P 500 declined -20.5801 points, or -0.4315%, at $4749.25. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed positive movement, with Health Care leading the way with a 1.61% increase. 

The conclusion of 2023 marked a triumphant period for the stock market, witnessing the S&P 500's impressive nine-week consecutive climb, achieving its best weekly win streak since 2004. 

Despite challenges such as a regional banking crisis and geopolitical conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, risk assets thrived amidst a resilient economy, cooling inflation, and the Federal Reserve's indication of a halt in rate hikes with future rate cuts on the horizon.

As we transition from the stellar performance of 2023, Wall Street strategists caution about a potentially weaker economy and more restrained consumer spending, signaling a potential slowdown in earnings growth for Corporate America. 

Top Movers: Under $10

Cardio Diagnostics Holdings Inc (CDIO) is up 32.09% today to trade at the current level of $3.29. This comes after the company announced that the American Medical Association (AMA) has assigned a dedicated Current Procedural Terminology Proprietary Laboratory Analysis (PLA), 0440U, for the company’s AI-driven coronary heart disease (CHD) detection test, PrecisionCHD.

RiskOn International Inc (ROI) zoomed 26.27% in today’s trade to $0.42. The unveiling of the company's upcoming Generative AI Platform and its technology partner is scheduled for January 3, 2024.

In current trading, Terran Orbital Corp (LLAP) stock is at $1.38 after reporting an excess of $70 million year-end cash balance.

SenesTech Inc (SNES) rose 26.77% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.61 after announcing the expansion of its distribution agreement with Pesterminators Pvt Ltd to include the deployment of EvolveTM.

In the current trading session, Soligenix Inc (SNGX) jumped 12.52% to $0.85 over a previous close of $0.76 after announcing publication demonstrating complete protection against filovirus disease in nonhuman primate models of Ebola and Marburg viruses.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) 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 $0.37 per share. The company has fixed January 04 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on January 29. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.50 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CPB has a trailing yield of 3.39% on the current stock price of $44.38.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Steelcase, Inc. (SCS), having a market capitalization of $1.50B. It will pay a dividend of $0.1 per share, the payment date of which is January 16. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.04%.

Shares of Kadant, Inc. (KAI) will be the talk of stock market on Wednesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.29 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $1.13 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that KAI has a trailing yield of 0.42% on the current share price of $272.08.

Cousins Properties Inc. (CUZ) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from CUZ will amount to $0.32 per share. January 04 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for January 16. In the previous year, CUZ distributed a total of $1.28 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for CUZ stands at 5.18% based on the current stock price of $24.70.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) will be paying out a dividend of $0.39 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of January 04. Over the past 12 months, CSCO has paid out a total of $1.58 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, CSCO boasts an impressive trailing yield of 3.12% on the current share price of $50.63.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Novavax, Inc. (NVAX) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 38.34% 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 6.0. This represents a change of 2430000 shares, which corresponds to a +5.64% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $238.63 million. The average daily volume stands at 7.70M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $621.87M.

The Carvana Co. with the symbol CVNA currently has a short interest of 17.53%. The short interest has changed by 2430000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $1.74 billion. On an average day, 8.87M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $5.67B.

With the symbol AI, the stock currently has a short interest of 30.30%. The short interest change is 670000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +1.88%. It would take approximately 4.2 days to cover all the short positions. The company boasts an average daily volume of 8.75M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $3.54B.

The stock NOVA has a current short interest of 33.88%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +0.93% while there was a change of 330000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 5.7. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $552.79 million. Trading activity averages at 6.24M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $1.86B.

EV Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Li Auto Inc ADR (LI) emerges as a high-quality stock in the EV industry, attaining an impressive score of 70.0. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its value are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Honda Motor ADR (HMC) as a high-quality EV stock today, presenting a Score of 65.0. 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, Toyota Motor Corporation ADR (TM) has the ST Score of 63.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score but weak in financial strength. Value, growth, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

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

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