On February 16, American stock exchanges finished trading in different directions. The S&P 500 index dropped by a symbolic 0.06%, to 3933 points, the NASDAQ lost 0.34%, and the Dow Jones added 0.20%. The news background remained calm, investors were waiting for President Biden’s speech on fiscal stimulus. The finance sector continued to rally and gained 1.77% on the back of higher Treasury yields. The energy sector rose 2.26% on the back of rising oil prices.

Company news

BorgWarner (BWA: + 4.3%) acquires 59% of German company Akasol to expand its vehicle electrification capabilities.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR: -12.8%) unexpectedly posted negative EPS, although revenue exceeded consensus expectations.

Chemicals manufacturer Ecolab (ECL: -4.1%) was below forecast. Management noted the negative effect of the COVID-19 factor.

Today, global stock markets are showing mixed dynamics. Joe Biden made a speech on the fiscal stimulus package in Wisconsin the day before. The US President expressed his hope for a return to normal life by next Christmas and noted that by the end of July, the vaccines produced will be enough to vaccinate all Americans. The speech of the head of state did not contain new information on incentives, but he stressed the need to adopt a large anti-crisis program.

Weather disasters in the form of extremely low temperatures, strong winds and snowfalls that have covered the southern and central states negatively affect production processes. For example, many automakers were forced to suspend the work of assembly lines. Such natural phenomena are of a short-term nature; therefore, they usually do not have a noticeable effect on the stock market. However, in the current environment, when the S&P 500 index is at a historic high, many positive factors have been taken into account in quotes, and a sharp rise in Treasury yields reduces the attractiveness of shares, any negative event can cause a desire to fix some positions. In this regard, a short-term correction looks more and more likely.

The Freedom Finance Sentiment Index climbed to 78 out of 100. The index reflects market participants’ hope for a global economic recovery in 2021. Worries about the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic are eased by the prospect of mass vaccinations.

Technical picture

Technically, the S&P 500 is still in an uptrend. Resistance near its upper boundary is still a significant obstacle. A breakthrough of resistance at 3950 points will mean an acceleration of the upward movement. On the eve of buyers tested this resistance, but could not overcome it. The RSI indicator is already close to the overbought level, so the upside potential in the short term is limited.

Top Crypto Stocks‎

Marathon Patent Group Inc (MARA) share price jumped 10.65% to $48.20 during early morning ‎trading session on ‎Wednesday.‎‎ The company is based in Nevada and is focused on Bitcoin mining.

Airnet Technology Inc (ANTE) stock ascended 60% at $7.92 in the pre-‎market trading today.‎‎ ANTE announced giving Unistar Group Holdings Ltd a 19% stake in exchange for the delivery of 500 computer servers designed especially to mine cryptocurrencies.

Riot Blockchain Inc (RIOT) gained over 15.29% at $68.60 in pre-market ‎trading on Wednesday.‎‎ Riot is based in Colorado and is primarily focused on Bitcoin mining.

Sos Ltd (SOS) grew over 27.23% at $15.09 in pre-market trading ‎today.‎‎ SOS is an emerging blockchain-based and big data-driven marketing and solution provider. 

Top Upgrades & Downgrades

Goldman Sachs turned bullish on Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $34.0 price target, representing a potential upside of 22.17% from Tuesday’s close. 

Rexnord Corporation (RXN) has won the favor of KeyBanc’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Sector Weight to Overweight and moved their price target to $60.0, suggesting 33.01% additional upside for the stock. 

Regal Beloit Corporation (RBC) received an upgrade from analysts at KeyBanc, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $155.0. They changed their rating on RBC to Overweight from Sector Weight in a recently issued research note. 

Earlier Wednesday JPMorgan reduced its rating on bluebird bio Inc. (BLUE) stock to Neutral from Overweight and assigned the price target to $39. 

Morgan Stanley analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that its rating for Fortive Corporation (FTV) has been changed to Equal Weight from Overweight and the new price target is set at $75.

Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded USA Compression Partners LP (USAC)’s stock to Sector Perform from Outperform Wednesday.

Latest Insider Activity

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) SVP, General Counsel&Secretary Poppen Joel L announced the sale of shares taking place on Feb 11 at $85.80 for some 4,984 shares. The total came to more than $0.43 million. 

Square Inc. (SQ) Chief Financial Officer Ahuja Amrita sold on Feb 11 a total of 147,310 shares at $264.55 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $3.72 million. 

Coty Inc. (COTY) Director Singer Robert S declared the purchase of shares taking place on Feb 11 at $6.63 for some 75,000 shares. The transaction amount was around $0.5 million.

Important Earnings

Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY). It will announce its Dec 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of -$0.15 per share from revenues of $55.76M in the three-month period. 

Analysts expect iQIYI Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) to report a net income (adjusted) of -$0.38 per share, when the company releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $1.16B. 

Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO), due to announce earnings after the market closes today, is expected to report earnings of -$0.2 per share from revenues of $838.05M recently concluded three-month period.