Investing
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President Trump warns of new tariffs that won’t be tied to individual countries, but to specific product imports instead.
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Mergers and acquisitions activity is picking up in the U.S., with two big deals in the works.
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11:46 am
Reuters reports that TikTok will launch a standalone app for U.S. users, powered by a different algorithm from the Chinese original. Such a move could pave a way for the long-rumored sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American owner — yet to be determined — to alleviate concerns of Chinese Communist Party influence over the app.
10:50 am
Heading into earnings season, Barclays Capital raised its price targets on S&P 500 component company Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) to $358 with an overweight rating. Barclays is anticipating a “beat and raise” quarter from Royal Caribbean, and prefers the stock over that of rival Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH).
9:45 am
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), downgraded to reduce by HSBC on valuation concerns yesterday, won an upgrade to outperform from Keefe Bruyette analyst Christopher McGratty this morning.
McGratty cites JP’s massive size (“scale”) and its “business model superiority” as reasons for optimism. Despite HSBC’s valuation concerns, McGratty thinks JPMorgan stock could rise another 13% over the next 12 months. His price target is $327.
JPMorgan stock and — coincidentally — the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF are both up 0.6% in early trading.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
President Trump announced tariffs will rise on imports from more than a dozen countries yesterday, then proceeded to widen the tariffs war on a second front. U.S. imports of copper from anywhere will be hit with a 50% tariff, said the President. Additionally, pharmaceutical imports may face up to 200% tariffs, although the President promised to “give people about a year, year and a half” before this latest tariff goes into effect.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO), however, seems to be shaking off this inflationary news for the U.S. economy. Pre-market, shares of the ETF are actually trading up about 0.2%.
In other news, utility company and S&P 500 component company AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) is on the rise today. Pre-market the stock is up more than 12% on reports Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) and/or BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) may be interested in buying the company.
We also learned this morning that Verona Pharma (Nasdaq: VRNA) will be acquired by S&P 500 component Merck (NYSE: MRK). The $10 billion deal should close before the end of 2025. Verona stock is up more than 20% premarket.
Analyst Calls
With earnings season just around the corner, Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz is upgrading S&P 500 component Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) stock to outperform with a $600 price target. “Azure’s growth remains strong,” says the analyst, and the stock has “upside potential as this revenue stream continues scaling fast and investors embrace Microsoft as one of the long-term AI winners.”
Meanwhile, Melius analyst Rob Wertheimer is upgrading S&P 500 component Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) stock to buy with a $500 price target. Crazy as it sounds, the catalyst here, too, is artificial intelligence. “CAT’s role in the power explosion surrounding the AI buildout is bigger than we had thought a few months ago,” says Wertheimer. “CAT’s opportunity includes some baseload power and more value-added solutions in a strained grid.”
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