The main takeaway from yesterday's news is that Wall Street rallied, despite a few setbacks for Boeing and oil stocks. For once, it wasn't just technology stocks that pulled everyone along, so the rebound was broadly based, in both the "new" and "old" economies. But let's face it, the increases of 1.9% (for Microsoft) to 6.4% (for Nvidia) in the five largest US caps helped the Nasdaq gain 2.1% and the S&P500 advance 1.4%. Nvidia benefited from a wave of frenzied buying in the wake of the presentation of new processors. The stock set a new record yesterday, with a market capitalization of $1,300 billion. The CES show in Las Vegas, which kicks off today, will likely boost the artificial intelligence craze further. Show boss Brian Comiskey has obviously focused the event on AI, chanting "Tomorrow is going to be smarter than ever". Brian sounds a tad over-excited, but I must admit, it's hard to stand in the way of the AI Monster Truck these days.

I won't spend much time on Boeing’s difficulties, which illustrates what happens when a company loses its industrial culture and capacity for innovation after turning a little too much into a cash cow for shareholders.

The oil situation, on the other hand, calls for a few additional comments. Black gold has stabilized this morning, but there was a big air pocket yesterday, created by Saudi Arabia's decision to lower its official selling prices for February loadings. OPEC's leader usually makes the headlines for his ability to steer crude prices upwards. But weak demand doesn't offer much in the way of contortion to mask reality. Gas prices also plummeted yesterday in Europe, and all this is beginning to look like the signals of an economic slowdown. You know, the one everyone's talking about, but which has been a long time coming. The pessimists may say "I told you so", but the optimists may soon conclude that central banks are going to have to cut rates.

Another point to watch is that listed companies are making a strong comeback in the acquisition market. This is particularly evident in the healthcare sector, where a number of transactions have been announced recently in the United States.

The rest of the news is dominated by the continuing speculation on bitcoin as the SEC may authorize the first ETFs on the cryptocurrency in the coming days.

Among the day's statistics, investors are assessing the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, an indicator of confidence prized by economists as it covers an important stratum of US activity. It looks like optimism among US small businesses improved in December, although inflation remains a prime concern. The index gained 1.3 points last month to 91.9, up from 90.6 in November. It is better than the 90.7 expected by economists. 

On the Asia-Pacific markets outside China, Japan's Nikkei 225 reached a 33-year high after rising by 1.2%. South Korea could have bounced back after the Nasdaq's solid performance, but Samsung's drop of over 2% weighed on the KOSPI, which lost ground. India and Australia, on the other hand, gained 0.8% to 0.9%. European leading indicators are mostly bearish. The US market is consolidating, with Futures on Wall Street main indexes down by between 0.5 and 0.8% in pre-market trading.

Today's economic highlights:

The dollar is worth EUR 0.9140 and GBP 0.7859. Oil has recovered a bit from its fall, with North Sea Brent at USD 77.63 a barrel and US light crude WTI at USD 72.38. The yield on 10-year US debt fell to 4.01%. Bitcoin is trading at 46,800 dollars.

In corporate news:

  • Nvidia hit an all-time closing high on Monday after the chipmaker unveiled new graphics processors leveraging artificial intelligence. Nvidia shares climbed 6.4% to close at $522.53.
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise is in advanced talks to buy Juniper Networks for around $13 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Juniper Networks jumped 23.3% before the opening, while Hewlett Packard fell 7.8%.
  • Microchip Technology fell 4.2% before the opening after the chipmaker lowered its sales forecast for the third fiscal quarter, citing the weakening economic environment.
  • Urban Outfitters was up 5.6% after the close, as the group reported that net sales for the two months to December 31 were up 10% year-on-year.
  • Jefferies reported a 53% drop in fourth-quarter earnings on Monday, as continuing economic uncertainty dampened trading.
  • Eversource Energy said Monday it had recorded an impairment charge of between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 related to certain wind power projects.
  • Match Group was up 9.77% before the opening, as activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a stake of around $1 billion in the company to boost its share price.
  • Unity Software - The software provider plans to lay off around 25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs, the company said in a regulatory document and an internal memo on Monday. The share price rose by 3.28% before the opening.
  • Eli Lilly said Monday that new prescriptions for its weight-loss drug Zepbound were reaching 25,000 a week at the end of December, and that supply may not meet all demand in 2024.
  • Pfizer will remain aggressive in its attempts to penetrate the lucrative obesity market, CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday.
  • Biogen and Eisai said Tuesday that their Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi had been approved in China, the third country to do so after the US and Japan.

Analyst recommendations:

  • Ares Management : Jefferies downgrades to hold from buy with a target price of USD 122.
  • Arthur J. Gallagher & Co : Jefferies downgrades to hold from buy with a price target reduced from USD 279 to USD 233.
  • Bank Of America : Deutsche Bank maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 29 to USD 35.
  • Blackrock : Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 745 to USD 908.
  • Blackstone : Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 111 to USD 138.
  • Brown & Brown : Jefferies downgrades to hold from buy with a price target reduced from USD 85 to USD 78.
  • Capital One Financial : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 100 to USD 124.
  • Celanese : Baptista Research maintains its underperform recommendation and raises the target price from USD 117.30 to USD 145. On Field Investment Research downgrades to underperform from sell with a price target raised from USD 95 to USD 115.
  • Cintas : Baptista Research maintains its underperform recommendation and raises the target price from USD 500 to USD 606.90.
  • Citigroup : HSBC upgrades to buy from hold with a price target raised from USD 42 to USD 61.
  • Citizens Financial Group : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 25 to USD 35.
  • Coinbase Global : Morningstar maintains its sell recommendation and raises the target price from USD 80 to USD 100.
  • Crowdstrike Holdings : Morgan Stanley upgrades to overweight from equal weight with a price target raised from USD 203 to USD 304.
  • Equifax : Stifel maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 208 to USD 289.
  • Evergy : Wells Fargo upgrades to overweight from equalweight with a price target raised from USD 54 to USD 60.
  • Exxon Mobil : Redburn Atlantic upgrades to buy from neutral with a price target raised from USD 116 to USD 119.
  • Fifth Third Bancorp : Jefferies downgrades to market perform from outperform with a price target raised from USD 33 to USD 37. Deutsche Bank maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 28 to USD 36.
  • Franklin Resources : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 24 to USD 29.
  • Huntington Bancshares : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 10 to USD 14.
  • Interactive Brokers Group : Goldman Sachs upgrades to buy from neutral with a price target raised from USD 88 to USD 102.
  • Jpmorgan Chase & Co : Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold with a price target raised from USD 140 to USD 190.
  • Kkr & Co : Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 70 to USD 94.
  • Morgan Stanley : HSBC downgrades to hold from buy with a price target raised from USD 90 to USD 96.
  • Netflix : Citi downgrades to neutral from buy with a target price of USD 500. Goldman Sachs maintains a neutral recommendation with a price target raised from USD 400 to USD 500.
  • Northern Trust : Jefferies upgrades to buy from hold with a price target raised from USD 68 to USD 99. Keefe Bruyette & Woods maintains its market perform recommendation with a target price raised from USD 73 to USD 92.
  • Paypal Holdings : Morgan Stanley downgrades to equalwt from overwt with a price target reduced from USD 118 to USD 66.
  • Pnc Financial Services Group : HSBC maintains its reduce recommendation and raises the target price from USD 110 to USD 141.
  • Ppg Industries : On Field Investment Research upgrades to outperform from buy with a price target raised from USD 165 to USD 170.
  • Raymond James Financial : Jefferies downgrades to hold from buy with a target price raised from USD 112 to USD 117.
  • Regions Financial : Jefferies upgrades to buy from hold with a price target raised from USD 15 to USD 22.
  • Resmed : JP Morgan maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from USD 160 to USD 195.
  • Charles Schwab : Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 63 to USD 77.
  • Snap : Stifel maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 10 to USD 14.
  • Take-Two Interactive Software : Baptista Research maintains its underperform recommendation and raises the target price from USD 130.70 to USD 165.
  • The Allstate : Jefferies upgrades to buy from hold with a price target raised from USD 130 to USD 180.
  • The Goldman Sachs Group : Deutsche Bank maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 305 to USD 385.
  • The Sherwin-Williams Company : On Field Investment Research downgrades to neutral from sell with a price target raised from USD 198 to USD 300.
  • Trimble : Piper Sandler & Co maintains a neutral recommendation with a price target raised from USD 42 to USD 51.
  • Truist Financial : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 28 to USD 40. HSBC maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 29 to USD 37.
  • Us Bancorp : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 31 to USD 46. HSBC maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 39 to USD 47.
  • W.r. Berkley : Jefferies maintains its hold recommendation and raises the target price from USD 62 to USD 75.
  • Wells Fargo & Company : Deutsche Bank downgrades to hold from buy with a target price of USD 51. HSBC maintains its hold recommendation with a price target raised from USD 45 to USD 55.
  • Persimmon : Liberum maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from 1310 to GBX 1600.
  • Rio Tinto : Berenberg maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from 6000 to GBX 6200.
  • Unite Group : Numis upgrades to add from buy with a target price of GBX 1160.