Monday closed higher across the board with the S&P 500 up 0.72 percent to roughly 7,507, the Nasdaq 100 up 1.26 percent, and the Dow within striking distance of 53,000.
SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 before today's open.
Macro Pulse
CME FedWatch shows roughly a 56 percent chance of a rate hike by September, down from 61 percent a week ago.
WTI crude is trading near $70 per barrel after briefly slipping below that level last week for the first time since February. Brent sits near $72.50.
The Iran ceasefire is holding after a weekend flare-up over Hormuz tanker traffic.
Q2 earnings season begins in earnest later this week with Delta on Thursday and PepsiCo Friday.
Tickers To Watch
FISV: Up 7.5 percent premarket. STAR Network sale talks (full profile below).
BAX: Baxter International up 2.3 percent premarket.
CME: CME Group up 2.2 percent premarket.
SNDK, TXN, V: All lower premarket as chip and payments names give back Monday gains.
NVDA, AMD, AVGO: Chips are today's swing sector after Samsung's guidance repriced the AI conversation.
Bottom Line
A split tape after a long weekend.
Chips ran too far too fast into Samsung's print.
Payments are catching a bid on M&A speculation.
Oil is telling you the Iran story is not resolved.
Stock In Focus: Fiserv (FISV)
Every time you swipe your debit card at CVS, at the gas pump, or at Chick-fil-A, there is a decent chance the transaction is routed through a network called STAR. Most Americans have never heard of it. Fiserv owns it.
Fiserv is a $28 billion payments technology company.
The stock has lost 70 percent over the past twelve months. It traded near $175 last summer. It closed at $51.78 yesterday.
The story just got interesting. Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported overnight that Fiserv is in talks with JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and PNC to sell the STAR Network.
STAR serves 115 million debit cardholders through more than 2,800 financial institutions.
Activist investor Jana Partners has been pushing the company to sell non-core assets. A new CEO, Takis Georgakopoulos, took over in June. Insiders have bought roughly 34,781 shares in the last three months.
The stock trades at 8.8 times earnings against a historical median near 30. Analysts see fair value around $70.
This is not a buy recommendation. It is a fallen giant with an activist on its back, fresh leadership, and a live catalyst hitting today.
You can use my Analyzer to scan and analyze FISV or any other stock..
(I built it, and it's free)
Best
-Greg
This caught my eye. "This Simple $2 Move" - You can have a look with the link below.
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