Square shares climbed Friday, following optimistic outlook from a Citi analyst. Citi analyst Peter Christiansen re-iterated a buy rating on the mobile payment/financial services company. This follows Tuesday’s rating upgrade by Raymond James analyst John Davis, to market perform - a significant change from Davis’ bearish stance in January. Citi analyst Christiansen appreciated Square's business debit card potential in his sanguine view on the company.

Stitch Fix got a rating upgrade from Goldman Sachs analyst Heath P. Terry, leading to the shares climbing Friday. Terry raised his rating on the online personal styling company’s stock to buy from neutral.According to Terry, the company’s strong database is helping it to retain customers and drive sales. The analyst indicated that Stitch Fix’s repeat customers and its new product developments, such as options for customers to pick additional colors, prints and sizes of previously purchased items, are strong tailwinds to the company’s stock price.

Manufacturing company Hillenbrand announced on Friday that it has agreed to acquire plastics-processing equipment maker Milacron Holdings in a $2 billion deal (including debt).The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. Under the cash-and-stock deal, Milacron shareholders will get $11.80 in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.1612 of Hillenbrand shares for each share of Milacron common stock they own. The deal will also include net debt of about $686 million. Hillenbrand expects that the acquisition would increase adjusted earnings in the "double-digit" range in the first year after closing, and generate annualized cost synergies of about $50 million within three years.   

Snap Inc. shares climbed Friday, following a rating upgrade by Goldman Sachs. Analysts at Goldman Sachs increased their rating on the technology and camera company to buy from neutral , citing product improvements and feature additions that they believe are bolstering user growth for Snap.The analysts also mentioned that ad tech initiatives from Snap are tailwinds to monetization for the company’s offerings. Analyst Heath P. Terry of Goldman Sachs emphasized that Snap’s new Android app, the launch of Snap Games and new viral lenses would accelerate user growth.

Analyst Judy Hong cited a “10-year trough despite a more accommodating market backdrop," for the tobacco industry stocks as a reason  behind the rating upgrade.Hong indicated that strong fundamentals, promising next generation tobacco products and expectations of easing of regulatory concerns over time should help to boost tobacco stocks. Hong's 12-month price target on Altria shares is $59, which reflects a total potential return of 27% including the 6% dividend yield.    

Specialty chip manufacturer Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) has been trending lower since the second half of April and a downward sloped trend channel has formed over the last few months.Past predictions on the stock have been successful 67% of the time. Looking at the fundamentals for Cree, the company has not performed as well as its peers.

Shares of Weight Watchers International Inc. jumped more than +5% on Thursday, as JP Morgan analysts softened their bearish stance on the stock.  J.P. Morgan analyst Christina Brathwaite upgraded the stock's rating to neutral from underweight.She also raised her price target to $22 from $17 a share. Brathwaite indicated that she was no longer bearish on the weight management & fitness company, citing stabilizing subscriber trends and the potential growth opportunity in 2020 following the launch of a new diet program by the company at the end of this year.

Microsoft shares climbed Thursday, after Cowen & Co. initiated coverage on the company with an outperform rating and a $150 target price. Cowen analyst Nick Yako indicated that by fiscal 2025, Microsoft can boost its revenue by $100 billion since it is well-positioned in markets like cloud technology and software-as-a-service. According to Yako’s estimates, the tech giant would grow its annual earnings by roughly 15% from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025. Cowen’s $150 price target on Microsoft stock represents around 8% upside potential.

excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% in June - the largest increase since January 2018.On  a year-over-year basis, the core index rose 2.1%.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. reported losses for its fiscal-first-quarter, as costs related to goodwill impairment and severance tugged at its bottom line.However, adjusted earnings beat estimates. For the quarter ended June 1, the household-goods retail chain posted a loss of -$371.1 million (or -$2.91 a share), compared to earnings of $43.6 million (or 32 cents) in the year-ago period. However, adjusting for the impairment charge as well as severance and other costs, Bed Bath & Beyond’s earnings came in at 12 cents a share, which surpassed analysts’ estimates of adjusted earnings of 8 cents per share.

Stocks jumped to record highs Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments seemed to strengthen expectations for monetary policy easing. The latest minutes released from Federal Open Market Committee indicate their perception of trade uncertainty posing risks to their economic growth and inflation projections.Powell's comments indicate that trade tensions and concerns about the global economy have challenged the policymakers' outlook on the U.S. economy.

Texas electricity supplier NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) has been lagging the utilities sector and the overall market so far in 2019 and now the stock is running into a couple of different forms of resistance.We see on the daily chart that the $36 area acted as support back in December and then the stock fell below that level in May.

Levi Strauss’ shares tumbled pre-market Wednesday, following the company's  warning of a weakening growth of sales in the second half of the year. The maker of the iconic denim brand reported fiscal second quarter earnings of 7 cents a share, down -65% from the same period last year.Adjusting for some costs, the company earned 17 cents per share, beating the Street consensus estimate of 15 cents per share.  Revenue of $1.312 billion for the quarter also surpassed analysts’ forecasts. However, Levis CFO Harmit Singh mentioned that the second half sales growth would “moderate relative to the first half, particularly in the United States" .The company expects that the lack of a Black Friday in Q4 will hurt revenue by roughly 100 basis points in the second half. As for the ongoing trade war, CFO Singh has indicated that the company is prepared to cushion the effect of tariffs over the near term.

Square shares climbed on Tuesday, following a rating upgrade by Raymond James analysts. Raymond James analysts raised their rating on the financial services/mobile payment company to market perform from underperform.Analyst John Davis said that his short thesis from late January has mostly played out, and he is now optimistic on Square’s business-to-business seller card and believes that it could lead to above-expectations performance in H2 2019. Davis also indicated that while Square's performance has fallen behind peers over the last couple of quarters due to disappointing second-quarter guidance, the headwinds for the company have now receded.  

Networking hardware and telecom equipment company Cisco is planning to acquire  Acacia Communications in a $2.6 billion deal . As announced by the companies on Tuesday, Cisco will pay $70 per share in cash for Acacia - a networking company and already a supplier for Cisco. The acquisition is expected to bolster Cisco’s optical systems business.According to the announcement, the deal is expected to close in the second half of Cisco’s fiscal year 2020. Acacia shares surged more than +38% during premarket trading Tuesday, while Cisco was down -1% .

International Business Machines (IBM) completed its $34 billion acquisition of software firm Red Hat, as announced by the companies on Tuesday. Initiated in October, the deal involves IBM  paying $190 per share in cash for Red Hat, a price representing a 63% premium over the stock's price before the merger was announced.This marks IBM’ s biggest deal ever. Following the acquisition, Red Hat will be a part of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud division, according to the original announcement. IBM had previously indicated that the merger would boost its cloud infrastructure.

3M Co. shares got a rating downgrade by RBC Capital Markets. RBC Capital Markets analyst Deane Dray lowered his rating on 3M to sector perform, from a prior rating of outperform.He also slashed his price target on the stock by 15% to $176 per share. According to Dray, 3M’s reputation of a "defensive, high-quality industrial" is getting eroded. 3M's first quarter earnings had declined -10.8% year-over-year, and its total revenue had fallen -5%.

PepsiCo earnings for the second quarter surpassed analysts’ expectations, on the back of strong sales in snacks and sparkling water. The beverage and snack company reported adjusted earnings of $1.54 per share for the quarter, compared to  $1.50 expected by Wall Street analysts. Pepsi’s revenue of $16.449 billion also edged past analysts’ estimates of $16.426 billion. Its Frito-Lay North America segment was the strongest performer in sales, reporting +5% organic revenue growth.Frito-Lay revenues along with the company's other snacks businesses comprise more than half of the group's total revenue. Pepsi’s North American beverage business organic revenue grew by +2.2%.

We see on the daily chart how a trend channel has formed that defines the overall trend in the past year. Normally I point out when a stock is hitting the upper rail of a downward sloping channel, but in the case of Mylan, it is only at the midpoint of the channel.The daily stochastic readings are in overbought territory and made a bearish crossover on July 8. The Tickeron Trend Prediction Engine generated a bearish signal on Mylan on July 5 with a confidence level of 85%.

Amazon employees in Minnesota are reportedly planning a strike on Prime Day. According to a Bloomberg report, employees at an Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, are planning to halt work for six hours on July 15, the day when the 48-hour Prime Day extravaganza is scheduled to begin.The news comes even after the company promised to pay all employees at least $15 an hour last year. Bloomberg reported that organizers said that talks between employees and management last fall led to some changes, including relaxing quotas during Ramadan and the designation of a conference room as a prayer space.