Another great opportunity for the stock portfolio: $MRK Much more defensive than my recent NVDA & MSFT buys - but I like this one just as much. Strong financials, stable growth, roughly 3% dividend & currently at a major discount. Bought some extra shares today.

QUICK MARKET SUMMARY: Consumer 🔸 Carvana ( $CVNA) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT raised to $280 from $260. 🔸 Cintas ( $CTAS) ended talks to buy UniFirst (UNF) for $275/share. 🔸 KB Home ( $KBH) Q1 miss: revenue down 5%, net income down 21%, lowers FY25 outlook; appoints Robert Dillard as CFO. 🔸 McCormick ( $MKC) Q1 EPS $0.60 (vs. $0.64 est.), reaffirms FY25 guidance. 🔸 Smithfield Foods sees higher annual sales and profit. 🔸 Tesla ( $TSLA) European market share down sharply; YTD sales -42.6%. Energy, Industrials & Materials 🔸 American Electric ( $AEP) announces $2B stock offering. 🔸 Bunge ( $BG) selling European margarine business to Vandemoortele. 🔸 Canadian Solar ( $CSIQ) Q4 EPS loss (-$1.47) vs. (-$0.24) est.; record storage shipments. 🔸 Enerpac ( $EPAC) Q2 EPS $0.38 (vs. $0.40 est.), maintains guidance. 🔸 EOG Resources ( $EOG) downgraded to Neutral at Mizuho; PT cut to $140. 🔸 Oklo ( $OKLO) FY24 EPS loss (-$0.74); first Aurora deployment expected late 2027. 🔸 Parsons ( $PSN) approves $250M share buyback. 🔸 TechnipFMC ( $FTI) wins $500M–$1B EPC contract from Equinor. Healthcare 🔸 Aura Biosciences ( $AURA) FY loss ($96M); cash runway into 2H26. 🔸 Beyond Air ( $XAIR) secures $2M for autism therapy development. 🔸 Merck ( $MRK) signs $200M licensing deal for Lp(a) inhibitor, potential $1.77B in milestones. 🔸 Neurogene ( $NGNE) FY loss ($82.6M); files $300M shelf offering; cash runway into 2H27. Tech, Media & Telecom 🔸 Alibaba ( $BABA) to restart hiring; Chairman Tsai warns of potential AI bubble. 🔸 Cloudflare ( $NET) double-upgraded to Buy at BofA; PT raised to $160. 🔸 India plans to scrap 6% digital ad tax, easing pressure on U.S. tech firms. 🔸 Crown Castle ( $CCI) appoints interim CEO Daniel Schlanger; reaffirms guidance. 🔸 Volkswagen ( $cVOWGY) partners with Valeo and Mobileye for advanced driver-assistance systems.

MORNING BID 🔸 OpenAI: Plans to reduce reliance on NVIDIA ( $NVDA) by developing its first in-house AI chip, with design finalization in the next few months. Chips will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor ( $TSM) 🔸 ChipMOS Technologies ( $IMOS): Expects 6.3% revenue growth for 2024, despite a 5.4% YoY decline in Dec 2024 and 5.7% YoY decline in Q4 2024. Plans to buy back shares up to T$17.39B. 🔸 Mobileye ( $MBLY): Upgraded to Neutral by Bank of America, citing limited downside risk and bottoming sentiment. 🔸 Taiwan Semiconductor ( $TSM): Q1 revenue expected at the lower end of guidance due to a $161M (NT$5.3B, net of insurance) impact from a late January earthquake in southern Taiwan. 🔸 Edgewell Personal Care ( $EPC): Q1 adj. EPS $0.07 (est. $0.12); Q1 revs $478.4M (est. $480.16M). FY25 outlook: adj. EPS at lower end of $3.15-$3.35 (est. $3.18), adj. EBITDA at lower end of $356M-$368M, capex 2.5%-3% of revenue. 🔸 Rivian ( $RIVN): Now selling delivery vans to fleets of all sizes in the US, over a year after ending exclusivity with Amazon ( $AMZN). 🔸 Sun Country Airlines ( $SNCY): Announces secondary offering of 6.3M shares and $10M share repurchase from underwriters. 🔸 Illumina ( $ILMN): Downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight by Barclays. 🔸 Merck ( $MRK): Downgraded to Hold from Buy by TD Cowen, price target cut to $100 from $121. 🔸 Pliant Therapeutics ( $PLRX): Shares fall as it pauses enrollment and dosing in the ongoing Beacon-IPF Phase 2b trial of bexotegrast for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 🔸 BP Plc ( $BP): Shares rise after Elliott Management takes a stake, expected to push for strategy and board changes. 🔸 ConocoPhillips ( $COP): Downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy by Raymond James. 🔸 Spirit AeroSystems ( $SPR): Q4 2024 net revenues $1.66B (down from $1.81B YoY, above est. $1.53B); reported $401M in net forward loss charges. 🔸 US Metals Stocks: Shares of Cleveland Cliffs ( $CLF), Nucor ( $NUE), Alcoa ( $AA), and others rise after Trump announces 25% steel and aluminum tariffs in latest trade escalation.

#Upgrades - Dec 04, 2024 • $BRKL: KBW Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform • $MAC: Mizuho Upgrades to Neutral from Underperform - PT $22 (from $14) • $MRK: HSBC Upgrades to Buy from Hold - PT $130 • $NFE: Deutsche Bank Upgrades to Hold from Sell - PT $11 (from $7.60) • $PNW: KeyBanc Upgrades to Overweight from Sector Weight - PT $101 • $PSTG: Piper Sandler Upgrades to Overweight from Neutral - PT $76 (from $56) • $SHBI: KBW Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform • $TRMB: JPMorgan Upgrades to Overweight from Neutral - PT $92 (from $74)

#Downgrades - Nov 11, 2024 • $AGL: JMP Securities Downgrades to Market Perform from Market Outperform • $ALTM: Scotiabank Downgrades to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform - PT $5.85 • $ARDX: H.C. Wainwright Downgrades to Neutral from Buy - PT $5.50 • $ATMU: Wells Fargo Downgrades to Equal Weight from Overweight - PT $45 (from $42) • $BLMN: Raymond James Downgrades to Market Perform from Outperform • $CBT: JPMorgan Downgrades to Underweight from Neutral - PT $105 • $CE: BMO Capital Downgrades to Underperform from Market Perform - PT $76 (from $138) • $CE: UBS Downgrades to Neutral from Buy - PT $97 (from $161) • $GCMG: TD Cowen Downgrades to Hold from Buy - PT $15.50 • $IMCR: Mizuho Downgrades to Neutral from Outperform - PT $38 (from $72) • $MRK: Daiwa Securities Downgrades to Neutral from Outperform • $NOV: Citi Downgrades to Neutral from Buy - PT $18 (from $21) • $NRDY: JPMorgan Downgrades to Underweight from Neutral • $NVR: Seaport Global Securities Downgrades to Neutral from Buy • $PRA: Piper Sandler Downgrades to Neutral from Overweight - PT $18 • $RVTY: Nephron Downgrades to Sell from Sell - PT $105 • $SMAR: Guggenheim Downgrades to Neutral from Buy • $TDW: Raymond James Downgrades to Outperform from Strong Buy - PT $102 (from $131) • $TEM: Stifel Downgrades to Hold from Buy - PT $65 (from $45) • $VALE: UBS Downgrades to Neutral from Buy - PT $11.50 (from $14) • $WHF: Oppenheimer Downgrades to Perform from Outperform - PT $12 (from $14) • $XERS: Piper Sandler Downgrades to Neutral from Overweight - PT $3