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Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are trading lower for the fourth consecutive day, following deep selling on Monday, particularly in some of the major technology names, such as NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), after it was disclosed that billionaire Peter Thiel had sold his entire position in the stock during the third quarter. This comes on the heels of Softbank announcing the liquidation of its entire position in the company last week, and Michael Burry of “Big Short” fame’s purchase of NVIDIA puts. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was the big winner on Monday after it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) had initiated a substantial $4.3 billion position, as Warren Buffett’s legacy firm purchased approximately 17.8 million shares of Alphabet stock in the third quarter of 2025.
Wall Street remains focused on upcoming data like the September jobs report, which is expected to be released on Thursday. The 43-day government shutdown delayed the release of most crucial economic numbers that both Wall Street and the Federal Reserve rely on.
Treasury Bonds:
Treasuries saw some modest buying across the curve on Monday, with yields lower on almost all the maturities. While S&P 500 earnings for the quarter have been mostly completed, and the upcoming economic data is on the way, it’s essential to remember that Federal Reserve members are currently in a blackout period, so market and financial commentary from that group is expected to be muted for a while. The 30-year long bond closed at a 4.73% yield, with the benchmark 10-year note last seen at 4.13%.
Oil and Gas:
Following a stellar end to last week, the energy complex was lower across the board on Monday, as both benchmarks ended lower and natural gas declined by more than 5%. Oil traded lower after it was announced that loading operations had resumed at Russia’s Novorossiysk export hub, following a two-day suspension caused by Ukrainian attacks. In addition, concerns about oversupply persist, despite OPEC+ having previously announced that the initially planned output increase for January was delayed and the group decided to pause production hikes. Brent Crude finished trading at $64.04 while West Texas Intermediate was last seen at $59.76. Natural gas had the most significant drawdown, closing Monday at $4.36, as profit-taking took center stage.
Gold:
The profit takers were also after Gold on Monday, sending the bullion down 0.93% to close the day at $4,043. Traders cited the ongoing concerns that the Federal Reserve will not cut rates at the final meeting of the year, as expectations have fallen from over 70% last week to just below the 50% mark. It will be interesting to see if Gold can hold the $4,000 level, a range it broke through in late October after a massive rally in 2025.
Crypto:
Like other assets and sectors, the cryptocurrency market was down primarily due to ongoing waning confidence in the Federal Reserve for a December interest rate cut, leading to a broader “risk-off” sentiment across global markets. Bitcoin was trading at $91,620 at 4 PM EST, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,992. Higher interest rates generally make “riskier” assets like cryptocurrencies less attractive to institutional investors. Bitcoin briefly traded below the $90,000 level this morning before regaining that level—all of the 2025 gains from the Crypto giant are now officially gone.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Higher interest rates generally make “riskier” assets like cryptocurrencies less attractive to institutional investors.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
Upgrades:
- AES Corp. (NYSE: AES) was raised to Hold from Sell at Jefferies with a $13 target price.
- Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital, which has set a $320 price target objective.
- Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was raised to a Buy rating at Stifel from Hold with a $117 target price.
- Legence Corp. (NASDAQ: LGN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies with a $49 target price.
- Pennant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG) is raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo with a $31 target price.
Downgrades:
- Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Rothschild & Co. Redburn with a $250 target price objective.
- Civitas Resources Inc. (NYSE: CIVI ) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, which has a $27 target price for the shares.
- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) was cut to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Barclays, which lowered the target price on the Dividend Aristocrat to $106 from $113.
- Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was double downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America with a $205 target price.
- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Rothschild & Co. Redburn with a $250 target.
- Vici Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: VICI) was cut to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo with a $32 target price.
Initiations:
- Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) was initiated with an Equal-Weight rating at Wells Fargo, which has an $85 price target.
- DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was started with an Equal-Weight rating from Wells Fargo, which has a $31 target price objective.
- Flutter Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: FLUT) was started with an Overweight rating at Wells Fargo with a $272 target price.
- FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Cantor Fitzgerald with a $75 target price.
- Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) was started with a Hold rating at Berenberg with a $165 target price.
- Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was initiated with a Buy rating at Berenberg with a $400 target price objective.