Hi All - Happy Tuesday.

We are going to continue offering polls this week to gather your thoughts on “The Midday Trade” and help us make a decision on how to move forward with it.

There are 4 Days left to give us your feedback on the “Midday Trade,” and any input is greatly appreciated!

Moving on, here’s what you missed this morning:

• 🟥 | Market Snapshot: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both tumbled roughly 1% as the market braces for quarterly reports from mega-cap tech companies.

• 🗓️ | In focus: The Fed’s two-day policy meeting began today, and investors are watching closely for clues on the timing and number of rate cuts to expect in the next few months.

• 🙂 | Noteworthy: The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index rose to 100.3 in July, up from 97.8 in June, showing a rebound in how consumers feel about the near-term future.

• 💊 | The Midday Trade: New Players in the Weight-Loss Game. Scroll down for more.

Plus, today’s partner outlines Elon Musk’s “biggest fear”...

TOGETHER WITH THE FREEPORT SOCIETY

It Doesn’t Matter Who You Voted For

It doesn’t matter who you voted for in past elections or will vote for in 2024. Our country is undergoing profound changes driven by a powerful force that many don’t fully understand.

Elon Musk has called it his “biggest fear,” and a leading research firm predicts it could bring 300 years of change in just two years. This shift will transform daily life—from work and travel to how we manage our finances.

While the changes may seem alarming at first, those who are prepared can seize new opportunities. To learn more about these developments and how to get ready, click here.

STREET STATS

MORNING MOVERS

CrowdStrike, Merck, & JetBlue

CRWD: CrowdStrike’s stock plummeted after Delta Air Lines announced it hired attorney David Boies to seek damages due to the outage (CNBC)

MRK: Shares of Merck tumbled as its weaker-than-expected full-year guidance overshadowed its strong second-quarter report (YF)

WWD: Aerospace equipment company Woodward saw its shares fall after reporting a fiscal third-quarter revenue miss (Investing.com)

JBLUE: JetBlue’s stock surged after posting a surprise profit and saying it would defer $3 billion in aircraft spending through 2029 to improve cash flow (CNBC)

PYPL: Shares of PayPal moved higher after posting upbeat growth in transaction-margin dollars for its June quarter (MW)

TOP CALLS

Carpenter Tech: BTIG Maintains Buy on Carpenter Tech, Raises Price Target to $165 (Trade It)

Filo: Scotiabank Downgrades Filo to Sector Perform, Lowers Price Target to C$33 (Trade It)

Topaz Energy: Canaccord Genuity Maintains Buy on Topaz Energy, Raises Price Target to C$29.5 (Trade It)

Vista Gold: HC Wainwright & Co. Reiterates Buy on Vista Gold, Maintains $2.75 Price Target (Trade It)

Biopharmaceutical: Needham Reiterates Buy on Day One Biopharmaceutical, Maintains $33 Price Target (Trade It)

Cameco: Canaccord Genuity Maintains Buy on Cameco, Lowers Price Target to C$75 (Trade It)

THE MIDDAY TRADE

New Players in the Weight-Loss Game

Competition is Heating Up

Currently, the GLP-1 weight-loss drug market is dominated by two companies: Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY). Those days will eventually come to an end, and that end is getting closer and closer.

Recently, Roche (RHHBY) and Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) have both announced promising experimental treatments that may allow their patients to lose weight faster than Wegovy and Ozempic. Over the past two weeks Eli Lilly has lost $123 billion market value, and Novo’s stock has dropped 10%.

Roche

Roche recently unveiled that its CT-996 drug, a once-daily oral treatment, helped obese patients lose 6.1% of their weight in 4 weeks. This means it could soon become the third large-cap healthcare company to have an anti-obesity drug on the market.

In contrast, Lilly is working on a similar drug that helped patients lose only 3% over the same time frame.

Roche is taking the drug to phase 2 trials next year and will continue developing its injectable version. It is also experimenting with combining the two.

Viking Therapeutics

Last week Viking announced that its VK-2735 injectable drug that combined GLP-1 and GIP is heading for phase 3 trials after its meeting with the FDA. The company is experimenting with making it a once-monthly dosage, and it is looking increasingly optimistic that it could be a reality.

It is also developing an oral drug, which will start phase 2 trials at the end of the year.

While Lilly and Novo Nordisk were never going to remain the only two players in the field, they have built a sizable lead. It will be at least a few years before they have true competition, but these companies offer a lot to be excited about.

TOGETHER WITH THE FREEPORT SOCIETY

It Doesn’t Matter Who You Voted For

It doesn’t matter who you voted for in past elections or will vote for in 2024. Our country is undergoing profound changes driven by a powerful force that many don’t fully understand.

Elon Musk has called it his “biggest fear,” and a leading research firm predicts it could bring 300 years of change in just two years. This shift will transform daily life—from work and travel to how we manage our finances.

While the changes may seem alarming at first, those who are prepared can seize new opportunities. To learn more about these developments and how to get ready, click here.

SURVEY THE STREET

OpenAI plans to release ChatGPT-5 in late 2024 or early 2025 and has announced some of its new features.

These features include improved multi-phase task handling, a larger context window, multimodal capabilities, and enhanced reasoning capacity.

However, there are plenty who don’t think the release of ChatGPT-5 will substantially help OpenAI, which is on track to take a $5 billion operational loss this year.

Critics see GPT-5 as an incremental improvement that most users won’t find compelling enough to pay for.

Plus, Yesterday’s Poll + Results:

Will McDonald's Make a 2025 Comeback?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes ✅ 

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ No ❌ 

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