Here's a list of the market's most speculative stocks

MarketWatch

By Steve Goldstein

Quantum computing, AI and bitcoin plays screen as some of the most speculative companies

Hope you got all the presents you wanted during the festive season.

If not, there are always lottery stocks. That is, highly speculative stocks that can go either boom or bust.

But how do you find these companies? A research paper from authors including Alok Kumar of the University of Miami notes that, if all market participants were passive investors, the ratio of dollar volume to market capitalization would be equal for all stocks. So to find the most speculative stocks, look for the stocks with the highest turnover ratios.

MarketWatch, as we've done from time to time, screened New York Stock Exchange- and Nasdaq-listed stocks, with market caps of at least $500 million, to find such companies.

Here's the list:

   Symbol  Name                                     Last year's annual profit, before items, millions of dollars 
   RGTI    Rigetti Computing, Inc.                  -75.1 
   BBAI    BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.                -60.4 
   BTBT    Bit Digital, Inc.                        -13.9 
   OPEN    Opendoor Technologies Inc                -275 
   CAN     Canaan Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A        -414.2 
   CHPT    ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. Class A       -457.6 
   PLUG    Plug Power Inc.                          -1,368.80 
   TLRY    Tilray Brands, Inc.                      -245 
   QBTS    D-Wave Quantum Inc.                      -82.7 
   QUBT    Quantum Computing Inc.                   -27 
   PACB    Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc.  -306.7 
   RCAT    Red Cat Holdings Inc                     -21.5 
   RZLV    Rezolve AI Limited                       -0.3 
   SERV    Serve Robotics Inc                       -24.8 
   WOLF    Wolfspeed Inc                            -573.6 
   ACHR    Archer Aviation Inc Class A              -457.9 
   NVTS    Navitas Semiconductor Corporation        -145.4 
   CLSK    Cleanspark, Inc.                         -145.8 
   IQ      iQIYI, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A        271.8 
   MARA    MARA Holdings, Inc.                      261.2

The companies the screen identifies make intuitive sense: it's a list filled with quantum computing, AI and bitcoin plays. Most aren't profitable, though Asian video provider iQIYI and bitcoin miner MARA Holdings have made money this year.

For what it's worth, homebuilder NVR (NVR) and travel provider Booking Holdings (BKNG) screen as the least speculative stocks using this methodology, which makes sense given that each share carries a four-digit cost, making them ill-suited to day trading.

The markets

U.S. stock index futures were lower early Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00) down 120 points, or 0.27%, to 43,582, while S&P 500 (ES00) futures fell 19.5 points, or 0.32%, to 6,075, and Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ00) fell 79 points, or 0.36%, to 21,929.

European and Asian shares were mixed Friday in thin year-end trading, after China reported lower corporate profits in November, the fourth straight month of decline, with European markets moving in narrow ranges as they reopened after Christmas holidays.

Germany's DAX DX:DAX edged 0.1% higher to 19,863.29, while the CAC 40 FR:PX1 in Paris was up 0.4% at 7,308.99. Britain's FTSE 100 UK:UKX inched 0.1% lower, to 8,147.00. The dollar fell to 157.71 Japanese yen (USDJPY) from 158.00 yen. It had been trading below 150 yen until the past few days.

   Key asset performance                                                Last       5d     1m     YTD     1y 
   S&P 500                                                              6040.53    2.87%  0.70%  26.64%  26.33% 
   Nasdaq Composite                                                     20,035.34  3.31%  5.11%  33.47%  32.69% 
   10-year Treasury                                                     4.59       7.10   32.60  70.91   79.28 
   Gold                                                                 2649.9     1.93%  0.51%  27.90%  26.83% 
   Oil                                                                  69.73      0.39%  1.40%  -2.24%  -5.54% 
   Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points

The chart

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-Steve Goldstein

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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Stock Index Futures Slip on Pressure from Rising Bond Yields

Barchart

March S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESH25) are down -0.36%, and March Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQH25) are down -0.40% this morning, following Thursday’s muted session on Wall Street, as rising Treasury yields dampened risk appetite.

In yesterday’s trading session, Wall Street’s major indexes ended mixed, with the blue-chip Dow notching a 1-week high. Retail stocks advanced amid early reports of strong holiday sales, with Target and Dollar Tree rising over +3%. Also, UnitedHealth Group gained +1% after Raymond James added the stock to its “Favorites List.” In addition, GameStop climbed more than +5% following a post on X by Keith Gill, who is recognized online as Roaring Kitty. On the bearish side, cryptocurrency-exposed stocks came under pressure after Bitcoin fell over -3%, with Microstrategy sliding more than -4% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100.

The Labor Department’s report on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing for initial jobless claims in the past week unexpectedly fell by -1K to a 1-month low of 219K, compared with the 223K expected.

“Eco data is a non-event until we move into the new year,” said Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth. “Christmas is behind us, but the New Year is ahead of us. Volumes will remain muted.”

Meanwhile, U.S. rate futures have priced in an 89.3% chance of no rate change and a 10.7% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the January FOMC meeting.

Today, investors will focus on U.S. Wholesale Inventories data, which is set to be released in a couple of hours. Economists expect the preliminary November figure to be +0.1% m/m, compared to +0.2% m/m in October.

U.S. Crude Oil Inventories data will be released today as well. Economists estimate this figure to be -0.700M, compared to last week’s value of -0.934M.

In the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is at 4.609%, up +0.66%.

The Euro Stoxx 50 futures are up +0.72% this morning as trading resumed after a two-day holiday. Bank and healthcare stocks led the gains on Friday. Meanwhile, with 2025 nearing, investor focus remains on the monetary policy outlooks of the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve and possible tariff changes under the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. In corporate news, Delivery Hero Se slid over -4% after Taiwan’s antitrust regulator blocked the sale of its Foodpanda business to Uber Technologies.

The European economic data slate is mainly empty on Friday.

Asian stock markets today closed in the green. China’s Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) closed up +0.06%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Index (NIK) closed up +1.80%.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed slightly higher today as investors digested industrial profit data from the country. Property and building material stocks outperformed on Friday. At the same time, semiconductor stocks lost ground. The benchmark index ended the final week of the year higher, supported by expectations of robust 2025 fiscal spending in China. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Friday showed that China’s industrial profit fell in November, albeit at a slower pace, as Beijing took steps to boost domestic demand. Industrial profits dropped 7.3% in November from a year earlier, showing an improvement from October’s 10.0% decline. Meanwhile, market participants are shifting their focus to China’s PMI data for December, scheduled for release early next week. In other news, the World Bank on Thursday raised its economic growth forecast for China to 4.9% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025, though it cautioned that the country’s economy would continue to face challenges. In corporate news, Kuang-Chi Technologies climbed over +6% on plans to set up a research and development base for unmanned aerial vehicles in the Chinese city of Leshan in Sichuan Province.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Index closed sharply higher and hit a 5-month high today as a weaker yen fueled broad-based gains. Electronics stocks led the gains on Friday. The benchmark index posted its strongest weekly performance since September. Government data released on Friday showed that core inflation in Japan’s capital picked up for the second consecutive month in December, keeping market expectations for an imminent interest rate hike alive. Separately, government data showed that Japan’s retail sales grew at the fastest pace in November since August, while industrial output fell less than expected. Meanwhile, a summary of opinions from the Bank of Japan’s December meeting revealed mixed views among its board members regarding the timing of another rate hike, largely due to uncertainties surrounding the U.S. economy. “The bank will likely decide to raise the policy interest rate in the near future, but at this point, it is necessary for the bank to be patient and monitor the uncertainties over the U.S. economy until those uncertainties subside,” one board member said. The yen rebounded slightly on Friday after Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato stated that the government would take appropriate steps against excessive fluctuations in the foreign exchange market. In other news, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s cabinet on Friday approved a record $730 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year while reducing new bond issuance to the lowest level in 17 years due to record tax revenue. In corporate news, Nidec Corp. gained over +4% following its plans to launch a 257 billion yen ($1.6 billion) bid for Makino Milling Machine. The Nikkei Volatility, which takes into account the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, closed up +0.73% to 20.80.

The Japanese December Tokyo Core CPI came in at +2.4% y/y, weaker than expectations of +2.5% y/y.

The Japanese November Industrial Production (preliminary) stood at -2.3% m/m, stronger than expectations of -3.4% m/m.

The Japanese November Retail Sales arrived at +2.8% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.5% y/y.

The Japanese November Unemployment Rate was 2.5%, in line with expectations.

Pre-Market U.S. Stock Movers

Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks are moving higher in pre-market trading, with the price of Bitcoin up more than +1%. MicroStrategy is up more than +1%. Also, MARA Holdings is up about +0.8%, and Bit Digital is up nearly +1%.

American Battery Metals soared about +21% in pre-market trading after announcing securities purchase agreements with two institutional investors for the purchase and sale of about 3.77 million shares and warrants.

Today’s U.S. Earnings Spotlight: Friday - December 27th

None.

On the date of publication, Oleksandr Pylypenko did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policyhere.

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Red Cat Holdings Insider Sold Shares Worth $2,438,400, According to a Recent SEC Filing

MT Newswires

Red Cat Holdings

+10.65%

Nicholas Reyland Liuzza Jr, Director, on December 23, 2024, sold 220,000 shares in Red Cat Holdings for $2,438,400. Following the Form 4 filing with the SEC, Liuzza has control over a total of 461,072 shares of the company, with 461,072 shares held directly.

SEC Filing:

www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/748268/000155479524000381/xslF345X05/ownership.xml

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