Rental Cars, Earnings Rush, and a Yen Shock

The Big Picture

August 1 opens with markets juggling a record-heavy earnings week, fresh FX volatility, and growing bearish pressure in consumer names. Over 170 S&P 500 companies reported this week. Today's slate includes ExxonMobil, Chevron, AbbVie, and Eaton. Results will set the tone heading into the weekend.

Bears Pile Into Rental Cars

The clearest short-selling story right now is rental cars. Hertz SI hit 84.6% of free float — with zero shares left to borrow. That's a potential short squeeze setup. Avis Budget Group isn't far behind at 36.2%. Shorts added roughly 7 points in a single week. Analysts have set targets 15% below current prices on Avis. Bears and analysts are reading from the same script.

Chewy also stands out. SI jumped to 82.4% from 72.4% in one week. Short sellers added over 10 percentage points of float. That pace is rare for a $9.5B company.

Analyst Splits: Housing vs. Pharma

Wall Street cut targets on homebuilders. Builders FirstSource saw its average target fall nearly 8% to $80.95. On the other side, AbbVie and Arthur J. Gallagher received upgrades in consensus targets. The divergence reflects caution on housing and renewed confidence in healthcare.

Insiders Sell Near Highs

Charles Schwab's founder filed $19.8M in SCHW sales this week. The stock sits near 52-week highs. Separately, Liquidia backers reported $23.7M in combined sales as the stock trades up 152% year-to-date.

Europe: Yen Intervention, London Push

The yen jumped 3% amid speculation the New York Fed sold euros to buy yen. South Korean stocks soared 18% on AI chipmaker enthusiasm. London's FCA launched plans to revive UK share trading with a single data stream proposal.