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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
