The American indices are once again close to their records, with the exception of the Nasdaq which is still a little behind. In the middle of the earnings season, it is customary to consult the weekly FactSet reports to judge the quality of the year. In their somewhat mechanical language, analysts at the US research firm compare the results published by the S & P500 companies with the average expectations of analysts in terms of sales and results. They also compare the size of the gap between reported numbers and projections. Then they compare it to data from previous quarters to determine the quality of the data.

Here’s roughly what it looks like on October 25: So far, 23% of companies on the US Broad Index have released their quarterly reports. 84% of them outperformed analysts’ expectations in terms of earnings per share, for an average outperformance of 13.4%. With respective long-term averages of 76% and 8.4%, the third quarter of 2021 is rather favorable. The evolution of income is the same, although a little less pronounced.

Analysts are by nature cautious and their forecasts are skilfully steered down by corporate finance departments, who obviously prefer to positively surprise the market. Companies also have a few levers, such as share buybacks, to boost their performance.

This is a positive result for the S & P500 companies, which is part of the reason the US indices are once again flirting with all-time highs after suffering profit-taking in September. The financial sector surprised the most positively, as did technology – again – and healthcare. The results will continue to punctuate the stock market sessions this week, since Facebook, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Visa or Apple are on the shelves in the United States, as well as HSBC, Novartis, Samsung, CATL, Volkswagen, Sony or TotalEnergies elsewhere in the world. world.

Other important indicators will be released in the coming days, such as US durable goods orders on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision. The next day, the European Central Bank will be on deck to review its own policy, just before the United States releases its first estimate of third-quarter GDP. On Friday, the GDPs of the major European economies and the euro zone will be unveiled, just before US inflation “PCE”, which measures the evolution of prices at the household level.

China is also considering deploying a fiscal arsenal to tackle land speculation, but this could take some time to implement. Beijing has also indicated that it wants to limit the share of fossil fuels to less than 20% of its energy mix by 2060. The resurgence of the coronavirus in several parts of the country does not seem to bother investors for the moment. In the United States, central bank boss Jerome Powell admitted on Friday that inflation was a little more problematic than expected. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is trying to save the financing of his stimulus plan: a tax on billionaires is being considered this time, which has not failed to rekindle internal dissension in the Democratic camp. On another note, the Turkish currency plunged after President Erdogan’s latest explosion against his country’s western chancelleries.

Economic highlights of the day:

In Europe, we have the German Ifo Business Confidence Index for October and in the United States, the Chicago Fed’s Activity Index for September.

The dollar climbs to $ 0.8614, while an ounce of gold once again approaches the $ 1,810 mark. In the oil market, North Sea Brent hit $ 86.33 per barrel, while US WTI light crude hit $ 84.92. Bond yields were little changed over the weekend, with 10-year maturities returning 1.64% in the US and -0.11% in Germany. Bitcoin is up 3% to $ 63,800.

On the stairs :

* Tesla is gaining 4.4% in pre-market trading and could open at an all-time high after a Bloomberg report of an order for 100,000 vehicles from US carmaker of rental group Hertz. Separately, the new version 10.3.1 of Tesla’s autonomous driving software is being launched, CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter on Monday, a day after the previous update was withdrawn after reports of malfunctions by the users. Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $ 900 to $ 1,200.

* Paypal has no plans to acquire Pinterest at this time, the payment services group said on Sunday, refuting press reports reporting talks to buy the photo-sharing site for $ 45 billion. PayPal shares, which lost more than 10% last week, are listed up 6% in pre-market exchanges and Pinterest shares are down 13.2%.

* Bristol Myers Squibb is considering buying Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, a company that develops treatments for autoimmune diseases, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

* Restaurant Brands on Monday reported lower than expected quarterly sales due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus and staff shortages at its Tim Hortons and Burger King restaurants.

Analyst recommendations:

• American Express: RBC raises price target from $ 185 to $ 195, maintains industry performance rating
• Ameriprise Financial: RBC raises price target from $ 295 to $ 325, maintains outperformance rating
• Ares Management: RBC raises price target from $ 80 to $ 87, maintains outperformance rating
• AstraZeneca: JP Morgan maintains its buy rating on the stock. The price target remains unchanged at 10,000 GBP.
• Autoliv: RBC raises price target to $ 110 from $ 98, outperformance is maintained
• Beyond Meat: Barclays Adjusts Beyond $ 80 vs. $ 90 Meat Price Target, Reiterates Underweight Rating
• Bilibili: Nomura adjusts price target to $ 99 from $ 90, maintains buy rating
• Crown Castle International REIT: RBC lowers price target from $ 210 to $ 202, return is maintained
• EasyJet: Stifel has moved from selling to custody with a target of 600 GBp.
• eBay: Wedbush raises price target from $ 63 to $ 74, neutral rating maintained
• Fortinet: KeyBanc adjusts price target to $ 370 from $ 324, maintains overweight rating
• HubSpot: KeyBanc adjusts price target to $ 912 from $ 834, maintains overweight rating
• Microsoft: KeyBanc adjusts price target to $ 365 from $ 342, maintains overweight rating
• Olin: KeyBanc adjusts price target on Olin to $ 64 from $ 59, maintains overweight rating
• Oracle: KeyBanc Adjusts Oracle Price Target to $ 104 vs. $ 100, Maintains Overweight Rating
• Weibo: Nomura adjusts price target to $ 65 from $ 70, maintains buy rating
• WSFS Financial: Keefe Bruyette & Woods Downgrades Instead of Outperforming Market Performance; the target price is $ 56