| US benchmarks cruised to more gains on Monday in what was a strong start to the trading week. The Dow added 1.3%, and the S&P 500 advanced 1.1%. The Nasdaq gained 0.8%, and the small-cap Russell 2K closed 0.3% higher. Today, futures are in the red in early morning trading. S&P 500 contracts are currently showing a 0.3% loss. 3 Tiny Stocks Primed to Explode The world's greatest investor â Warren Buffett â has a simple formula for making big money in the markets. He buys up valuable assets when they are very cheap. For stock market investors, that means buying up cheap small cap stocks like these with huge upside potential. We've set up an alert service to help smart investors take full advantage of the small cap stocks primed for big returns. Click here for full details and to join for free. No Major News Sherwin Williams Co. [SHW] - Last Close: $212.53 Sherwin Williams is moving higher after a strong quarterly report. The paint-maker reported its Q3 earnings this morning, and the results exceeded The Street's expectations.
SHW reported Q3 EPS of $2.83, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 per share. Revenues of $6.05 billion also surpassed analysts' $5.82 billion forecast. SHW is leading the S&P 500 with a 5.8% gain in early morning trading. My Take: Sherwin Williams is a great company, but they've had a rough year. However, its chart shows share prices are coming off a double-bottom, which could signal a pivot is coming. Limestone Bancorp Inc [LMST] - Last Close: $19.65 A major merger announcement is lifting shares of Limestone Bancorp. Early this morning, the bank holding company and Peoples Bancorp [PEBO] jointly announced the two companies had signed on to a definitive merger agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Peoples Bank will acquire Limestone in an all-stock merger valued at roughly $208.2 million. Limestone shareholders will receive 0.9 shares of Peoples Bancorp common stock in exchange for their LMT shares. As of Monday's closing price, 90% of a PEBO share is worth about $27.72 The acquisition is expected to close in Q2 2023, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Both boards of directors have already signed off on the deal. LMST is one of today's top stocks with a 28.3% gain. My Take: The merger deal pays LMST shareholders a decent premium, but a lot of the upside has already been eaten up. Plus, PEBO shares are down 2.6%, so any remaining profit margin potential is rapidly disappearing. Taysha Gene Therapies [TSHA] - Last Close: $1.51 Taysha Gene Therapies is rallying on news of a new investment. The gene therapy company announced today that Astellas Pharma [ALPMF] will invest $50 million in the company in exchange for a 15% ownership stake. Taysha says the investment will support development of its gene therapy programs t treat Rett syndrome and giant axonal neuropathy. Under the terms of the deal, Astellas gets an exclusive option to license two clinical-stage progras: TSHA-102 for Rett Syndrome and TSHA-120 for giant axonal neuropathy. Astellas will also get an "observer seat" on Taysha's board. TSHA is one of this morning's top performers with a 41.7% gain. My Take: It's never a bad sign when the Smart Money wants to take a large stake in a company. This tiny gene therapy stock could be on the up and up. Weber Inc [WEBR] - Last Close: $5.03 Weber is surging on news of an acquisition offer. On Monday, an amended 13D filing revealed that BDT Capital Partners has offered to acquire all outstanding shares of the BBQ grill-maker for $6.25 per share in cash. The offer represents a 24.25% premium over WEBR's Monday closing price. The board has yet to comment on the proposal. It's currently unclear whether the company will accept the offer, but shares are rallying to close the gap on the news. WEBR is showing a 24.4% gain ahead of the opening bell. My Take: WEBR just set a new 52-week low on Monday at $4.82 per share. This deal seems like a no-brainer for the company, but it's currently unclear whether it will go through. At this point, it seems like there's more potential for downside in this trade than upside, so I'd stay away or bet bearish. |
