Stocks heat up with Memorial Day break on deck 🇺🇸

The Dow slid to a 0.1% loss on Thursday, while the S&P 500 added 0.8% and the Nasdaq rallied 1.7%. The small-cap Russell 2K closed 0.7% lower.

Futures are in the green in early premarket trading. S&P 500 contracts are currently showing a 0.2% gain.

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It's been a rough few months for the market, but this slowdown could be the prelude to one of the greatest growth booms in history.

And now could be an excellent time to start snatching up select assets at dirt-cheap prices.

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🧊 No Debt Ceiling Deal Despite Signs of Progress

Ongoing negotiations between Congressional Republicans and the White House are breaking for the Memorial Day weekend with no deal in place. Some progress was made this week, but a few sticking points remain.

If a deal isn't in place by June 1st, the U.S. could run out of money to pay some of its obligations.

Gap is heating up after a late Thursday earnings report.

The clothing retailer reported its fiscal Q1 results after yesterday's close, and the results were better than expected.

Gap's fiscal Q1 loss narrowed to just $(0.05) from $(0.44) a year earlier. Consensus estimates called for a loss of $(0.15) per share.

Net sales came in at $3.28 billion, falling perfectly in line with the consensus, but they were down from last year's $3.48 billion top-line figure.

Gap also reaffirmed its fiscal Q2 and 2023 sales guidance in the report.

GPS is leading the S&P 500 with an 11.9% gain on the heels of the strong report.

My Take: Shares of GPS are down big this year, but it doesn't look like this company is doing all that bad. This stock is beginning to look like a pretty good value at this price point.

Pinduoduo parent company PDD Holdings is moving higher on an earnings beat.

This morning, the eCommerce company posted better-than-expected results on its Q1 earnings report, and shares are trending on the news.

PDD Holdings generated Q1 non-GAAP earnings of 6.92 renminbi ($1.01) per American depositary share, topping the consensus of 4.44 renminbi.

The company posted Q1 revenues of 37.64 billion renminbi, which beat analysts' 31.94 renminbi estimate and marked a steep increase from last year's figure.

PDD is one of today's top premarket performers with a 15.1% gain.

My Take: PDD is another stock that has struggled in recent months, but this earnings report looks promising. Chinese consumers are coming back, and PDD has a lot of eCommerce platforms geared towards budget-conscious shoppers.

A late-Thursday regulatory filing is lifting shares of Elevation Oncology.

After yesterday's close, a Form SC 13G filing revealed a prominent investor has taken a position in the micro-cap oncology company.

According to the filing, Wall Street rock star Stephen Cohen's Point72 Asset Management has amassed a position of 2.121 million shares of ELEV.

The firm's position equals an 8.7% ownership stake in the company.

ELEV is up 40.2% on news of Cohen's interest in the tiny company.

My Take: The market seems to really like this deal. KBNT might have hit a home run with this one.

MediaAlpha [MAX] - Last Close: $7.60

A newly-launched tender offer is driving up shares of MAX.

Early today, White Mountains Insurance Group [WTM] said it's commencing a cash tender offer to purchase up to 5 million shares of MAX at $10 apiece.

The offer will expire on June 26th, unless it's extended or terminated, and it includes a minimum condition of 2.5 million shares properly tendered.

White Mountains representatives specified that they're making the offer because they believe it's a valuable investment, and the tender offer wasn't made "for the purpose of acquiring or influencing control of the... company."

MAX is up 27.7% on the news, and it's currently trading just below the proposed tender bid of $10.

My Take: The Smart Money at White Mountains Insurance sees an opportunity here, so that's a good indication that this stock could be worth taking a look at. You're too late to cash in on the tender offer, but WTM wouldn't have made the deal if they didn't think share prices would go up. Keep an eye on MAX.

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