Ladies and gentlemen, we have a contest on our hands!

While member ‘Rainendown’ is still in first place with a return of 173.48%, second place member ‘Jimpro63’ is hot on his tail with a return of 161.00%. What’s more, third place member ‘bob parker’ isn’t far behind either with a return of 151.85%. Watch out Rainendown and Jimpro63… having finished 4th in last month’s contest, bob parker is gunning for a title shot.

As for a broad Stock Challenge recap, 272 stocks are in the green and 156 are in the red, up from 254 and 174 at the start of this month’s challenge. As a result, the Stock Challenge Index (SCI) is now sitting at 13.54%, up yet another 3.54% from last Friday’s close!

Ashford Hospitality Trust Breaks Out While NIO Breaks Down

Ashford Hospitality Trust

Ashford Hospitality Trust had one of the biggest stock breakouts of the day, rising 4.42% today from US$5.57 to US$6.93. The stock began its rise after Deutsche Bank raised its price target for the company from US$2.00 to US$15.00, according to the Motley Fool. Having suffered the biggest stock breakdown of the month earlier in July, this is a welcome recovery for Ashford.

NIO

Following a downgrade from Goldman Sachs, Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO plummeted 14.30% from US$12.94 to US$11.09, trading well over 280 million shares in the process.

Via Benzinga,

Goldman Sachs analyst Fei Fang downgraded Nio from Neutral to Sell and reiterated the $7 price target, suggesting 46% downside from current levels compared to the 16% drop for China OEMs the firm covers.

Moreover,

Following the 89% rally over the past month, Nio’s stock price currently reflects “over-optimism,” considering the fact there are no substantial changes to volume/profit expectations, Fang said in a Friday note.

NIO last announced at the beginning of July that it had achieved record-high monthly and quarterly vehicle deliveries.

Via NIO,

“NIO delivered 3,740 vehicles in June 2020, representing a strong 179.1% growth year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 2,476 ES6s, the Company’s 5-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and 1,264 ES8s, the Company’s 7-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and its 6-seater variant. NIO delivered 10,331 vehicles in the second quarter of 2020, representing an increase of 190.8% year-over-year and an increase of 169.2% quarter-over-quarter. . .”