Watch Walgreens, Nike, Palantir, and PDD

Walgreens (WBA) is looking more like a “buyout” pump and “sell the rumor” dump. The drugstore stock gained 6.5% to close at $10.82 after reports surfaced that private equity firm Sycamore Partners is securing $10 billion in funding from Morgan Stanley (MS) and UBS.Shareholders will likely reject a lowball bid but may not have a choice. The “takeunder” is the only bid that Walgreens might receive.A mild sell-off in artificial intelligence-related suppliers left Palantir (PLTR) down by 10.53% on Monday. PLTR stock peaked at over $120 just a few days ago. Sentiment rapidly reversed, as markets speculated that CEO Karp sold shares. Still, bears do not hold a big short position on the stock. The short float is 3.33%.China’s PDD (PDD), which owns Temu, suddenly reversed after the stock rallied from around $95 last month to above $130. Anyone who chased the rally in Chinese technology stocks may face losses from here. Only investors who bought shares of Alibaba (BABA), Bilibili (BILI), or JD (JD) at the lows in Q4/2024 are fine.China cannot predict if the U.S. will soften its stance on trade or abruptly change directions. Stock markets are pricing in for the latter scenario. The U.S. President reiterated plans to impose 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada on March 1, 2025.