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TRADING HIGHLIGHTS 

Good Week

Shares of Seagen Inc. SGEN, shot up 14.7% toward a seven-month high, after The Wall Street Journal reported that Merck & Co. Inc. is looking into buying the cancer-focused biotechnology company. The drug-maker Merck's stock eased 0.2%. Seagen's market capitalization was about $31.2 billion at current stock prices.  Seagen Inc. is a biotechnology company, which engages in the development and commercialization of antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The firm is also advancing a pipeline of novel therapies for solid tumors and blood-related cancers.

HANOVER, Pa., Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE: UTZ) +6.48% a leading U.S. manufacturer of branded salty snacks, announced today it introduced its portfolio of Utz, On The Border Chips & Dips, Zapp's and Golden Flake snack foods across nearly 1,300 Public stores. These new placements add Utz Brands to more stores located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.  Utz remains focused on Family-Crafted Flavor, reflecting the brand's pride in its family legacy, the love baked into every Utz snack, and the carefully-crafted flavors families love.


Bad Week

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE-US) -3.6% is going to be in focus after news that Vince McMahon will be stepping down as CEO while the wrestling company's board investigates him for alleged misconduct. In the meantime, his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, will serve as interim CEO and chairwoman.

This comes after an extensive report by "The Wall Street Journal”. The positive from an investor's standpoint, she understands the company and what has been done in the history of the company, therefore will ensure business continuity.  Vince McMahon is leaving as CEO, but he is still retaining his creative role inside the company, which he has valued for many, many years. There is not expectation that WWE will be brought or sold, it is still managed by the McMahon family.

Adobe's (NASDAQ: ADBE) -1.2% stock price dipped during after-hours trading yesterday following the release of its second-quarter earnings report.  Adobe previously established an early-mover's advantage in the creativity software market with its flagship Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro products. That "best in breed" reputation kept designers and media professionals firmly locked into its ecosystem.  Over the past decade, Adobe has transformed its desktop-based software into cloud-based services. That transition increased the stickiness of its ecosystem, generated stable recurring revenue, and enabled it to expand into adjacent markets with enterprise-oriented cloud services.

Adobe's revised guidance indicates that deceleration will continue throughout the second half of the year. It attributed that slowdown to "summer seasonality" in the third quarter, higher tax rates, a foreign exchange impact of $175 million throughout the second half of the year, and the suspension of its new sales in Russia and Belarus in response to the war in Ukraine.

What Else Happened?

Growth outperformed value by approximately 100bp today. META-US , GOOGL-US , media were stronger. Chinese tech, semi cap equipment, hardware, so􀄽ware, networking, internets OTAs were outperformers. Online retailers, auto retailers, casual diners, EVs, apparel, accessories, cruise lines, gaming, airlines were areas of strength.  Biotech, hospitals, healthcare services were good gainers. Credit cards, regional banks, online lenders, asset managers outperformed. There were pockets of strength in steel after X-US was latest to positively preannounce Q2 results. Energy led to the downside with crude closing down over 6%, integrated, E&Ps, refiners, oilfield services were among worst performers. Global miners, precious metal miners were laggards. Chemicals were weak after a downgrade. Defense, trucking, marine shipping, waste were worse in industrials. IBs, exchanges were lower. Packaged food, HPCs, grocers, staples retailing lagged. Discounters, dollar stores underperformed. Homebuilders were also weaker after a downgrade.