Hospitality name Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT), otherwise known as Hilton Hotels, is outperforming the broader market, up 70% year-over-year. What’s more, the security has recently pulled back to its 120-day moving average, which has been a significant trendline over the past couple of years. The equity’s current perch near the $120 level is also roughly six time its initial public offering (IPO) price, while the $117 area has stepped in as a floor since HLT’s post-earnings move above it in February. Bearing all of that in mind, now looks like an ideal time to bet on HLT’s next move higher.

Analysts are still split towards Hilton Hotels stock, leaving plenty of room for upgrades and/or price target hikes going forward. Of the 14 in question, seven carry a tepid “hold” rating, while seven say “buy” or better. Plus, the 12-month consensus target price of $127 is only slightly above the stock’s price.

Meanwhile, short interest is 65% above pre-pandemic levels despite a recent decline, indicating there is still potential for additional short covering. The 8.09 million shares sold short now make up roughly 3% of the stock’s available float, or nearly a week’s worth of pent-up buying power.

An unwinding of pessimism over in the options pits could push Hilton Hotels stock higher, too. This is per the stock’s 50-day put/call volume ratio of 2.05 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits in the 99th percentile of its annual range. Echoing this, the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.17 stands higher than 85% of readings from the past year. In other words, short-term option traders have rarely been more put biased.

Lastly, Hilton Hotel stock boasts attractively priced premiums at the moment. This is according to its Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 26%, which stands higher than just 3% of all other readings from the last 12 months. Our recommended call option has a leverage ratio of 7.5, and will double on a 12.8% jump in the underlying equity.

Subscribers to Schaeffer's Weekend Trader options recommendation service received this HLT commentary on Sunday night, along with a detailed options trade recommendation -- including complete entry and exit parameters. Learn more about why Weekend Trader is one of our most popular options trading services.

The shares of Bridgeline Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BLIN) are plummeting this morning, last seen off 30.1% to trade at $8.55, snapping a seven-day win streak that placed the equity at a roughly three-year high of $14.38. The software name has been the latest target of retail investors, with the security seeing a massive spike in trading volume just yesterday, which helped it become the third most actively traded stock across U.S. exchanges at one point. 

BLIN's recent surge as a meme stock yanked it out of penny stock territory last month, with the equity quickly toppling several layers of resistance along the way, including a ceiling at its 100-day moving average. The stock also boasts a 423% year-over-year lead, though it has now erased all of yesterday's gains.

While shorts have started hitting the exits, dropping roughly 12% in the last two reporting periods, plenty of bears are hanging on. Short interest makes up 5.2% of BLIN's available float, and would take nearly a week to cover, at the stock's average daily pace of trading. 

The second quarter and first half of 2021 have come to a close, with no notable earnings reports coming up during the first full week of July. Economic data is fairly muted as well, after Monday's Independence Day holiday. Nonetheless, investors will be keeping an eye on updates from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in the middle of the week, as well as a fresh jobless claims data.

Below is a list of key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All economic dates listed below are tentative and subject to change.

The market will be closed Monday, July 5, the market is closed in observance of Independence Day. 

Tuesday, July 6, will bring the final Markit services purchasing managers' index (PMI) and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) services index. 

On Wednesday, July 7, job openings data will be featured, as well as minutes from the FOMC meeting. 

Thursday, July 8, will be focused around  regularly scheduled initial and continuing jobless claims data, as well as the consumer credit report. 

Lastly, Friday, July 9, wraps up the week with wholesale inventories on tap.  

Today's will bring job openings data will be featured, as well as minutes from the FOMC meeting.

The following companies are slated to release quarterly earnings today, July 7:

MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE:MSM -- $90.80) distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. MSC Industrial will report its Q3 earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ:WDFC -- $255.49) develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. WD-40 will report its Q3 earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

Here is a quick look at how yesterday's solo earnings announcement played out:

SMART Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SGH -- $48.10) designs and manufactures electronic products focused in memory and computing technology areas. SMART Global reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.30. The company earned $437.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.48 million.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Thursday will be focused around  regularly scheduled initial and continuing jobless claims data, as well as the consumer credit report.  All economic dates listed here are tentative and subject to change.

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With Independence Day now behind us and the second half of the year officially underway, investors are setting out their investment strategies for the back nine of 2021. The pharmaceutical industry has been in focus over the past 12 months, as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to make headlines. And while vaccine rollouts have eased some of Wall Street's fears, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is still a key player in the world of pandemic stocks. More specifically, the pharma name received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for its 15-minute antigen test roughly one year ago, which coincides with its healthy 27.3% year-over-year lead.

It looks like Abbot Laboratories stock may have more room to run, too, per data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. The equity recently appeared on White's list of the best performing stocks on the S&P 500 in July, going back 10 years. In fact, the security has seen positive monthly returns during this time period nine out of ten times, with a 4.8% pop on average. At last check, the shares are up 0.3% at $118.41, meaning a move of similar magnitude would place ABT back above $124 by the end of the month.

A similar pop would also put Abbott Laboratories stock not too far off from its Feb. 12, all-time high of $128.54. Plus, the security's June bounce off the $105 level is only picking up more steam, with shares now eyeing their seventh win in eight sessions, as well as a close above the 100-day moving average for the first time since May 11.

A shift in sentiment over in the options pits could create additional tailwinds for ABT. This is per the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which sits higher than 93% of readings from the past year. This means short-term options traders have been more put-biased than usual. 

What's more, ABT premiums are a bargain at the moment. The security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 16% stands higher than only 1% of readings in its annual range, suggesting options traders have rarely priced in lower volatility expectations during the past 12 months.