Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! We are at the halfway point of the week and quickly approaching a long weekend. However, Wall Street is not slowing down. This morning is bringing increased chatter around everything from ongoing labor shortages to some of Elon Musk’s favorite numbers. With all of this in mind, what will the stock market do today?

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• The S&P 500 is up 0.11%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.36%
• The Nasdaq Composite is down 0.07%

So what else will the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Go to Space.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS), a popular play on the latest space race, is a top gainer on Wednesday morning. That is because one analyst sees real potential for the hypergrowth company.

So what do you need to know now? To start, AST SpaceMobile takes a unique approach to the newest era of the space race. Instead of focusing on space exploration, it promises to use a network of satellites to create cellular broadband coverage in space. It will be the first space-based network, and the company hopes it can erase coverage gaps that impact millions of people.

As InvestorPlace Assistant News Writer Brenden Rearick wrote this morning, AST SpaceMobile has already received 1,000 patents as part of this plan. Investors are eager to dive into ASTS stock, even as so much mystery clouds its ambition.

Now, a big name on Wall Street is getting on board.

Earlier today, Deutsche Bank set a price target of $35. This implies more than 240% upside, and according to the analyst, ASTS stock could shoot even higher over the next five years. Everything just boils down to whether AST SpaceMobile can execute on its vision.

Like the way that sounds? Check out why InvestorPlace analyst Luke Lango sees ASTS stock hitting $500. 

CoinMarketCap Is Catering to Crypto Fans

For crypto fanatics, CoinMarketCap is a go-to website to check cryptocurrency prices. It provides data on popular coins and tokens, aggregates white papers and social media platforms, and as of recently, facilitates a price prediction service. According to data from SimilarWeb, CoinMarketCab received 270 million visitors to its website just last month.

In its latest announcement, the Binance-owned platform just shared a big update. Now, visitors will be able to swap tokens in addition to checking their prices.

Specifically, CoinMarketCap says it has integrated Uniswap to facilitate the swapping of ERC-20 tokens. This list includes popular Shiba Inu (CCC:SHIB-USD) and SafeMoon (CCC:SAFEMOON-USD). Uniswap-supported wallets including MetaMask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic and Portis will also be available for these token swaps.

So what else do you need to know? Importantly, CoinMarketCap already had integrated PancakeSwap, another popular decentralized exchange. However, its latest token swap announcement leans into Uniswap instead. This is likely because Uniswap remains the most popular DEX, with 68% of the market share. Users should note that they will still need to pay Uniswap transaction fees when swapping assets on CoinMarketCap.

The first takeaway is that for CoinMarketCap, this feels like a natural evolution. Interest in crypto solutions continues to grow, with a good subset of startups focusing on the cryptocurrency space. Money continues to flow into cryptocurrency-focused publications. With an existing audience, CoinMarketCap can tap into another corner of this market.

The second takeaway, as Martin Young wrote for BeInCrypto, is that this could provide a real boost to the Uniswap (CCC:UNI-USD) crypto. This is because CoinMarketCap could deliver the platform new users and boost its revenue. Keep a close eye on Uniswap (UNI) price predictions in the wake of this news.

What Else We’re Watching

• Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) just received an unconditional approval from the European Union for its acquisition of Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX). AMD plans to spend $35 billion in the deal, which now just needs approval from Chinese regulators.
• Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) just launched Bulletin, its competitor to newsletter platforms like Substack. The tech giant kicked off with big names like Mitch Albom and Tan France. It will also not take a cut of creator profits to start.
• In an on-brand move, Elon Musk shared that his Starlink has now had 69,420 concurrent users. This is up from just 10,000 users in February 2021.
• Exela Technologies (NASDAQ:XELA) continues to power higher, driven by company news and social media hype. The software firm today announced the launch of its digital mailroom solution for small businesses in the United Kingdom. Shares closed higher on Tuesday by nearly 60%.
• Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi (NYSE:DIDI) priced its initial public offering at $14 today, indicating a valuation of $67 billion.

On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.