Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. (We are no longer recording audio, so we can get this new written feature out to members as quickly as possible.) Inflation Ease: The stock market was mostly higher on Thursday, although the Dow Jones was under some pressure. It looked like stocks were heading into a bearish session before the opening bell but got a boost after the core PCE price index for January rose 0.4% month-over-month in January and 2.8% year-over-year, in line with expectations. “The fact that S&P 500 futures fell so dramatically ahead of the PCE index is a reminder that negativity is still in full force,” Jim Cramer said Thursday. On this last day of February, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are poised for strong monthly gains. Semiconductor stocks rise: Semiconductor stocks have been a bright spot in the technology space, outperforming software and other tech hardware stocks. The group may be reacting to a note from City analysts saying they “remain strongly optimistic about the semi-final”. Jim said: “Chris Danley from City article helps reach semi-final.” Kramer said. “Don't forget Broadcom, that's one of his purchases.” Citi's favorite AI plays are club names Nvidia and Broadcom as well as bullpen shares Advanced Micro Devices. Danely's top pick in DRAM augmentation is Micron. PROFITS INCREASE: Club name Eaton hit an all-time high on Thursday after announcing a 9% increase in its quarterly profits. Raising the payout would raise the dividend yield to 1.3% from 1.19%. Extra income is always appreciated, but Eaton's is more of an industrial growth company than a value stock. Its energy management solutions play a role in many different mega trends, which is why we named it one of the club's 12 core contracts last Saturday at our annual meeting. On Deck: We're pretty much done with earnings season. But there were still a few companies reporting results after the bell, including Zscaler, Dell Technologies, and Autodesk. GLP-1 Madness: We'll be watching a new CNBC original on Thursday at 10pm called “Big Shot: The Ozempic Revolution.” The focus of the documentary will be on Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, which has become the name associated with the new GLP-1 class of anti-obesity injections. (Technically, Ozempic is a Novo diabetes treatment and Wegovy is a Novo weight-loss drug.) However, Kramer said, “Don't forget that you need protein if you're going to take it, and the club name Abbott Laboratories has a supplement that's short for protein, which will be in “Great need.” As for Eli Lilly, one of the reasons we believe it has built a wide moat around GLP-1 (Zepbound for obesity and Moonjaro for diabetes) is because of the billions it has invested in capabilities. Lilly's start was the reason we overlooked Viking Therapeutics' Phase 2 drug as a serious contender. Viking doesn't have the balance sheet to compete with Novo and the club name Lilly. After the latest price surge — a 121% gain on Tuesday and an 11% rise on Wednesday — shares of the biotech company Viking fell 15.5% on Thursday after raising $550 million through an offering of nearly 6.5 million shares. “The Viking offer is a reminder that it is unsafe to speculate in companies that do not have the money to compete with Lilly,” Cramer said. (See here for a complete list of stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you'll receive a trade alert before Jim takes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after a trade alert is sent before buying or selling a stock in his charitable fund's portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after the trade alert is issued before executing the trade. The above Investment Club information is subject to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, as well as our Disclaimer. No obligation or fiduciary duty exists or is created by your receipt of any information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or profits are guaranteed.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. (We are no longer recording audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.)
