Stocks swing wildly, Disney disappoints, and we make 6 trades

It was a volatile week for the stock market; The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-time high before pulling back. Wall Street pulled money away from Big Tech and into more defensive sectors like healthcare and finance. The end of the longest government shutdown ever in the US and expectations for interest rate cuts were also top of mind. When all was said and done, stocks were little changed. For the week, the S&P 500 gained just 0.3%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell almost 0.5%. This was Nasdaq's second consecutive losing week. The Dow gained 0.3% for the week. The 30-stock average, which closed above 48,000 for the first time on Wednesday, pulled back due to Thursday's steep market decline and finished Friday's session modestly lower. .SPX YTD mountain S&P 500 (SPX) year-to-date performance All-time highs Despite market volatility, many Club holdings hit records this week. Wells Fargo shares hit an all-time high on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs hit new highs on Thursday. The financial sector has also benefited from investors seeking safety from the high valuations of many AI trades. DuPont's shares have continued to rise since the company was spun off from Qnity Electronics. Shares hit an all-time high on Wednesday but lost some steam later in the week. The industrial name closed slightly lower so far on Friday. We love the new DuPont. The company operates a diversified materials business that can withstand a downturn in any end market. DuPont's water work is also amazing. Eli Lilly shares have hit a series of highs this week, including on Friday. The stock closed above $1,000 for the first time on Wednesday. In response, Jim Cramer said that Eli Lilly will soon become the first pharmaceutical company to reach a $1 trillion valuation. To achieve this, the stock needs to surpass $1,057. Lilly's market cap was just over $969 billion at Friday's close. The stock owes much of its gains to the Trump administration's recently announced GLP-1 agreement with Lilly and rival Novo Nordisk. The deal is expected to lower prices for certain weight-loss treatments for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries next year, making Lilly's drugs more accessible as a result. Cramer's buying calls On the other side of the transaction are the portfolio's laggards. During the November Monthly Meeting, Jim pointed out three things he saw as buying opportunities. These include Nike, Boeing and Linde. Each is apart of the data center boom, which is a positive development for a market that has been highly concerned about AI-related valuations. "I don't remember a time this year where it's felt better to be diversified across so many terrific growth stocks, because growth of any kind always helps. So far, it's been amazing to own nothing but data center, AI, nuclear and quantum stocks for all of 2025," Jim told members Thursday. “But this has now become very risky; this risk has taken much longer than expected to surface.” Here's a breakdown of why Jim recommends each. If you don't have any Linde, it may be time to initiate a position. Shares of the industrial gas giant have taken an unnecessary hit lately. Weakness presents an opportunity to invest in a promising stock. Wall Street analysts agree. UBS upgraded Linde to a buy rating this week, forecasting further earnings growth in 2026. In addition, Linde has tremendous pricing power and consistently serves shareholders quarter after quarter, regardless of the macroeconomic environment. Consider buying Nike shares on weakness, too. We believe in CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround strategy for the athletics giant. Take a look at Nike's progress in its optimistic first quarter of fiscal 2026. Boeing shares are also an exciting buy. Like Nike, we focus on the aircraft maker's turnaround story under CEO Kelly Ortberg. Jim said he expects Boeing's cash flow to improve, which will allow the company to pay down its debt. Transactions The club has made six transactions this week amid a period of ups and downs in stocks. Monday: The Club reduced our Cisco Systems position and used the proceeds to acquire more Corning and Meta Platforms. Corning, which makes fiber optics for data centers, was particularly attractive to us after the post-earnings selloff at the end of last month. The company failed to meet Wall Street's high expectations and missed its revenue target. We first increased our position at the announcement on October 28, then added it again on Monday as shares continued to decline. “We think the momentum will continue as data center operators increase the use of fiber rather than copper connectivity to connect AI nodes,” Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis at the Investment Club, wrote in a trading alert. Meanwhile, the Club has picked up more Meta shares due to recent weakness. This is the first time we've increased our position in the social media stock in over three years. Finally, we sold some of our Cisco Systems shares after the stock rebounded following the August earnings report. Wednesday: We gave up on some Disney shares ahead of the entertainment giant's earnings report Thursday morning. In the same trading alert, Club downgraded the stock from a buy-equivalent rating of 1 to 2. This cut wasn't a call for Disney's quarter. Instead, it gave us extra room in case the shares traded at launch, and that's exactly what happened. Disney shares fell in Thursday's session after the company reported a mixed quarter, including a loss in streaming revenue. "This is a hated stock," Jim said at the monthly meeting on Thursday. "Sometimes you have to go. And I don't want to fight with Disney anymore." Friday: We added to our Corning position for the second time this week. The overall sell-off in the AI market has put pressure on shares, as data centers are a large end market for the fiber optic cable maker. The club also purchased more Honeywells. The industrial stock has seen an unwarranted decline despite its recent spin-off from its previous capital-intensive Solstice Advanced Materials division, which occurred earlier this month. Earnings analysis Here's a more comprehensive breakdown of the quarterly earnings reports for Cisco and Disney, the only two stocks we've downsized this week. Cisco delivered a beat-and-raise quarter on Thursday as the networking company delivered another quarter of double-digit order growth. Shares rose rapidly following this announcement, and we raised our price target from $78 to $85. This quarter reaffirmed our view that Cisco is an underrated winner of the AI infrastructure boom. There wasn't much to like about Disney's release on Thursday. Although adjusted earnings per share beat analysts' estimates, revenue in the quarter missed. More importantly, Disney's experiences segment, which includes sales from theme parks and rides, also fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. We're tired of this stock falling precipitously upon launch. Still, we don't want to completely exit the position when the shares are this low. If there is a recovery soon, the club will look for an opportunity. (See here for a complete list of stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) When you subscribe to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trading alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable foundation's portfolio. If Jim talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he would wait 72 hours after issuing the trading alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTMENT CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, TOGETHER WITH THE DISCLAIMERS. NO CIVIL OBLIGATIONS OR DUTIES EXIST OR SHALL BE RESULTING FROM YOUR RECEIVING ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULT OR PROFIT CAN BE GUARANTEED.