Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Monday
Top 10 things to watch on Monday, March 2 1. Dow futures fell nearly 500 points and global oil benchmark Brent crude rose more than 8% following the US-Israeli attack on Iran over the weekend. The stock market may accept a short war with limited oil price impact. It’s not long before the oil gets hot. 2. Currently, the market does not see anything good, does not see a bright side in the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains in place. But perhaps it will become more docile when it comes to international conflict. 3. Oil tankers are being rerouted to avoid the vital Strait of Hormuz, and there are fears of continued supply disruption due to the conflict. Citigroup raised its price targets for a group of energy brands, including Chevron and Exxon. In my Sunday column for Investment Club subscribers, I explained how I would approach oil stocks and the market more broadly during these worrying times. 4. Piper Sandler upgraded his club name to an immediate acquisition of CrowdStrike ahead of tomorrow night’s earnings. The cybersecurity vendor’s report is one of five big events on our radar this week. Fears of AI disruption for cyber names are exaggerated, but I realize CrowdStrike’s high price-to-earnings ratio does this no favors. 5. Another important topic of my article on Sunday: Wall Street’s increasing concerns about the private credit sector. An article in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend about the co-CEOs of Blue Owl Capital will not help the company counter the flow of capital out of funds. Blue Owl shares, which were already down 29% year to date, fell another 2% this morning. 6. Barclays lowered price targets on alternative asset managers but still maintained buy ratings on KKR, Ares Management and Apollo Global. He reiterated his hold rating on Blackstone. While analysts say it is too early to know where the real portfolio risk lies, flows out of investment vehicles known as BDCs cannot be ignored. 7. Nvidia plans to introduce a new “inference” processor designed to help OpenAI and other customers run AI systems more efficiently, The Wall Street Journal reports. The club will use technology that Nvidia licensed from the startup Groq at the end of last year for $20 billion. Elsewhere, Nvidia replaced Micron to become the top semiconductor pick at Morgan Stanley again. 8. JPMorgan upgraded Netflix to a hold buy as the bank resumed coverage after a period of restraint. With Netflix abandoning its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery, analysts believe the streaming giant still has a healthy organic growth story, citing its “under-monetized” advertising business and strong content. They also like that Netflix isn’t spending billions of dollars in AI capital expenditures or suffering from the risk of disruption. 9. Nucor’s price target on Wells Fargo was raised to $194 from $184. Analysts maintained a buy rating on the shares and argued that rising steel prices due to the Trump administration’s tariffs would be a catalyst for the stock. The Street sees the American steelmaker as a quality cyclical name protected by the president. 10. Goldman Sachs downgraded Novo Nordisk’s rating to hold from buy and lowered the drugmaker’s PT to $41 from $63. Goldman noted “disappointing” results in a recent trial for Novo Nordisk’s next-generation obesity drug CagriSema, which failed to outperform rival Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The club owns Eli Lilly and loves it. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter (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.
