Cramer calls Microsoft a battleground; urges new investors to buy Corning
Every weekday, CNBC Investment Club with Jim Cramer hosts a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s highlights. 1. The S&P 500 index was little changed ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon; This likely marked Jerome Powell’s final policy meeting as Fed chairman. No interest rate change is expected. If confirmed, candidate Kevin Warsh would take over as Fed chairman in May. The central bank’s next scheduled policy meeting will be held in mid-June. President Donald Trump wants the Fed to lower interest rates. So will the data cooperate, especially when oil is so high? Warsh said he would only cut interest rates if economic conditions warrant it. Jim Cramer said bond yields “are becoming uncomfortably high for me” as oil prices rise due to questions about whether the Iran war will end soon. These higher yields are the reason for Home Depot’s year-to-date decline of over 7%. The club holding is our play on low rates, which Jim has previously said are key to reviving the stalled housing market and overall economic recovery. “When I see the interest rates [bond yields] Move up… I always have to pause and say, ‘Okay, let’s add this to the equation before we buy anything,'” Jim said. 2. Investors also expect post-close gains from the Club’s “Magnificent Seven” holdings: Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft. “The big battleground will be Microsoft,” Jim said, adding that he worries the enterprise software and cloud giant will try to ignore Wall Street’s concerns about Copilot. “The Street sees them as just another SaaS Do they understand?” [software as a service] play? Are they going to be unaware?” Jim asked. If they’re unaware, Microsoft’s stock will fall, which is already down about 12% year to date. At Microsoft, forward guidance is released only on the conference call. So the stock’s reaction to the announcement alone could change once investors get the outlook details. 3. Corning shares fell another 3% on Wednesday, the day after a post-earnings decline of about 9%. A lower close would put the stock on a three-session losing streak. Jim puts that into Corning’s position. But that’s because the Street’s expectations are so high that the stock has rallied this year. The fiber optic maker is hosting two upcoming events: its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday and its Investor Day on May 6. Those who aren’t invested in Corning should be prepared for those events, Jim said at the end of the video: Seagate, Robinhood, SoFi, Visa and Brinker (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust long AMZN, GOOGL, META, MSFT, HD, GLW. See here for a full list of stocks.) When you subscribe to CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling. If Jim talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after sending the trade alert before executing the trade. OR A PARTICULAR RESULT OR PROFIT IS NOT GUARANTEED BY RECEIVING ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY.
