Chip stocks rebound, and Goldman racks up a series of M&A wins

Every weekday, CNBC Investment Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, an actionable afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. The market recovery finally continues Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on pace to end a five-session losing streak. Most of the "Magnificent Seven" have rebounded from last week's pullback, with club names led by Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms. Microsoft and Apple, which we own, are also still struggling. The semiconductor group had a volatile day but Club shares were trading higher in the afternoon as Arm Holdings, Intel and Broadcom pared earlier losses. Corning and Palo Alto Networks were the two top gainers in the portfolio. Both hit new all-time highs in Monday's session. Other stocks that set new records on the day include Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Cardinal Health. This continues a nice comeback for the once-unloved healthcare group. Many defensive stocks outpaced the market's rally as TJX Companies, DuPont, Linde, Procter & Gamble and Costco traded lower. Additionally, Honeywell Technologies shares stumbled on the first day of trading since the spin-off of its aerospace unit to Honeywell Aerospace. In contrast, Honeywell Aerospace was off to a strong start, rising over 3% to over $228 per share. Shares of club name Goldman Sachs ended on a negative note last week, thanks in large part to reports that OpenAI may delay its initial public offering until next year. But this week started with another reminder that investment banking activity remains healthy. Announced ahead of Monday's launch, Goldman served as exclusive financial advisor on Martin Marietta's $13.5 billion acquisition of Lhoist North America. It also provided fully committed debt financing for the deal. That's not all. Last week, Goldman also served as special financial advisor on the $11.3 billion sale of Minnesota-based Bio-Techne to Germany's Merck KGaA. The bank also served as co-financial advisor on Arcosa's $8.5 billion sale to CRH, announced June 22. Goldman has played a central role in many of this year's biggest transactions, including a left-leading position on SpaceX's record-breaking IPO. This leadership in investment banking is why we own shares of the Club, and it's helped Goldman become one of our best-performing non-tech assets this year. The stock rose nearly half a percent on Monday. Also Monday, Club name Wells Fargo took on an advisory role and is contributing short-term financing related to Rocket Lab's acquisition of Iridium's satellite operations. It's another sign that CEO Charlie Scharf's push to expand the bank's investment banking franchise is gaining momentum. Still, Wells Fargo had a much tougher year than Goldman Sachs. Shares have lost nearly 10% so far, making it the only major bank to have a bad year. We reduced our Wells Fargo position in early June because the company's last two quarters have been disappointing and we don't want such a large position in case it gets three consecutive quarters in July. But the silver lining of two soft quarters in a row is that it keeps expectations low. Analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote Monday that Wells Fargo's underperformance this year suggests a second-quarter improvement in net interest income or an increase in management's full-year outlook. We'll find out two weeks from Tuesday when Wells Fargo, along with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup, will report second-quarter earnings. After the closing bell on Monday, drone maker AeroVironment reported its earnings. There are no major earnings reports ahead of Tuesday's open. On the economic data side, there is the Conference Board's consumer confidence survey and the JOLTS report, which shows the number of jobs opened and layoffs in May. This is the first of three notable updates on the labor market this week. The biggest of these is Thursday's June nonfarm payrolls report. While it is normally announced on Friday morning, the market is closed this Friday due to Independence Day. (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 waits 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.