The Club’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday
10 things to watch in the club, Wednesday, December 24 1. Wall Street is heading for a quiet open in this holiday-shortened session, which ends at 13:00 ET. Today marks the beginning of the seasonally strong Santa rally period, which spans the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next trading day. S&P 500 notches a new record close, boosted by AI technology trading. Yesterday’s trading volumes were predictably lighter than normal. 2. Initial jobless claims last week totaled 214,000, below the Dow Jones consensus of 225,000 and also an increase from 224,000 in the previous release. But continuing unemployment claims rose to 1.923 million after remaining below 1.9 million for two consecutive weeks. 3. Nike shares rose 2% this morning after board member Tim Cook (yes, the Apple CEO) announced on Monday that he had purchased almost $3 million worth of shares in the sportswear giant. Nike’s other director and former Intel CEO Bob Swan also bought shares worth about $500,000. We are very careful about insider buying at the club because it is a huge vote of confidence. 4. Intel shares fell nearly 3% this morning after Reuters reported that Nvidia, the Club name, had recently tested Intel’s manufacturing process, known as 18A, for its own chips but had “ceased progress.” This detail emerged in a broader profile of new CEO Lip-Bu Tan and his interactions in Washington. Intel has sought to make its foundry capabilities more competitive with market leader TSMC. 5. Cantor Fitzgerald argued that Nvidia and fellow club member Broadcom are “poised to outperform when the calendar turns.” While analysts acknowledged that the AI group has been under pressure of late, they “believe these fears are exaggerated and that we are short-sightedly missing the forest for the trees as we remain on the cusp of a major AI-related demand shift.” They expect the value disconnect to be quickly bridged next year when “the AI business is likely off to the races once again.” 6. Barclays lowered its price target for Club Honeywell shares to $250 per share from $269. Still, the new PT represents an increase of approximately 38% from yesterday’s close. Analysts who reiterated their buy rating believe interest in Honeywell shares will increase as the company approaches the spin-off of its aerospace division late next year, and we share that view. 7. UK oil giant BP has agreed to sell its 65% stake in its Castrol lubricants business to investment firm Stonepeak. The sale is based on Castrol’s enterprise value of approximately $10 billion, with BP generating net proceeds of approximately $6 billion. BP, which is refocusing on its core fossil fuel business, said it would use the money to pay down debt. 8. The Trump administration announced testing a voluntary payment model for GLP-1 weight loss drugs under Medicare Part D plans and state-level Medicaid programs. Obesity drug maker Novo Nordisk and its Club name date back to Eli Lilly’s price-cut agreement with the White House in November in exchange for Medicare coverage. 9. President Donald Trump said in his social media post yesterday that if the market is doing well, he expects the next Federal Reserve chairman to lower interest rates. He wrote: “Anyone who disagrees with me will never become Fed Chairman!” Trump’s comments reinforce the predicament the next Fed chairman will find himself in after current Chairman Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026. Low rates are great, but investors’ confidence in the Fed is crucial. 10. French drugmaker Sanofi said it made a $2.2 billion deal to buy vaccine maker Dynavax Technologies, and Dynavax’s shares rose more than 39%. The deal will bring Sanofi an approved hepatitis B vaccine to its portfolio. 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.
