Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch – an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the final hour of Wall Street trading. Market update: Stocks are rising to start the week, extending last week’s gains after digesting the Trump administration’s early policy priorities. Tariffs remain one of the big uncertainties, but the 10-year Treasury yield edged lower on trade policy that appeared less hawkish than expected. Concerns about one-day rates proved to be overblown with the administration adopting a slower rollout. The president indicated late Monday that tariffs of up to 25% on Canada and Mexico could come as soon as February 1. Tariffs on goods imported from China are still possible, but there is no update yet. Broad-based gains: Market gains were broadly broad-based with every sector except energy in positive territory. The best-performing sectors were industrials, utilities and real estate, while consumer staples and technology lagged behind. Although many software and AI stocks rose, the technology sector was weighed down by a 4% drop in Apple after two more analysts sounded the alarm on disappointing iPhone sales and a bad quarter and guidance. We recognize that the stock could continue to go lower from here before rallying again, but after taking effective action last year, we continue to stay the course in this long-term position. Artificial intelligence stocks pop: AI infrastructure stocks took a late-day boost after it was reported that President Trump will announce billions of dollars in private sector investment to build the infrastructure. Open AI, Oracle and Softbank (which last month pledged to invest $100 billion in the United States) are forming a joint venture to lead the initiative. We can debate whether this is really a new figure, because we know that companies like OpenAI and Oracle already had ambitious investment plans. But the positive news impact of this announcement on Nvidia’s stock price was clear. Other AI infrastructure-related names in the portfolio are chipmakers such as Broadcom, Eaton for electrification, Dover for liquid cooling connectors, and Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet for cloud computing. Up next: After the closing bell on Tuesday, we’ll look at quarterly reports from Netflix, United Airlines, Seagate and Capital One. Abbott Labs will report before the opening bell on Wednesday, and we expect another good quarter from this diversified healthcare company. Abbott “beat and raised” throughout 2024, but never got credit for it because of ongoing litigation risk. This should be the year Abbott overcomes this headwind and grows its earnings per share by at least 10%. Other companies reporting Wednesday morning include Procter & Gamble, Halliburton, Johnson & Johnson and GE Vernova (See here for a complete list of stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade, wait 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a share in his charity portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing MERCY INVESTMENT CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY AT OUR LIMITED DIRECTION THERE IS NO OBLIGATION OR OBLIGATION, ANY INFORMATION I DIRECTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULTS OR PROFITS ARE GUARANTEED.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump watch bands perform during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch – an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the final hour of Wall Street trading.