Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets mixed: Stocks are mixed on Thursday, a day after the market enjoyed a broad-based rally — and its best session since November — in reaction to the consumer price index report for December, which showed core inflation increased less than expected . The encouraging inflation data, which followed a cool wholesale inflation report on Tuesday, sent bond prices higher and yields much lower. Bonds were mixed early in Thursday’s session, as investors digested a slight retail sales miss, a strong manufacturing report and initial jobless claims slightly above expectations. However, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note started to push lower around 10 a.m. ET. At its afternoon level of 4.6%, the 10-year yield is significantly lower than its pre-CPI level of around 4.77%. That’s why some of the big outperformers over the past two sessions are the S & P 500’s utilities and real estate sectors, as well as cyclical corners such as industrials and other rate-sensitive stocks like housing-related companies. Club name Home Depot is up about 4% across Wednesday and Thursday. Divergent tech: Within technology, AI-related stocks and semiconductor capital equipment companies like Lam Research and Applied Materials are having a strong day in reaction to earnings and comments from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSMC, the largest third-party chipmaking company in the world, said very positive things about the demand for artificial intelligence chips, expecting revenue from these advanced chips to double this year with demand continuing to exceed capacity. The company guided revenues and capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2025 above the Wall Street consensus estimate . However, not all tech rallied. Apple was one of the biggest laggards of the group, falling nearly 4% to extend this year’s losses to more than 8%. The story going around Thursday is that Apple no longer is the market share leader in China after its smartphone shipments fell 25% in the fourth quarter, according to data from Canalys. The long knives are out for Apple, and estimates may need to come down slightly ahead of the iPhone maker’s Jan. 30 earnings report. But we’re not changing our “own it, don’t trade it” view on the stock, and we don’t see the need to take additional action because we already rightsized the position with a trim at its highs on Dec. 26 . As we noted in that trade alert, discipline trumps conviction. Up next: The only major earnings report after the closing bell Thursday is the trucking company JB Hunt . Before the opening bell Friday, we’ll see the quarters from the oil services company SLB , financial institutions Truist and State Street , and an industrial in Fastenal . We’re through the key economic data points of the week. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber 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 trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.
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