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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. Market moves: Stocks were giving back a large chunk of Wednesday’s gains on worries about escalating trade tensions and global economic growth. The market cheered President Donald Trump walking back of his aggressive tariff policy Wednesday, leading to a historic rally on Wall Street, where some of the hardest hit stocks rebounded the strongest. But those good feelings were short-lived. While the market was encouraged by the drop in “reciprocal” tariffs to a 10% baseline, tensions with China heated up after the U.S. raised the tariff rate on its largest trading partner to a cumulative 145%, a level that will make it difficult for companies to deal with. Sector-specific tariffs remain in place and are a sticking point, too, especially for pharmaceutical companies. Thursday’s action suggests fear of an announcement coming soon. We’re more inclined to wait to see if that happens before nibbling more on Bristol Myers Squibb or Eli Lilly unless things really get ugly. Our approach remains the same. We’re constructive about the long-term outlook for stocks, especially as prices fall, and don’t want to lose sight of what can go right. As we learned from Wednesday, stocks can stage another comeback if there is any positive news flow about negotiations with China. But anticipating what happens next with China is anyone’s guess . So, if we were looking to buy into this selloff, we would stick to companies with low to no exposure to China tariffs because this trade spat could linger. Bullpen updates: In light of recent events, we’re making a few changes to our bullpen. We are adding Boeing . As countries reach out to the Trump administration in hopes of striking deals to remove tariffs, we think Boeing planes may be used as a bargaining chip to reduce trade deficits. Execution is still a question here after years of shaky operations at Boeing, but there have been several early signs of a turnaround under the leadership of CEO Kelly Ortberg. Over recent months, there’s been a more predictable cadence of producing and delivering planes. The balance sheet is also in much better shape after raising $24 billion from an equity offering last November. We’re weighing all this with the possibility that U.S. airlines scale back orders in a travel market slowdown, although those sales are based on long-term trends and the company has a multi-year waitlist. We’re taking VF Corp out of the Bullpen. The stock has been cut in half since we added it in January, and if we aren’t interested in buying it after this large of a haircut then it does not belong on the list. Analysts at Citi downgraded VF Corp to neutral on Monday after lowering earnings estimates to account for higher product costs, due to tariffs, and concerns about the company’s ability to fix its Vans business in an uncertain macro environment. A turnaround of its Vans brand was the main reason why we added VF Corp to the bullpen and when the thesis changes, we have to change with it. Due to the current economic headwinds, we’re limiting our retail exposure to Amaz on, Costco , and off-price retailer TJX . Shares of Costco and TJX were our only portfolio stocks in the green on Thursday. That’s another new intraday, all-time high for TJX. If there is one beneficiary from the recent supply chain disruption, it will be the best run off-price retailer TJX. Up Next: On the earnings calendar , there are no major earnings reports after Thursday’s close. Friday is the unofficial start of first-quarter earnings season and the big banks kick things off, as usual. We’ll get numbers from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley as well as Club names Wells Fargo and BlackRock . On the data side, we’ll see if Friday morning’s release of the produce price index can follow Thursday’s cool March CPI report. There’s also the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey and inflation expectations to consider. (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.
