My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, Sept. 2 1. New tariff drama was setting Wall Street up for a sharply lower open this morning. The S & P 500 finished lower Friday but higher for the fourth straight month. Embarking on the first day of trading in September, historically the worst month of the year, investors now have to deal with the added uncertainty of whether President Donald Trump’s tariffs are legal. No need to panic, though. 2. In a showdown almost certainly headed for the Supreme Court, a federal appeals court ruled after Friday’s market close that only Congress has the authority to apply sweeping levies. Also pressuring stocks was a big jump in bond yields on the prospect of the U.S. having to refund tariffs collected. Sending back billions of dollars would worsen the nation’s already precarious fiscal situation. 3. Kraft Heinz is splitting itself into two companies. One will be focused on grocery stapes including brands such as Lunchables, and the other on sauces and spreads like Philadelphia cream cheese. It’s effectively an unwind of the 2015 megamerger. Shares aren’t moving much this morning. This breakup had been rumored in the press. 4. Elliott Management has taken a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo , The Wall Street Journal reported , saying it’s one of the revered activist firm’s biggest positions ever. Shares of the beverage and food maker, which has seen its namesake soda lose market share, are up more than 4% on the news. 5. Melius Research reiterated its buy rating on Club name Broadcom and raised its price target to $335 a share ahead of earnings Thursday night . While analysts said the chipmaker may struggle to raise expectations even further with the print, they believe any weakness should be bought because “there is such a shortage of this type of leadership outside Nvidia in AI.” We also own Nvidia for the Club. 6. Walmart was added to Goldman Sachs’ conviction buy list, with analysts believing the retail giant should gain market share in this tariff environment. I agree after seeing the dollar store revival. However, I still like Club stocks Costco and TJX Companies as ways to play the value-conscious shopper. 7. The return of the pumpkin spice latte helped drive a “record-breaking sales week” at Club name Starbucks’ company-operated U.S. stores, CEO Brian Niccol told employees in a message seen by Bloomberg News . We’ve been patient with this one while Niccol tries to work his magic, and the turn is here. 8. A couple CEO shakeups: Takeshi Niinami resigned as chief of Japanese whiskey maker Suntory amid a police investigation into the possible purchase of an illegal supplement. KitKat maker Nestle removed Laurent Freixe as CEO because he failed to disclose a relationship with a subordinate. 9. Morgan Stanley upgraded Zscaler to an overweight buy from equal weight and raised its price target to $320 from $280. The analysts cited longer-term benefits from the industry shift toward platformization. We own Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike , both of which are further along in offering one-stop shops for clients’ cybersecurity needs. 10. UBS upgraded Corning to buy from hold, arguing the company well-known for supplying iPhone glass could see sustainable higher growth thanks to AI-driven fiber optic growth used to connect data centers. The firm took its price target to $84 from $65. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
