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 update : The S & P 500 is on track for its fourth consecutive losing session, with Nasdaq-listed companies leading the market lower amid growing concerns about overspending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. The wheels came off the AI infrastructure trade once again on uncertainty over who is backing one of Oracle ‘s giant data centers. The Financial Times reported that talks with alternative investment manager Blue Owl Capital had stalled over concerns about the economics of the deal. Oracle disputed the report, saying it is partnering with Related Digital and that the equity deal remains on schedule. But this attempt to ease fears did not work. AI industrial sell-off : The selling not only hit tech stocks but also punished industrials involved in building data centers and supplying electrical and power-generation equipment. The market must be worried that project delays could lead to canceled orders for industrial components, which explains why names like Eaton , GE Vernova , Caterpillar , Vertiv , and Cummins traded lower. GE Vernova, which we took profits on Monday, has now given back almost all of its Investor Day move from last week. GE Vernova said last week that it has signed 18 GW of gas turbine contracts quarter-to-date and is sold out of new equipment through 2028. We don’t think anything has changed at GE Vernova in the past seven days, but we recognize the volatility around these types of names and the market’s growing preference for more stable stocks like Procter & Gamble . If GE Vernova falls back to $600 or lower — the levels we last bought it in October and November — we’ll look to pick up shares again. Defense stocks in crosshairs : Defense stocks like Lockheed Martin , L3Harris , and RTX Corp edged lower Wednesday following reports that the Trump Administration wants to limit dividends, buybacks, and executive pay for contractors if projects run over budget and are delayed. Bank of America analysts wrote on Wednesday that L3Harris Technologies had the highest trailing-12-month capital deployment as a percentage of market capitalization at 7%. Lockheed Martin was a close second at 6%. RTX Corp was a smaller spender, accounting for only 2% of its market cap. Boeing has faced numerous defense project challenges over the years, but it shouldn’t be affected by this executive order. As you can probably guess, it didn’t return any cash to shareholders over the past year. The aircraft maker is still years away from reinstating a dividend or resuming share repurchases, given its high debt levels and gradually improving free cash flow. According to the most recent FactSet consensus estimates, Boeing is expected to end 2025 with $26.2 billion in net debt after a year with about $2.3 billion in negative free cash flow. Both measures are expected to improve materially in 2026. The consensus expects Boeing to end 2026 with a net debt position of $21 billion and $2 billion in positive free cash flow. Up next: It’s a big night for the AI and semiconductor trade, with Micron , a key supplier in the AI ecosystem, scheduled to report earnings. Key reports before the opening bell on Thursday include Darden , Cintas , Accenture , and CarMax . On the data side, we’ll see November CPI and weekly jobless claims. (See here for a complete 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.
