The Club’s top 10 things to watch Tuesday, Dec. 30 1. The stock market is little changed this morning after the S & P 500 posted back-to-back losses. With a few trading days left on the calendar, the three major averages are on track for double-digit gains in 2025. Today, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes, expected to be released at 2 p.m. ET. U.S. stock markets will be closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. 2. Copper is on track for its biggest one-year increase since 2009. The precious metal has gotten a boost from massive spending in artificial intelligence, supply chain disruptions, and a weakening U.S. dollar. Copper prices have soared more than 40% year-to-date. 3. Club holding Meta Platforms announced one last acquisition for the year, this time, of AI agent developer Manus. Although terms weren’t disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that the acquisition cost exceeded $2 billion. Rosenblatt analysts say the deal has the “potential to stand with Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 as potentially transformative for the company.” 4. Another interesting report from The Wall Street Journal this morning about how the data center buildout is driving power demand and how Caterpillar stock is benefiting thanks to its natural-gas-fueled generators. As a result, Caterpillar’s power and energy unit has seen the fastest growth in the company. The same could be said for Club name GE Vernova , which manufactures heavy-duty natural gas turbines that support data center construction. Shares are up over 100% this year. 5. Wedbush’s Dan Ives highlighted Club holdings Microsoft , Apple , and CrowdStrike as among the five key stocks to “play the AI revolution into 2026.” The other two are Palantir and Tesla . 6. Applied Digital stock was up in the premarket after the data center operator announced a spin-off of its cloud unit to merge with Nasdaq-listed Ekso Bionics late Monday. Shares of Ekso surged roughly 47% on the announcement. 7. Boeing was awarded an $8.58 billion contract by the U.S. Air Force to build fighter jets for Israel’s military. This is one of many contracts the aerospace giant has secured in 2025. In the last month alone, Boeing received 164 gross orders for aircraft. That extended its sales lead over European competitor Airbus . 8. Raymond James raised Aflac ‘s price target to $119 from $110. The analysts, who maintained a buy rating on the shares, pointed to stronger earnings power in 2026 and beyond for the insurer. 9. Citizens hiked its price target on cloud communications platform Twilio to $185 from $165 following recent checks that pointed to increased interest in voice AI solutions. Analysts reiterated their buy rating on shares. The new price target represents roughly 31% upside from Monday’s close. 10. Raymond James removed Shack Shack from its list of “Analyst Current Favorites.” Although the firm reiterated its buy rating on the fast-food chain, analysts noted softer industry trends through the fourth quarter. For the Club’s part, we own restaurant stock Texas Roadhouse . 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.
