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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. Markets: Stocks are starting the week lower following a strong rally on Friday. Defensive sectors such as consumer staples and health care — along with groups that benefit from lower interest rates such as real estate — outperformed. Meanwhile, technology, energy, and cyclical stocks lagged. AI-related tech and infrastructure stocks were hit the hardest once again. Shares of Club name Nvidia are now just a few dollars away from their 2025 intraday low of roughly $113, reached during the Feb. 3 tariff-driven market sell-off . After an initial higher open, the momentum seen on Friday afternoon faded and stocks tumbled after digesting two economic reports: the Census Bureau’s January construction spending and the February manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). In reaction to the new data, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow tracker was downwardly revised. The model, which provides a running estimate of US.. gross domestic product, moved to minus 2.8% from minus 1.5% last Friday. The model’s next update will be Thursday. The latest revision confirms the economic slowdown we’ve talked about for a few weeks now. Slowing economic activity is one of the reasons for the recent market slide and change in leadership to defensives from more economically sensitive and discretionary sectors. Health care and consumer staples are the top two performing sectors year to date, while technology and consumer discretionary are the only groups with a negative return. This is a big week for economic data with the February nonfarm payroll report Friday. Our extra large cash position helps protect the portfolio from the expected heightened volatility. Tariff talk : Adverse weather across the country has limited some parts of the U.S. economy — for example, it was the coldest January since 1988 — but tariff uncertainty has slowed business investment decisions too. The impact of Trump’s tariff policy was captured in the aforementioned ISM manufacturing survey released Monday. As part of the monthly press release, the organization releases quotes from respondents. Here’s what a few had to say this time around, with their respective industries included in parenthesis at the end: “The tariff environment regarding products from Mexico and Canada has created uncertainty and volatility among our customers and increased our exposure to retaliatory measures from these countries.” (Chemical Products) Customers are pausing on new orders as a result of uncertainty regarding tariffs. There is no clear direction from the administration on how they will be implemented, so it’s harder to project how they will affect business.” (Transportation Equipment) “New orders continue to be strong after picking up in December. The uncertainty about tariffs keeps us cautious on spending, despite the strong sales right now.” (Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components) “Customer volumes seem to be better than 2024. However, customers are still very hesitant to commit to long-term volumes due to the market uncertainty caused by proposed tariffs on steel/aluminum imports.” (Primary Metals) The full list is available on ISM’s website . Up Next: Only a few companies will report after the closing bell on Monday. Before Tuesday’s opening bell, we’ll see earnings reports from Target , Best Buy , AutoZone , and the online gambling company Flutter Entertainment , which owns FanDuel. We exited our position in Best Buy two weeks ago due to low conviction about what 2025 might hold. Our original thesis around an AI-driven PC cycle didn’t materialize, but we were still able to exit the stock with a solid gain. Additionally, the retailer faces significant tariff risks, as its primary sourcing countries are China and Mexico. There are no major U.S. economic data releases on Tuesday. (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.
