The market likes what it heard from the Fed — plus, Lilly’s new $6B manufacturing investment
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 got a boost and bond yields dipped Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve lowered the target range of its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 3.5% to 3.75%. The S & P 500 was looking at a possible record high close. Nine of the 12 voting members of the central bank’s policymaking committee supported the rate cut, which we see as a positive, given there had been some debate around more of a split vote. Two of the dissenters, Austan Goolsbee and Jeffrey Schmid, preferred to keep rates steady. Stephen Miran wanted a half-point cut. Wednesday’s Fed rate cut was the third such move this year. The so-called dot-plot of individual member expectations signaled one Fed cut next year and another in 2027, but we don’t like to read too much into this because the data will ultimately dictate future rate cut decisions. For its part, the market, according to the CME FedWatch tool , puts a 68% chance of two or more rate cuts in 2026. In his post-meeting news conference, Fed Jerome Powell said that monetary policy is not yet accommodative. He said the Fed has made good progress on non-tariff inflation, adding it won’t hurt to wait to see if tariffs boost prices next year. He also said the labor market is cooling a bit faster than expected. The Fed also announced it would once again buy short-term bonds, but for technical reasons not related to monetary policy. New plant : Eli Lilly announced another massive U.S. manufacturing commitment late Tuesday. The pharmaceutical giant said it plans to invest more than $6 billion in a facility in Alabama that will produce orforglipron, the oral GLP-1 medication that is expected to get FDA approval and to launch early next year. The one line we liked in the press release is that Lilly plans to use “state-of-the-art technologies, including machine learning, AI, digitally integrated monitoring systems, and advanced data analytics to drive right-first-time execution.” Right-the-first-time is a pillar of the Six Sigma business philosophy, referring to completing things correctly on the first attempt, with minimal need for rework and corrections. This idea may not be new for Eli Lilly, and we don’t know if Nvidia is involved in the AI component, but it highlights how broader advances in physical AI and digital-twin technology can help companies reduce waste and improve efficiency in the design of new facilities. Eli Lily, the stock, has hit a rough patch lately. A positive finish on Wednesday would break a nine-session losing streak dating back to Nov. 26. The stock set a record closing high of nearly $1,110 on Nov. 25, which was a few days after it crossed a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time. We last trimmed the position on Nov. 18 into its run to $1 trillion. Up next : It’s a big night of tech earnings with Oracle , Adobe , and Synopsys all scheduled to report. Ciena will deliver its quarterly results before Thursday’s opening bell. On the data side, we will also get weekly jobless claims figures Thursday morning. (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.
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