The bank trade is a positive sign for the market, plus AI stocks stay strong
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: Stocks are higher Thursday as investors try to make sense of Nvidia’s earnings, as well as other technology and retail earnings reports, and upbeat economic data. Despite the profit-taking in Nvidia — and by the way, the stock is still up week to date — there’s strength in plenty of AI-adjacent technology stocks like Broadcom , Advanced Micro Devices , Microsoft , Dell (earnings after the bell), Arista Networks , and Cisco , as well as industrial data center equipment and power generation companies such as Eaton , Vertiv , and GE Vernova . What this action shows is that while Nvidia’s results may not have exceeded the expectations of the most bullish investors, the broader market isn’t signaling any slowdown in AI investment. To back it up, Nvidia said Wednesday it expects $3 trillion to $4 trillion of AI infrastructure spending by the end of the decade. Good leadership: The banks have been one of the better trades in the market since last Friday, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of growing downside risks in the labor market and suggested an adjustment in policy stance (cutting interest rates) could be justified. For example, Wells Fargo has rallied a quick 6% since then; a down session on Thursday will break its streak of four winning sessions. It’s the second-best financial in the S & P 500 this week, trailing Synchrony Financial . Capital One is fourth, while Goldman Sachs , which hit an all-time high on Thursday, is working on a positive week as well. We bring this up because we like market rallies in which banks lead, as they serve as a barometer for the broader economy. Up next: After the closing bell on Thursday, we’ll see earnings from a couple more AI stocks: Marvell Technology and Dell . Marvell’s results will give us a look into the health of ASIC (custom AI accelerator) and networking markets which Broadcom also participates in. For Dell, commentary around its AI server business is the main focus. Elsewhere, Gap , Ulta Beauty , SentinelOne , Affirm , and Autodesk also report. Alibaba reports before the opening bell on Friday. On the data side, there’s the July PCE Index (the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for August and one-year inflation expectations. (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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