The S&P 500 kept hitting records, and an AI giant went back into the Bullpen
The stock market broke records during the holiday-shortened trading week. The S & P 500 hit an all-time intraday high Friday but closed slightly lower. Nevertheless, the index rose 1.4% last week, padding an almost 18% year to date advance. Economic data last week lifted investor spirits, with weekly jobless claims, as well as third-quarter GDP and inflation data, painting a positive view of the economy. Last week’s market run also came during the start of the historically strong period for stocks known as the Santa Claus rally , which spans the last five trading sessions of the year through the first two of the new year. Data from the Stock Trader’s Almanac shows that since 1950, the S & P 500 typically averages a 1.3% advance over the period. .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 (SPX) year-to-date performance We made a couple of portfolio moves during Wall Street’s winning week. On Monday, the Club added Alphabet to our Bullpen list of stocks to watch. We made the mistake of exiting in March due to concerns that Google’s Gemini was not advancing enough to keep up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. A crackdown from the Justice Department, which wanted Google to spin off its Chrome browser, didn’t help. A lot has changed since then, though. Google has launched Gemini 3, which has quickly become a top choice large language model. Plus, Google trained and runs Gemini 3 on custom silicon co-developed with fellow Club name Broadcom , which has attracted interest from other firms and would represent a new revenue stream. Headwinds regarding Alphabet’s DOJ case have also largely subsided. On Wednesday, we added to our Nike position following a mixed earnings report that sank the stock. We thought this weakness was overblown and were heartened by news that Nike board members Apple CEO Tim Cook and former Intel CEO Bob Swan recently bought more shares. Insider buys are a great sign of forward-looking confidence from management and can show that people closest to the company think its stock is undervalued. Overall, we’re still upbeat on Nike’s turnaround story under CEO Elliott Hill. It’s just taking longer than expected. Nike is also one of five high-quality Club stocks that we expect to bounce in 2026. The others include Starbucks, Amazon , Palo Alto Networks , and Eaton . Last week, we released our Amazon analysis. Here’s a breakdown. After a 2025 that was rocked by concerns over cloud growth and tariff implications on retail, Amazon shares are heading into next year set up for gains. We see three catalysts that could drive upside moving forward. They are sustained growth in Amazon’s cloud computing division, ongoing margin expansion from advertisements, and more momentum in the company’s e-commerce and ads businesses. Amazon shares have gained 6% in 2025 — the worst performer among the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks. (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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