Each weekday, CNBC's Investment Club with Jim Cramer publishes the final stretch, an action-packed afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets fall: Wall Street struggled to hold onto its early gains and turned lower. We're not surprised to see the market take a breather after its run of the past two weeks and how overbought it is. Technology started the session strong initially, but then fell as semiconductor stocks fell. We can't find a specific catalyst for the drop; perhaps it was Snowflake's disappointment for the quarter or the small revenue increase from chip designer Synopsys. But some of these stocks are up a lot since the yen carry trade blew up earlier this month and there could be some profit-taking. The Issues: “We’re starting to get into the meat of the Democrats’ platform and it looks like there are some villains, namely the drug companies for price gouging and supermarket gouging,” Jim Cramer said Thursday. “It’s really important that the banks don’t get punished and that might explain some of the positive action by the banks.” Thursday is the final night of the Democratic National Convention, and Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination for president. Medical Devices: “The medical device sector is improving because no one is attacking them. Abbott Laboratories is still performing well as part of the device trade.” Citi raised its price target on Abbott, calling it a medical device favorite. We trimmed our position a bit Tuesday on concerns about diabetes device makers in reaction to another Club name’s new study, Eli Lilly, for the anti-obesity drug Zepbound. There’s also the legal issue because of specialized lawsuits over baby formula. Housing Trades: “We have four months’ worth of inventory of unsold homes. I’ve always felt that six months is the inflection point and we haven’t hit it yet, hence the strength of homebuilders,” Cramer said. “But I’m concerned about Best Buy given the weakness in Williams-Sonoma furniture.” Williams-Sonoma’s disappointing same-store sales numbers follow some disappointing comparable numbers from TJX-branded HomeGoods and lackluster sales from Home Depot and Lowe’s. Big-ticket items related to housing are struggling this earnings season. Of course, lower mortgage rates via Fed rate cuts could change that outlook in the coming quarters. Best Buy reports earnings next week and we’re debating taking some profits ahead of the report. Earnings Ahead: “Gap Stores rang the opening bell and I think we could be on the cusp of a multi-year move and could push for this one to go into the bullpen,” Cramer said. We’ll be watching when Gap reports earnings next week. After the bell, we’ll look at earnings from the growing Cava restaurant chain, a pair of software stocks in Workday and Intuit, and off-price retailer Ross Stores. Jackson Hole: The biggest event on Friday isn’t economic data or earnings, but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We might get some clarity from Powell on whether the Fed is leaning toward a quarter-point or half-point interest rate cut at its September meeting. Any guidance on how many cuts U.S. central bankers expect by year-end would also be welcome. Ahead of the speech, the market is pricing in cuts of 1 percentage point, or 100 basis points, this year, according to the CME FedWatch tool. (See a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust here.) 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 portfolio. If Jim has discussed a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE FOREGOING INVESTMENT CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND OUR DISCLAIMER. NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS OR IS CREATED BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEPTION OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULTS OR PROFITS ARE GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, CNBC's Investment Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, a practical afternoon update, just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street.
