It’s been one other great run for stocks for the reason that club’s last monthly meeting in June. The likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting rates of interest sooner slightly than later is increasing after recent positive inflation data has pushed stocks to latest highs in recent weeks. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders now see the percentages of a rate cut by September at 100%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a historic intraday high on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 did the identical on Monday. On July 11, the Nasdaq Composite also hit a brand new high. We took advantage of the overbought market and executed a series of trades. The club dumped shares of TJX Companies on Friday to lift more money. Before that, we sold Meta Platforms and Palo Alto Networks on July 8, making massive gains of 150% and 94%, respectively, since we bought each stocks. On the opposite hand, we searched for opportunities throughout the pullback within the technology sector. We began by constructing a small position in Advanced Micro Devices, a stock we last owned in the summertime of 2023, and acquired more on Tuesday. With all of the portfolio activity, a central theme has emerged within the stock market, especially within the last week. Investors are seizing the possibility to get into sectors outside of Big Tech. The Russell 2000, which measures the performance of small-cap U.S. stocks, is up nearly 11% over the past five sessions. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.18% over the identical period. Case in point: Some of our biggest winners in 2024, mega-cap stocks like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft, have posted losses since our last session. Amazon remains to be up 27% for the 12 months, while Alphabet and Meta are up 31% and 38%, respectively. Other losers included our stocks with strong ties to China: Wynn Resorts, Starbucks and Estee Lauder. Overall, 12 of the portfolio’s 34 stocks were down. We’re seeing market rotation play out in our top five performing stocks as well. From the close on June 27 through Tuesday, just one company was within the mega-cap technology space. Here are our top five and the explanations for every gain: 1. Ford Motor: 17.7% There was no single catalyst for Ford Motor’s outperformance. However, investor sentiment appears to have improved on signs of improving sales. The automaker’s shares rose on July 3 after the corporate said hybrid vehicle sales rose 56% within the second quarter, setting a brand new quarterly sales record for the segment. The stock rose again on July 11 after the June consumer price index (CPI) showed easing inflation and bolstered the Fed’s case for lower rates of interest – an environment that could lead on to more consumers buying Ford vehicles. The stock hit a 52-week high of $14.43 a share on Monday. 2. Morgan Stanley: 10.9% Would a second Donald Trump presidency profit major U.S. banks? Morgan Stanley investors appear to think so. Shares rose after President Joe Biden and Trump faced off on the June 27 presidential debate, which many viewed as a serious win for the previous president. Morgan Stanley’s momentum continued in July, hitting an all-time high of $109.11 on Tuesday after the bank released a largely better-than-expected second-quarter report. Following the outcomes, we raised our price goal to $120 apiece from $98. 3. Stanley Black & Decker: 10.5% Shares of Stanley Black & Decker rose on recent signs of impending monetary easing, which could boost activity within the housing market on account of lower borrowing costs. More homeowners mean higher demand for parent company DeWalt’s offerings as buyers search for tools to sort things across the house. That, plus the indisputable fact that investors are in search of investment opportunities outside of Big Tech, has pushed the stock higher since July 1. The company’s shares rose 3.5% on Tuesday, and the club capitalized on that surge by trimming its position within the afternoon. We’re still seeing long-term gains, after all, once the Fed starts cutting rates. 4. Apple: 9.7% Apple hit a record $237.23 per share on Monday after Morgan Stanley listed the stock as a top industry pick. Wall Street analysts said the corporate’s artificial intelligence efforts will spark a much-needed upgrade cycle for the corporate’s flagship iPhone. Morgan Stanley also raised its price goal on Apple to $273 per share from $213, up greater than 16% from Tuesday’s closing price. It’s not that the stock has stalled: Shares have been rising for months on excitement over Apple’s AI plans, recently unveiled at the corporate’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. 5. Dover: 7.3% Dover began its ascent on July 9, as capital flowed into sectors that profit more from rate cuts. Dover is an industrial name that makes thermal connectors utilized in certainly one of the fastest-growing end markets: data centers. This makes Dover a terrific, under-the-radar AI company. “Dover is going to be a big name for me,” Jim said recently. Shares hit an all-time high of $190.54 per share on Tuesday, closing the day nearly 3% higher. (For a full list of stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, click here.) As a subscriber to CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you may 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 foundation’s portfolio. If Jim has discussed a stock on television on CNBC, he waits 72 hours after the trade alert is issued before executing the trade. THE INFORMATION REGARDING INVESTING CLUB PROVIDED ABOVE IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY AND OUR DISCLAIMER. NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS AND WILL NOT BE CREATED BY RECEIVING INFORMATION RELATED TO INVESTING CLUB. NO PARTICULAR RESULT OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
A trader works as a screen broadcasts a press conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following the Fed’s rate of interest announcement, on the ground of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., June 12, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Since the club’s last monthly meeting in June, there was one other great run for shares.
