By Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the market Friday
My top 10 things to watch Friday, Feb. 3 1. Blowout jobs report … nonfarm payrolls 517,000 in January versus 187,000 estimate … sends bond yields back up. Yields shouldn’t have come down in the first place after this week’s Fed quarter-point interest rate hike and post-meeting commentary. People who thought the Fed should be thinking about when to cut rates are crazy. Rates need to go higher until labor slows. The Dow , the S & P 500 , and especially the Nasdaq looking at lower opens. 2. Much of Big Tech just disappointed in some way after Thursday’s close and their stocks declined the morning after. Every penny gained in other tech stocks on the back of Meta Platforms ‘ (META) earnings surge this week needs to be given up. They don’t deserve it. High growth, growth, no growth, declining growth … which box are we in for each portfolio stock? We’ll run through it at a special February “Monthly Meeting,” held Saturday … yep, Saturday … from live Miami at 10 a.m. ET. 3. Amazon (AMZN): Hope for more cost cuts . Not started yet. Great momentum to Prime and online ads but not Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, which is slowing rather dramatically. Quarterly revenue beat. But guidance soft. 4. Apple (AAPL): Not as bad as it looks but America confusing. Foreign exchange (forex), macro drags. Not enough high-end product. Worrisome. Quarterly misses on earnings-per-share (EPS) and revenue. But record-setting quarter for installed base. Need India, Indonesia, Brazil to inflect. 5. Alphabet (GOOGL): Tired of it. Just tired of it . All about ad market, which is weak (except for Amazon). Broken model? Truly disappointing call after top-and-bottom-line quarterly misses. Enough with the Other Bets. It is a ball of confusion. Worried about government ad anti-trust lawsuit. Multiple price target cuts. 6. Cloud compares: Microsoft (MSFT) year-over-year constant currency Azure up 31% (from 35%); AWS 20% (from 27%). Alphabet up 32% (from 38%). Big 3 clouds up 26%. But slowing. Separately, HSBC downgrades Meta to reduce from hold (sell from hold). Beginning of the cuts on the Street? Huge post-earnings move too much? 7. Qualcomm (QCOM): Not up to snuff with its quarterly results out after the closing bell Thursday. CEO says weak smartphone demand to keep handset chip inventories elevated through at least the first half. Wells Fargo raises price target to $130 per share from $105 in recognition of low multiple compared to peers; but keeps underweight (sell) rating). 8. Starbucks (SBUX): Slowdown in China with Covid surge. Rest of the world really, really great, especially in the U.S. Good cadence. Willing to wait on China as world’s second-largest economy continues to reopen. Quarterly missed on EPS and revenue and the stock down 2% early Friday. 9. Ford (F): Deutsche Bank sees meaningful downside risk; downgrades to sell from hold after messy quarter and lower guidance. PT cut to $11 per share from $13. However, I think that was the last bad quarter and it would be wrong to leave the stock now. But the execution here is abysmal. 10. Nordstrom (JWN) shares surge more than 25% early Friday. GameStop (GME) Chairman and activist investors Ryan Cohen buys stake in the department store chain. Meme stock maven Cohen wants Mark Tritton, ex-CEO Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), off Nordstrom’s board. Petty Cohen’s past Bed Bath & Beyond investment didn’t work out. I say sell, sell, sell Nordstrom. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long META, AMZN, AAPL, GOOGL, MSFT, QCOM, SBUX, F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.
My top 10 things to watch Friday, Feb. 3
1. Blowout jobs report … nonfarm payrolls 517,000 in January versus 187,000 estimate … sends bond yields back up. Yields shouldn’t have come down in the first place after this week’s Fed quarter-point interest rate hike and post-meeting commentary. People who thought the Fed should be thinking about when to cut rates are crazy. Rates need to go higher until labor slows. The DowS&P 500Nasdaq
2. Much of Big Tech just disappointed in some way after Thursday’s close and their stocks declined the morning after. Every penny gained in other tech stocks on the back of Meta PlatformsFebruary “Monthly Meeting,” held Saturday … yep, Saturday … from live Miami at 10 a.m. ET.
3. AmazonHope for more cost cuts. Not started yet. Great momentum to Prime and online ads but not Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, which is slowing rather dramatically. Quarterly revenue beat. But guidance soft.
4. AppleNot as bad as it looks but America confusing. Foreign exchange (forex), macro drags. Not enough high-end product. Worrisome. Quarterly misses on earnings-per-share (EPS) and revenue. But record-setting quarter for installed base. Need India, Indonesia, Brazil to inflect.
5. AlphabetTired of it. Just tired of it. All about ad market, which is weak (except for Amazon). Broken model? Truly disappointing call after top-and-bottom-line quarterly misses. Enough with the Other Bets. It is a ball of confusion. Worried about government ad anti-trust lawsuit. Multiple price target cuts.
6. Cloud compares: Microsoft
7. QualcommNot up to snuff with its quarterly results out after the closing bell Thursday. CEO says weak smartphone demand to keep handset chip inventories elevated through at least the first half. Wells Fargo raises price target to $130 per share from $105 in recognition of low multiple compared to peers; but keeps underweight (sell) rating).
8. Starbucks
9. Ford
10. NordstromGameStopbuys stake in the department store chain. Meme stock maven Cohen wants Mark Tritton, ex-CEO Bed Bath & Beyond
(Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long META, AMZN, AAPL, GOOGL, MSFT, QCOM, SBUX, F. See here for a full list of the stocks.)
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.
