Equities rise on inflation data
Watch Ford Monitor earnings
1. Equities rise on inflation data
U.S. stocks climbed higher Friday following the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index , which posted its lowest annual increase in nearly two years. The metric is a key gauge of inflation for the Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday raised interest rates by another 25 basis points. Friday’s data is “just another sign that the Fed and [Chair Jerome] Powell are winning this battle against inflation while also keeping the economy quite strong,” said Jeff Marks, the Club’s director of portfolio analysis. The S & P 500 rose 1.15% and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2% in late morning trading, while Treasury yields moved lower.
2. Watch Ford
Ford Motor (F) stock fell more than 4% Friday, to around $13 a share, after reporting second-quarter results Thursday evening. Although the company raised its outlook for full-year profit and free-cash flow, investors are weighing significant losses at the automaker’s electric-vehicle division. Ford is struggling to maintain strong pricing power for EVs because demand is cooling more broadly. Still, Marks described the stock’s tumble as a “disappointing reaction” to a strong quarter.
3. Monitor earnings
Procter and Gamble (PG) posted solid fiscal fourth-quarter results on Friday, beating Wall Street estimates. We like that commodity costs are finally improving for Procter and Gamble, but think the company’s 2024 fiscal guide was a bit light. Shares of P & G soared more than 3% on the news, to just under $157 apiece. Stay tuned for an in-depth Club analysis on the results later Friday. Meanwhile, 10 additional Club names are set to report next week — including Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Emerson Electric (EMR) and Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), to name a few. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long F, PG, CAT, EMR, SWK, AAPL. 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.
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