Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We’re no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Inflation relief: The stock market was mostly higher Thursday, though the Dow was under some pressure. It looked like stocks were headed for a down session before the opening bell rang but got a boost after January’s core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.4% month over month in January and 2.8% year over year, in line with expectations. “The fact that the S & P 500 futures were down so big before the PCE is a reminder that the negativity is in full force still,” Jim Cramer said Thursday. On this final day of February, the Dow, S & P 500 and Nasdaq are all poised to post strong monthly gains. Semis soar: Semiconductor stocks were a bright spot within technology, outperforming software and other tech hardware shares. The group may be reacting to a note from Citi analysts that said they are “still wildly bullish on semis.” Jim said, “Chris Danely from Citi’s piece is helping to spike the semis.” Cramer said. “Don’t forget Broadcom, it is one of his buys.” Citi’s favorite AI plays are Club names Nvidia and Broadcom as well as Bullpen stock Advanced Micro Devices . Danely’s top pick on the DRAM upturn is Micron . Dividend boost: Club name Eaton hit another all-time high Thursday after announcing a 9% increase to its quarterly dividend. The payment hike will move its dividend yield to 1.3% from 1.19%. The added income is always appreciated, but Eaton is much more of a growth industrial than a value stock. It’s power management solutions play into so many different megatrends, which is why we named it one of the Club’s 12 core holding last Saturday at our annual meeting. On deck: We’re pretty much through earnings season. But there are still a few companies…
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