Friday marked the end of a lackluster week and first session of 2026 for stocks. Markets were mixed during the holiday-shortened week. The Dow and Nasdaq fell 0.1% and 1.5%, respectively, and the S&P 500 fell about 1%, marking its third straight decline since Monday. The cause of the market decline is unclear as there was not much for investors to digest. They obtained minutes of the December policy meeting in which the Fed announced a 25 basis point rate cut. Tuesday afternoon’s announcement showed Fed officials are divided on whether to cut interest rates. The decision was approved on a 9-3 vote, marking the most significant opposition among officials since 2019. The market reacted incredibly poorly to this news. However, the stock continued to decline that session. .SPX YTD Mountain S&P 500 (SPX) Year-to-date performance However, the weak weekly performance stands in contrast to the stock market’s strength in 2025. The S&P 500 is up more than 16% in the last year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20% and 13%, respectively. All three also hit record highs during the period. However, it was not all smooth sailing throughout the year. Markets rose and fell as Wall Street speculated about the Fed’s next interest rate decision and weighed concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade policy. Additionally, concerns about soaring valuations in AI trading have periodically moved investors away from the technology space and into the market value space. But in the end, tech stocks’ strong performance pushed the market higher. There were clear winners and losers when it came to the club’s portfolio. GE Vernova, Corning, and Alphabet significantly outperformed the S&P 500, with one company posting nearly triple-digit gains. Meanwhile, Salesforce, Nike, and Procter & Gamble stumbled. Here are the factors driving the moves in all six stocks, including those that started earlier this week. First, the winners… GE Vernova: +98.7% This industrial stock has soared as it is a major beneficiary of the AI boom. GE Vernova makes heavy-duty natural gas turbines used to support data center construction, which helped the company post a series of strong quarterly earnings reports in 2025. The rise in stock prices doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Last month, management announced an incredibly positive outlook through fiscal 2028. Corning: +84.3% This stock can thank a strong performance in consumer electronics in 2025. Corning, which makes specialty glass for smartphone screens, soared earlier this year after forming a partnership with club-owner Apple Inc. Corning is also a winner in the AI conversation, as its specialty glass can be used in data centers given the advantages of fiber optics over copper wire. We initiated a position in Corning stock in October. Alphabet: +65.3% I initiated a position in Alphabet on Monday after exiting last March. At the time, we thought Gemini was cannibalizing the Google search business. However, things have clearly changed for the better. Parent company Google’s strong AI roadmap for 2025 has boosted investor sentiment. The technology company’s development of Gemini, a large-scale language model, and its rollout of custom chips with fellow club name Broadcom have been welcome news to Wall Street. …Next is the latecomer. Salesforce: -20.8% What boosted one club’s top performers weighed on another. For software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks like Salesforce, AI adoption is a key concern in 2025. That’s because nascent technology threatens seat-based business models. As companies around the world automate more of their workforce, that means fewer seats or fewer employees using Salesforce software. That’s why we lowered our rating on Salesforce stock to “Hold Equivalent 2” in August. Still, we’re excited about this tech stock. We believe in our CEO, Marc Benioff. Nike: -15.8% It’s no surprise that this sports apparel giant is at the bottom. Nike’s stock price fell after a sharp decline in its key Chinese market and challenges to its direct-to-consumer strategy. It also hasn’t been a good year for retail stocks overall, with consumers becoming more cautious. But the company’s turnaround story under CEO Elliott Hill is exactly why we started this position last year. Hill recently bought $1 million in Nike stock, according to this week’s securities filing. Insider purchases can also signal solid confidence in the company’s future. Procter & Gamble: -14.5% Macroeconomic uncertainty weighed on stock prices in 2025. Investors were concerned about how interest rate changes and tariff increases would affect the company’s costs. Additionally, the prolonged government shutdown did not improve sentiment. We initiated a position in Procter & Gamble in late 2025 as a hedge against consumers pulling back on spending in 2026. Although we may see a decline in discretionary spending, P&G makes essential products that people rely on every day and will prioritize if affordability issues persist or worsen. We added more positions on Friday. (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
