My Top 10 Things to Watch Wednesday, July 1st 1. Stock futures are down this morning as the second half of the year begins. It is expected that the winner will receive a profit. There are other things to consider going forward. The Trump Account will officially launch on July 4th. This passive money flowing into the market could mean more than people think, especially if companies contribute additional funds beyond the $1,000 one-time government deposit for newborns. 2. Meta stock soars more than 7% this morning after Bloomberg News reported that the social media giant plans to build a cloud business to sell excess AI computing power. Big news. I have been urging them to do just this. This is another way to make money from all your AI spending. 3. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told me last night that he expects to sign more long-term supply contracts with customers. There are currently 16 deals registered across data center, consumer and automotive. The price of memory chips is soaring and supply is tight. Mehrotra said customers see these as a win-win. For Micron, it provides greater visibility and confidence in long-term planning. Still, he said supply shortages will continue beyond 2027. 4. Club Name Nike finished off an uninspiring quarter last night. It’s not as bad as the previous two, but it’s also not good enough to expect much change right away. It’s a shame. What I’m asking is not, “Can you sell me some stock?” “Would you buy it?” I asked. If someone wiped a position off their books, would you insist on buying it back? (We made the decision about Nike’s clubs.) 5. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce and ServiceNow, two software stocks that had significantly underperformed this year due to concerns about AI disruption. Analysts said they believed AI posed risks to both companies, but argued that Armageddon scenarios were unrealistic and valuations had become attractive. We weren’t keen on further elevating Salesforce. 6. The club name FedEx Freight began with an acquisition at Goldman Sachs. The $186 price target implies a 26% upside. FedEx Freight, which recently spun off from FedEx, offers less-than-truck delivery services (not enough for a full trailer, but too big for regular parcels). Goldman likes this business for the same reasons we do. Now that we are an independent company, we are improving the freight transportation environment and improving self-help opportunities. 7. Goldman Sachs said it was acquiring Wells Fargo because of its growing balance sheet, strength in credit card business and active capital markets as the company moves “from defensive to offensive.” I’m disappointed in Wells. The removal of asset caps last year was supposed to be the trigger, but the past two quarters have been volatile. Improvements can be seen in the July 14th report. 8. Affirm’s price target was lowered to $115 from Citi’s $110. Analysts said business momentum remained strong. I like this phone because it’s a “buy now, pay later” winner. The stock got off to a bad start this year, but has made a remarkable recovery since the wartime market bottom in late March. 9. QXO completes acquisition of TopBuild. This agreement strengthens the company’s position in the building products distribution market. In North America, QXO ranks No. 1 in insulation and waterproofing. We are number 2 in roofing work. And in the wood and building materials space, QXO will be either No. 1 or No. 2. Don’t bet on serial entrepreneur CEO Brad Jacobs. 10. The United States lifts export restrictions on Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. Good news for Club Holdings’ CrowdStrike and Palo Alto, where cybersecurity solutions are becoming even more important as companies strengthen their defenses against rapidly evolving AI risks. Shares of both companies soared yesterday after the Wall Street Journal reported on sophisticated Chinese AI models. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Markets email newsletter (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll 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.
