My Top 10 Things to Watch for Friday, April 17th 1. The S&P 500 is headed higher this morning after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial traffic during the 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. Oil prices fell by about 10%. President Donald Trump said the war between the United States and Iran “should be over pretty quickly.” On track for another winning week, the S&P 500 once again closed at an all-time high in Thursday trading. 2. iPhone shipments in China increased 20% in the first quarter, according to data from CounterPoint Research. This was despite the fact that the entire smartphone market was in a slump due to soaring memory costs. Good news for Apple’s biggest earner. I keep saying “own it, don’t trade it.” 3. Netflix’s price target was cut quickly and violently. Barclays cut its stock to $110 from $115 after the company gave disappointing guidance. Wolfe Research has lowered the price of Netflix from $110 to $107. Rosenblatt reduced the price from $96 to $95. The stock price is down more than 9%. 4. Bank of America replaced JPMorgan with Goldman Sachs on its Best Ideas list. Analysts maintained their Buy ratings on both stocks. I still like Goldman. One company I’m tired of is Wells Fargo, especially after this week’s lackluster results. Wells Fargo’s club rating has been lowered to 2, the equivalent of a hold. We own both Goldman and Wells. 5. Danaher’s Rothschild & Company Red Barn price target was raised from $220 to $205. Analysts say the company’s exposure to its traditional stainless steel pole business will slow growth. We left Danaher in February. This is different from the old business that I have loved over the years I have followed this business. 6. JPMorgan lowered Procter & Gamble’s price target from $165 to $162. Analysts adjusted their forecasts ahead of next week’s earnings. They kept buying P&G. But there’s no enthusiasm there. We hold P&G as a hedge against economic uncertainty. With the new CEO, I wanted to own more for the club. 7. Estée Lauder had its price target lowered by JPMorgan from $121 to $98, removing the stock from analysts’ watch lists but maintaining a buy rating. The struggling luxury brand will report its financial results on May 1st. Perhaps this company needs to sell itself? Broken stock. 8. Affirm has been promoted to Morgan Stanley Top Pick. Analysts said “excessive” private credit concerns were weighing on finances. They said next month’s Investor’s Day meeting could be the trigger for potentially volatile stock prices for this buy now, pay later stock. 9. An unheralded call to Prologis. That’s because new CEO Dan Letter downplayed some of the good things happening at the industrial real estate company. There was no mention of rent increases or data center construction. The letters were carried over in January. 10. Major price target cuts for Abbott Laboratories: Benchmark from $145 to $120, Stifel from $145 to $120, Bank of America from $150 to $120. The general consensus is that yesterday’s results and conference call did not surprise the public. However, analysts at all three companies maintained the stock as a buy. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Markets email newsletter. (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investing Club, you’ll receive trade alerts from Jim Cramer before he 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.
