My Top 10 Things to Watch Monday, October 20th 1. Wall Street was looking to further fuel Friday’s bull run on credit concerns and continued easing in China trade tensions. In fact, the S&P 500 index rose 1.7% last week. Earnings season is in full swing this week, with five club names reporting quarterly results, including AI powerplay GE Vernova. 2. The government shutdown has entered its fourth week. But White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said this morning that the shutdown could end this week. If it doesn’t end, the Trump administration may have to take “stronger steps” to force Democrats’ hand. 3. Zions and Western Alliance were actually the only companies with bad debt. So last week’s local bank losses were unique. In the high-end consumer segment, American Express’s profits were exceptional. This week, club name Capital One reports a quarter. 4. Is Apple on the mend? After a trip to Corning, Kentucky, we seriously wondered. Now they’re all coming out. Melius expects sales to be better than expected. China is doing better than expected. And new Siri in March. Evercore adds Apple to tactical buy list. Loop upgrades Apple on material upside. Bloomberg reported that sales of the new iPhone are 14% higher than last year’s model. 5. Barclays has downgraded custom chip maker Marvell Technology to buyout pending, citing weaker-than-expected results. This is a huge negative judgment. Still, analysts say they should be fine until the end of the year. They have long-term concerns about competition from club name Broadcom. When I was in San Francisco last week, it was all about AI. In my Sunday column , I outlined 10 takeaways from conversations with many CEOs, including at Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event. This event showed that Agentforce works not the way some people think. 6. Rare Earth Day. The group got excited after Australia proposed amendments to China’s export controls to President Donald Trump. William Blair started by buying US rare earth stocks. The stock, already up over 140%, rose another 7% this morning. 7. Amazon Web Services experienced a major outage on Monday. Many major websites have gone down, but many are showing signs of recovery. AWS cited “operational issues” affecting “multiple services.” The airline’s website was confusing and caused problems at check-in for many travelers. It’s been a tough year for clubs that own Amazon. 8. Boeing has won regulatory approval to increase production of the 737 to 42 planes per month, the highest level in nearly two years. In January 2024, the FAA limited the plane maker to 38 flights per month after a 737 Max 9’s door panel flew off in the air. We initiated a position in Boeing in September based on the argument that the company was the biggest winner in the Trump administration’s trade deals with other countries aimed at reducing deficits with the United States. 9. KeyBanc lowered Chipotle’s price target from $58 to $52. The stock has lost its value. Meanwhile, the company raised Applebee’s parent company Dine Brands’ PT from $26 to $32. That seems absurd considering how weak this group is. For casual dining, we own Texas Roadhouse. 10. Goldman Sachs has put coverage on Cava, a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant, on hold due to near-term uncertainty. The company upgraded Darden from hold to buy, citing improved market share. That’s all that everyone likes. 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.
