My Top 10 Things to Watch Monday, Dec. 22 1. Stocks were headed higher to start the holiday-shortened trading week. This follows a volatile week in which the S&P 500 recorded its third winning week in the past four weeks. Still, there are doubts as to whether the “Santa Claus Rally” will actually take place. The New York Stock Exchange will close early on Wednesday for Christmas Eve and will be completely closed on Thursday for Christmas Day. 2. Gold soared to all-time highs again this morning. Since the beginning of 2025, prices have increased by about 70%. I now think gold is a better source of wealth than Bitcoin. 3. Nvidia stock rose 2% this morning after Reuters reported that the company told customers it hopes to start shipping H200 chips to China by mid-February. Will club stocks recover? Check out my Sunday column: I explain why this stock bearish thesis is wrong. 4. OpenAI’s March to $1 Trillion: The creator of ChatGPT is in talks to raise $100 billion at a valuation of $830 billion. This is up from a target valuation of $500 billion in just one week. Once this funding round is completed, Oracle will be able to complete the construction of OpenAI’s data center and remain competitive with Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model. 5. Jeffries raises price target for club name GE Vernova from $815 to $830. Analysts who maintained a buy rating updated their aggregate valuation to take into account share buybacks through 2028. We still think this is the best way to develop the data center story, given that GE Vernova’s rugged natural gas turbines can be used to power facilities beyond the energy grid. 6. In the latest development in a hostile bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance on Monday secured the support of billionaire Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. Earlier this month, Netflix beat Paramount and Comcast to an agreement to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming assets. Paramount came back with an unsolicited offer. 7. Clearwater Analytics receives an $8.5 billion acquisition offer from a group of investors led by Permira and Warburg Pincus. Is it overwhelming? Mr. Oppenheimer downgraded the investment and accounting software maker from buy to hold as he doubted there would be any other bidders. DA Davidson maintained a buy rating but believes other offers are possible. 8. Piper Sandler lowered Elf Beauty’s price target from $100 to $85, but maintained its rating. Analysts cited the cosmetics retailer’s slowing market share growth relative to its competitors. The updated price target still suggests an upside of nearly 6% from Friday’s closing price. 9. Morgan Stanley raised the price target for its Financial Services Group. Intercontinental Exchange, which operates the New York Stock Exchange, raised the price to $174 from $169. Charles Schwab from $139 to $148. Robinhood went from $146 to $147. Analysts raised their profit estimates, citing strong industry trading. 10. Rocket Lab surpasses “magic investment” with 21st successful launch. Stifel raised his price target to $85 from $75 and maintained his buy rating. Analysts cited a contract worth up to $850 million to build the satellite from the government’s Space Development Agency. 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.
