My Top 10 Things to Watch Monday, March 16 1. President Donald Trump has vowed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with a coalition of nations. U.S. crude oil prices fell below $100 a barrel this morning, but luck is still out. That is contributing to the rise in stock futures. But the longer the Strait remains closed, the more some of the lost supplies will be replaced by other continents. Perhaps more drilling will take place in the US? 2. Nvidia’s annual GTC conference kicks off today. That’s why I’m on site in San Jose, California. CEO Jensen Huang’s impactful keynote begins at 2pm ET. We look forward to new details regarding club name Nvidia’s product roadmap. This includes plans for technology, possibly licensed from chip startup Groq. 3. I dedicated this week’s Sunday column for Investing Club subscribers to the elusive story of private equity and private credit. After the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, this is the biggest issue the market is focused on. 4. The club that owns Meta Platforms has signed a five-year deal with neo-cloud company Nebius for up to $27 billion worth of AI computing power. As part of the agreement, Nebius said Meta will use Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform once it becomes available later this year. Nvidia last week agreed to invest $2 billion in Nebius. Nebius stock soared this morning, rising 14%. 5. More Meta: Instagram’s parent company’s reported plans to potentially cut its workforce by 20% to balance AI spending, JPMorgan estimates, will save the company $5 billion to $6 billion. While Meta’s expenses won’t fall much this year, analysts expect its revenue to rise next year. I told club members on Friday that I wouldn’t be shocked if Meta took such drastic action. 6. Jeffries reinstated Eaton coverage with a Buy rating after completing the Boyd Thermal acquisition. We were big fans of this deal. That’s because electronics supplier Eaton has more exposure to building AI in a new business area: liquid cooling. 7. Micron said it plans to build a new manufacturing facility for cutting-edge DRAM products in Taiwan. The AI boom has created a shortage of memory chips, causing prices to soar. More supplies are desperately needed. The planned factory will be built on the same site as a factory that Micron just acquired from a local manufacturer. 8. Lennar’s price target was slashed after the homebuilder reported weak quarterly results Thursday night. New orders were weak in both the quarter and guideline. Wells Fargo rose from $105 to $100 and maintained a hold rating. BTIG rose from $90 to $77 before repeating a sell-off. Although the housing market has grown beyond its weight in the U.S. economy, it remains stagnant. 9. Jefferies raised Coca-Cola’s price target to $90 from $87 and maintained a Buy rating. Analysts are optimistic about Fairlife, Coke’s line of lactose-free milk and protein shakes, as consumers choose healthier, more cost-effective diets. Coke and Pepsi stock prices continue to rise, up more than 10% and 11%, respectively, since the beginning of the year. 10. Mondelez is the best consumer packaging stock to buy, according to Morgan Stanley, which raises its price target on the Oreo maker to $70 from $66. Analysts said the market was underestimating the boost to Mondelez’s profits from the normalization of cocoa prices, which had soared due to supply disruptions in West Africa. Similarly, Morgan Stanley raised Hershey’s PT from $238 to $247. 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.
