What Cramer is watching Wednesday — mortgage demand sinks, FTC folds on Meta, China helps Europe

Published Wed, Aug 24 20228:54 AM EDTUpdated Wed, Aug 24 20228:57 AM EDT

What I am looking at Aug. 24, 2022 Toll Brothers (TOL) had a dramatic decline in orders at one point in the quarter, but it has improved. Beat on earnings. Missed on revenue. They're holding the line on guidance to deliver between 10,000 and 10,300 homes in fiscal year 2022 at an average price of about $920,000 homes. That's still very big. Scarcity value? Mortgage issues looming, however, demand at 22-year low last week. Refinances down 83% year over year. The 30-year fixed rate mortgages near 6%. Nordstrom (JWN) shares tanked 13% in Wednesday's market. In the quarter, the higher-end department store chain struck out with private label and with lower income. Dismal forecast after slight earnings and revenue beat. Existential crisis? Price targets lowered on Wall Street. But I don't think by enough. Bernstein Research is encouraged by Club holding Amazon 's (AMZN) progress in dealing with its issues. You must remember it is the defensive choice for "get it done" Americans who don't have time or money to go to the store. Separately, Peloton (PTON) strikes a deal to sell its fitness equipment on Amazon. Shares of struggling Peloton jump. FTC Chair Lina Khan folds against Meta Platforms (META), which is very positive for the Club holding. Khan agrees to remove Mark Zuckerberg from a lawsuit to block Meta's purchase of an AI start-up after the Facebook-parent promised its CEO would not try to personally buy the company. Asia Nikkei reports that China is sending excess liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, perhaps lowering the cost, which is the oil equivalent of $1,000 a barrel right now. U.S. natural gas hit a 14-year high Tuesday morning before slumping later. It resumed its climb Wednesday morning. We looked at what those elevated natural gas prices mean for Club holding Coterra Energy (CTRA) and two others. Tokyo might build new nuclear plants. Remember, General Electric (GE) needs nuke to come back. But for opponents, Chernobyl and Fukushima are powerful reasons not to build. Intuit (INTU): Robust self-employed numbers. Maybe that's where people are going? Piper Sandler cuts Beyond Meat (BYND) to $9 per share from $12 because of excess jerky inventory: seven to eight months of jerky inventory. Should only be 30 days. Analyst Michael Lavery sees discounting on jerky for the rest of the year. Piper Sandler raises Valero Energy (VLO) price target to $150 per share from $142 as these are the halcyon days. Couple of price target raises for Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS): Citi and Barclays. This was a classic quarterly beat and raise. Credit Suisse raises price target on J.M. Smucker (SJM) to $145 per share from $140. Deutsche Bank and Stifel also hike. This one is due to strength in dog food. Piper Sandler raises price target on Darling Ingredients (DAR) to $103 per share from $98. The company recycles animal fat and waste. Had CEO Randy Stuewe on "Mad Money" earlier this month. Really good ESG (environment, social and governance). Raymond James downgrades Medtronic (MDT) to hold from buy (market perform from outperform) on second-half fears. Who would ever have this as a buy in the first place. That's nuts. Wells Fargo lowers price target on MDT to $96 per share from $104, keeps hold (equal weight) rating. The holding company of ultra-low-cost Frontier Airlines (ULCC) resumed with a buy at Morgan Stanley after losing a monthslong bidding war with JetBlue (JBLU) to buy rival Spirit Airlines (SAVE). Arista Networks (ANET) is initiated at Deutsche Bank with a hold rating, saying: "Cloud titan (hyperscale) spending could moderate in a potential macro." (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AMZN, META and CTRA. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

A contr