Jim Cramer's Investing Club meeting Thursday: Avoid expensive stocks in this market

Published Thu, Jan 5 202311:58 AM EST

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Thursday's key moments. Avoid expensive stocks Sticking by Danaher Still a buyer of Ford 1. Avoid expensive stocks Stocks continued their drop on Thursday after the December ADP private payrolls report indicated the labor market remains strong. This data suggests the Federal Reserve has more work to do to tamp down inflation. In other words, investors should continue sticking to reasonably priced stocks of companies that make things and do stuff for a profit and return capital to shareholders. It's especially important not to buy any expensively valued stocks — ones with forward price-to-earnings ratios that are not close to the S & P 500 's nearly 17x multiple. 2. Sticking by Danaher Credit Suisse on Thursday downgraded Danaher (DHR) to neutral from outperform, a hold from buy equivalent, and lowered the price target to $300 per share from $315. Analysts argued the life sciences and medical diagnostics company's efforts to reduce inventory could continue through next year and hurt growth. The stock fell around 4% on Thursday, which was undeserved because Danaher's underlying business remains strong. "This is one of the highest quality companies in America," Jim Cramer said. 3. Still a buyer of Ford Ford Motor (F) said Thursday that it sold more than 75,000 F-series pickups in December, a 20% increase compared to last year. This is important because the F-series makes the automaker more money than older, less expensive models. Ford also said that it remains the second best-seller of electric vehicles in the U.S. We like these numbers as well as the stock's generous dividend. "I remain a buyer of Ford after these levels," Jim said. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long DHR, F. 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.