'Chin up and don't put a lot of money to work' — why Cramer is getting worried about the market

Published Wed, May 24 202311:36 AM EDTUpdated Wed, May 24 202311:43 AM EDT

Christopher Alessi @/in/christopher-alessi-78b9b09/@ChrisAAlessi

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 Wednesday's key moments. Stocks fall on debt-ceiling worries Palo Alto's beat and raise China-exposed stocks face Covid hurdle 1. Stocks fall on debt-ceiling worries Equities came under pressure Wednesday, with investors increasingly concerned over Washington's failure to reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. The government could default on its debt obligations as early as June 1 if President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy don't reach an agreement by the end of the month. "The market is going down because of the debt talks. ... We're now in 2011 mode ," Jim said Wednesday. He also urged investors to sit tight until the current market volatility subsides: "Chin up and don't put a lot of money to work." 2. Palo Alto's beat and raise Club holding Palo Alto Networks (PANW) on Tuesday evening delivered stronger-than-expected revenue and profit for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2023, while raising its earnings-per-share outlook for the full year. Jim said Wednesday the company has a "winning model" for delivering a full suite of cybersecurity offerings to enterprise customers. Palo Alto stock soared more than 8% in Wednesday trading. Meanwhile, Club name Nvidia (NVDA), which has proven instrumental to the development of artificial intelligence, is set to report quarterly results after the closing bell Wednesday. 3. China-exposed stocks face Covid hurdle All three Club stocks with significant exposure to China — Starbucks (SBUX), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Estee Lauder (EL) — tumbled Wednesday as a new Covid variant spread throughout the country. China, which only emerged from three years of lockdowns months ago, expects to see the latest wave peak in late June, at around 65 million infections per week. But we're "not backing away from any of these three stocks," Jim said Wednesday, suggesting a pullback could provide a buying opportunity. Stay tuned for a deeper dive on the implications of China's newest Covid dilemma later in the afternoon. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long PANW, NVDA, SBUX, EL, WYNN. 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.