We're kicking off the new year by trimming 8 stocks that had huge runs in 2023

Published Tue, Jan 2 20248:48 AM ESTUpdated Tue, Jan 2 20248:55 AM EST

Shortly after the opening bell, we will trim a handful of 2023 tech winners. We are selling: 40 shares of Apple at roughly $188.30 50 shares of Amazon at roughly $150.55 30 shares of Salesforce at roughly $265.45 55 shares of Alphabet at roughly $138.55 22 shares of Meta at roughly $349.99 20 shares of Microsoft at roughly $373.50 15 shares of Nvidia at roughly $491.97 And 25 shares of Palo Alto Networks at roughly $293.27 Following the trades, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own: 855 shares of Apple, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 5.39% from 5.62% 675 shares of Amazon, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 3.36% from 3.60% 220 shares of Salesforce, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 1.89% from 2.15% 645 shares of Alphabet, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 2.95% from 3.19% 323 shares of Meta, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 3.74% from 3.99% 210 shares of Microsoft, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 2.58% from 2.82% 130 shares of Nvidia, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 2.11% from 2.34% and 250 shares of Palo Alto Networks, decreasing its weighting in the portfolio to 2.41% from 2.65% We are starting the first day of the new trading year by making small sales in several tech stocks. This group of stocks significantly outperformed in 2023, with gains ranging from 48% for Apple to 98% from Salesforce and more than doubles with the 194% surge in Meta and 239% rise in Nvidia. After the year these stocks had — and the market capitalization these "nation-state" companies gained, we prefer to err on the more conservative side because everyone has become so bullish about the market. To us, this seems late to the game because the S & P 500 has been up for nine weeks in a row, something it hasn't done since 2024. In addition, the "Magnificent Seven" stocks and our other tech stocks performed so well when everyone was concerned the economy was coming to a crashing halt in March. The stocks shined because they have the balance sheets and the secular tailwinds like artificial intelligence to withstand economic turmoil. But now that a soft-landing scenario has become a real possibility with the next likely move by the Federal Reserve an interest rate cut, it is reasonable to expect these big names to take a breather as the rest of the market and some of the more cyclical names catch up. To be clear, we don't envision exiting these names completely, which is why we are only making small sales across the board. The group above represents some of the greatest companies in the world. But discipline matters too because bulls make money, bears make money, and hogs get slaughtered. We've been feeling greedy during this historic stretch, and refuse to be hogs after the great year these stocks have had. We'd much rather be buyers on all these stocks on pullbacks, which is why we are downgrading our ratings on Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft to 2. We already had 2 ratings on Salesforce, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, and Palo Alto Networks. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) 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.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the first day back since the Christmas holiday on December 26, 2023 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Shortly after the opening bell, we will trim a handful of 2023 tech winners.