The market is seeing red. But here's why a few of our portfolio stocks are standing out

Published Mon, Feb 5 20242:38 PM ESTUpdated Mon, Feb 5 20242:47 PM EST

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable update of the trading day, just in time for the last hour on Wall Street. We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible. Here's Monday's edition. Off the lows : The week got off to a slower start but stocks Monday afternoon were well off their lowest levels of the session. The story of the day may be in the bond market, where yields are surging on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's interest rate cut comments on "60 Minutes" amid ongoing strong economic data. Our Significant Six stocks were having a mixed day. Nvidia surged to yet another all-time high, while Amazon and Meta Platforms gave back some of last Friday's big gains. Believe it or not, Apple shares rose Monday — now higher than where they traded ahead of last Thursday's earnings. Alphabet was up after underperforming last week. Microsoft was down. "Microsoft is the one to buy first on weakness due to the quality of last week's quarter and outlook," Jim Cramer said Monday. Show-me story : Shares of prestige beauty company Estee Lauder were up more than 12% in reaction to earnings but off session highs. Here's what Jim and I need to see next to upgrade our 4 rating on the stock. It's certainly a show-me story. "Reduction in the workforce is a positive step in addressing costs, but our next question is how are they going to recover brand equity after shoving so much inventory through travel and retail and then dumping it at bargain prices," Cramer said. Sector leaders : Information Technology was the leader Monday, thanks to continued strength in the semiconductor stocks. More analyst love for Nvidia and not-as-bad-as-feared earnings from On Semiconductor were boosting the group. Health care was up thanks to a big move in its largest weighting: Club name Eli Lilly . Earlier Monday, Novo Nordisk announced it will acquire the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent in what looks like a strong sign of future demand for GLP-1 obesity and diabetes drugs. Both Lilly and Novo Nordisk rose to new all-time highs as they have the market cornered on these treatments. Energy was being helped by a roughly 1% gain in oil prices . Recently volatile natural gas prices, however, were weaker. Sector laggards : Materials were the worst-performing sector and the group has been the second worst performer year to date — down more than 5%. Monday's blow-up was Air Products and Chemicals . Shares fell nearly 15% after the industrial gas company lowered its full-year adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) outlook, citing weakness in China and lower helium demand, among other reasons. Air Products' slashed outlook may raise some concerns going into Club name Linde 's earnings Tuesday morning, though the latter is much higher quality of a company. "Air Products has nothing to do with Linde. It is awful and has real issues. Linde is the much better operator." Jim said. Consumer Discretionary was off 2%, weighed down by continued weakness in Tesla and a post-earnings pullback in McDonald's . Interest-rate-sensitive areas like utilities and real estate were struggling with bond yields higher. Earnings continue: No portfolio names reporting after the bell Monday but some names of interest are Palantir , Vertex Pharmaceuticals , Simon Property Group , and NXP Semiconductors . But get ready for a busy Tuesday morning, in addition to Eli Lilly and Linde, fellow Club names GE Healthcare and DuPont are on the docket. Other companies of interest Fiserv , Spotify , Spirit Aerosystems , Check Point Software , Carrier Global , and Jacobs Solutions . After the closing bell Tuesday, Club name Ford reports. (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 at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., February 1, 2024.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters