Hotter inflation catches up to the stock market, but there are still some portfolio winners

Published Thu, Mar 14 20242:23 PM EDTUpdated Mon, Mar 18 202412:10 PM EDT

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Market reversal : The stock market on Thursday initially shrugged off the before-the-bell release of a stronger-than-expected increase in February producer prices. Stocks gained ground, as investors appeared to be willing to again look past an elevated inflation number and a rise in bond yields like they did following Tuesday's uptick in consumer prices. But less than 30 minutes into the trading day, the S & P 500 reversed and moved lower. During Thursday's Morning Meeting, Jim Cramer said he was "very concerned" about the overbought market. He also thought investors should be thankful the Federal Reserve isn't raising interest rates, let alone cutting them, due to hotter inflation and economic data. The U.S. central bank's policymaking arm is set to meet next week. Although it's widely expected to keep interest rates steady at the meeting, investors are awaiting the release of the Fed's so-called dot plot, which contains rate cut projections for this year. Sector watch : Nine of the 11 S & P 500 sectors were in the red Thursday afternoon. Only energy and communications services were in the green. Energy stocks were largely higher as the price of West Texas Intermediate crude , the U.S. oil benchmark, jumped more than 2% to over $81 per barrel. WTI was up on a surprise drop in U.S. stockpiles, which signaled stronger demand. Possible supply disruptions following Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries also supported prices. Lone Club play : Coterra Energy was down less than 1% with the broader market Thursday after a four-session winning streak. Coterra, which is 50/50 oil and natural gas, can be nimble on production based on the ups and downs of commodities prices. Nat gas has had a rough year — and in its latest earnings report, Coterra pulled more from oil, which has been higher over the past 12 months. When it delivered fourth-quarter results last month, Coterra also showed strong free cash flow . Portfolio movers : Microsoft , Alphabet and Apple were Thursday's top three performers despite tech stocks largely trending lower. Nvidia was Thursday's worst performer. The AI chip powerhouse has been trading all over the map recently, but it has still gained more than 75% year to date. Nvidia holds its annual GTC developers conference next week. The company often uses the gathering to make big announcements. Estee Lauder and Stanley Black & Decke r were Thursday's second- and third-worst-performing Club stocks, respectively. After the bell earnings next week : Quarterly results March 21 are expected from FedEx as well as Lululemon and Dow stock Nike . On the latter two, it should be interesting to see if the strength in athletic gear that Dick's saw in its latest quarter translates to their own results. Dick's shares surged roughly 15% after issuing Thursday morning better-than-expected earnings and revenue. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) Correction: This story has been updated to note the correct day FedEx, Lululemon and Nike earnings are scheduled for release. 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 during morning trading at the New York Stock Exchange on March 6, 2024.

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