The Club’s 10 things to watch Wednesday, June 18 — Today’s newsletter was written by Zev Fima, the Investing Club’s portfolio analyst 1. We’re on pace for a slightly higher open this morning as investors monitor the latest in the Israel-Iran conflict and gear up for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference this afternoon. As we wrote in a piece for Club members, we want to hear Powell’s thoughts on the health of the U.S. consumer. 2. Initial jobless claims for last week came in basically in line at 245,000, just 1,000 below the Dow Jones consensus estimate. Recurring claims ticked lower, but were still elevated at 1.945 million. Conditions in the labor market will be another big topic for Powell. 3. Housing starts and building permits missed expectations this morning, the latest sign of subdued activity in the housing market. We discussed that in yesterday’s Homestretch in response to homebuilder Lennar’s quarterly results. Housing punches above its weight in the economy. 4. Club name Meta Platforms is being super aggressive in building out its “superintelligence” team. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on a podcast that Meta offered OpenAI employees bonuses as high as $100 million to join the Instagram parent. 5. There’s a new Street high on Oracle : Guggenheim upped its price target to $250 a share from $220 and analysts maintained the stock as their best idea. Oracle’s earnings report last week showed the AI trade was alive and well. 6. Barclays raised its price target on Club name Honeywell to $258 a share from $243 and reiterated its overweight buy rating on the stock after meeting with the aerospace unit’s management team. Analysts believe Honeywell has “turned the corner on negative Street estimate revision momentum,” and that the aerospace business warrants a higher multiple post-spin. 7. Wells Fargo had its price target lifted at Raymond James to $84 a share from $78. The analysts, who kept their “strong buy” rating on the Club stock, cited the asset cap removal as a material mid-to-long-term positive. They said estimates will rise as the financial benefits of the removal are realized. 8. Regulators are looking to reduce capital buffer requirements at major U.S. banks, Bloomberg News reported . The move would adjust what is referred to as the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio, and essentially would make it easier for banks to buy U.S. government bonds during periods of volatility. 9. Morgan Stanley estimated that Salesforce’s product price hikes, which we covered in yesterday’s Homestretch, could add up to $1 billion in additional revenue over the next two years and get topline growth back into the double-digits. The firm maintained its overweight buy rating and price target of $404. 10. Shares of Nucor are on the rise this morning after the steelmaker preannounced strong earnings guidance for its second quarter ending July 5. Management forecasted earnings per share of $2.55 to $2.65, ahead of the $2.36 estimate. We’re keeping a close eye on the steel industry given the higher tariffs on imports. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday including the Fed meeting and Meta
Jun 18, 2025
