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. Markets: Wall Street is ending the final day of the second quarter on a muted note, even after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed a further cooling off in May . The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were flat in afternoon trading. The indexes, which are trying for a fourth consecutive day of gains, began the day higher. After minor advances Wednesday and Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly lower, weighed down, in part, by Nike ‘s ugly earnings report. The sneaker company’s shares fell 20%. Quarter end : The Dow is on track for a losing second quarter, down nearly 2% over the three-month timeframe. The 30-stock Dow had advanced in back-to-back quarters. Meanwhile, the S & P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq are up about 4% and 9%, respectively, in the April-to-June period. That will be the third straight positive quarter for the indexes and the fifth over the past six. Investor optimism around artificial intelligence stocks once again took center stage in the second quarter. It fueled huge gains for the likes of Club names Nvidia , Apple and Broadcom , even when factoring in the recent for volatility for some AI winners. Disney on radar: Shares of Club name Disney dropped 3% on Friday, breaching the $100 level that Jim Cramer has in recent weeks identified as a favorable price to buy more stock. “I am contemplating buying back some of the Disney we sold much higher when we are [not restricted] sometime next week,” Jim said Friday. Jim’s comments come as Wall Street is surveying the implications of Thursday night’s presidential debate , which was widely seen as strengthening former President Donald Trump’s chances of recapturing the White House in November. “I know people might think that Disney is too ‘woke’ under a Trump regime, but I care more about how there could be a lot of M & A in media and Disney could benefit,” he said. Future of the Fed: Cramer has been a vocal supporter of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the job he’s been doing. However, he said Friday: “Before you get too excited, remember, Powell is one of the first people to go. Trump has disliked him intensely even know he’s his guy.” Powell became Fed chairman in 2018 during the Trump presidency. But Trump almost immediately turned on Powell, lashing out at him in the fall of 2018 when the U.S. central bank started raising interest rates. His criticism continued during the final two years of his presidency . With much of the stock market discussion centered around what the Fed may or may not do, a change in Fed chair under Trump would likely shape rate policy in a different light. Solar praise: Analysts at Susquehanna offered upbeat commentary Friday on our newest stock: Nextracker , which joined the portfolio a day earlier . The firm initiated coverage of the maker of solar-tracking systems with a $59 price target and a buy-equivalent rating. While analysts were also positive on Nextracker competitor Array , they told clients they view the Club holding as a “safer pick due to its leading market share, greater exposure to Tier 1 suppliers, geographic diversity, and cash generation.” Nextracker shares traded around $47 each Friday, down more than 4% as the broader solar cohort came under pressure. The debate Thursday may be one driver of the selling. Trump is considered more favorable to the oil-and-gas industry, while President Joe Biden has championed clean-energy policies. Jim on Friday downplayed concerns that Nextracker would struggle in a hypothetical second Trump term. “That’s quite wrong,” he said. “Nextracker is industrial solar. Now, who wants industrial solar? The big mega caps — Microsoft and Alphabet and Amazon — because they are levered to commitments that they gave, not anything having to do with the president, for being carbon free, or at least reducing their [carbon] footprint.” Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon also are Club holdings. As usual, we started with a small stake in Nextracker, at just a 0.5% weighting, which gives us room to add more shares over time. Our price target is $55 a share. Up next: On Friday evening, our two bank stocks, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley , may provide updated capital return programs after passing the Fed’s annual stress tests earlier this week. (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.
Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Dream is seen docked in Port Canaveral, Florida, on July 30, 2021. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Mark Gauert | Sun Sentinel | Getty Images
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.
