Michael Huber 
Rekindled inflation concerns and President Donald Trump threatening reciprocal tariffs Friday slammed the door on the possibility of a winning week on Wall Street. For the week: the Dow and the Nasdaq each lost just over 0.5%, and the S & P 500 fell almost 0.25%. All three stock benchmarks were higher on the week as of Thursday’s close. And, initially, investors on Friday looked past higher-than-expected wage inflation in the government’s mixed employment report. But at 10 a.m. ET, an uptick in retail inflation concerns in the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey sent stocks lower. The market took another leg down in the afternoon when Trump said he plans to announce in the coming week matching levies on trading partners that put tariffs on American imports. During a White House meeting with Japan’s prime minister, the president said he wants the U.S. “treated evenly with other countries.” .DJI .SPX,.IXIC 5D mountain Weekly performance in Dow, S & P 500, and Nasdaq Earnings were a big theme last week as quarterly results and commentary from Club names Alphabet and Amazon confirmed what Meta Platforms and Microsoft revealed in the prior week: Big Tech still plans to spend tons of money this year to build out artificial intelligence capabilities. That provided relief to Club chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom , which were slammed on Jan. 27 and much of that week, after Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled a lower-cost AI model. That, in turn, sparked concerns that tech giants might not need to spend as much on high-performance semiconductors. Hearing from Alphabet , Amazon , Meta , and Microsoft quelled some of those fears in the near term. Nvidia and Broadcom, while stronger last week, were still below their pre-DeepSeek closing levels on Friday, Jan. 24. Fueled before and after earnings, Meta on Friday completed an incredible 15-session winning streak. Since its closing price on Jan. 16, the stock hasn’t looked back, gaining nearly 17%. META mountain 2025-01-16 Meta Platforms since Jan. 16 We also got earnings last week from Disney ( the market seemed confused ), Honeywell ( breakup news overshadowed ), Linde ( conference call was key ), Bristol Myers Squibb ( stock drop was a gift ), and Eli Lilly ( gets its mojo back ). Jim Cramer saw buying opportunities in Disney , Honeywell , and Bristol Myers . He suggested Lilly and Linde were holds. The Club made a bunch of trades last week including exiting Stanley Black & Decker and bulking up Home Depot . We did that to keep exposure to what we expect will be a recovery in housing but with less tariff risk. We also called up and initiated Bullpen stock Texas Roadhouse , which we added to on Friday. We are considering a bunch of trade ideas for the week ahead. So, stay tuned. While this coming week will feature fewer Club earnings, the economic calendar is chock full of important numbers and central bank commentary. 1. Fedspeak. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers his semiannual economic report to Congress this week — going before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. He’s probably in for a rough ride from Republican lawmakers emboldened by their majorities and Trump in the White House. During his remote address to global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 23, the president demanded more rate cuts immediately . Less than a week later, Powell and the Fed held rates steady following three cuts last year. Last Monday, Trump flipped and said holding rates steady this time was the right move . After its December meeting, the Fed projected two rate cuts for 2025. The market is currently putting odds on one cut with a second at about 50-50, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That’s because the economy has been looking strong with pretty steady but elevated inflation. 2. Inflation data. On Wednesday and Thursday, the government releases January data on consumer inflation and wholesale inflation. These price reports take on added importance after the worrisome jobs report wage data and the consumer sentiment survey. The consumer price index on Wednesday is the main event as it measures the kinds of price pressures every day Americans face in their daily lives. Headline CPI for January is seen rising 2.9% on a year-over-year basis, according to FactSet estimates. That would be the same increase as the prior month. The core rate, which excludes food and energy prices, is seen rising 3.1%, a bit cooler than the prior month’s 3.2% increase. The producer price index on Thursday has been known to move markets. It measures input costs that businesses pay to make their products and provide services. Larger-than-expected increases in PPI might show up in the coming months on the retail side if businesses were to pass along higher costs to consumers. Headline PPI for January is expected to increase 3.1%, a bit cooler than December’s rise of 3.3%. Core PPI is seen cooling to a 3.2% rise in January versus up 3.5% in December. 3. Earnings . Only three Club report this week: DuPont , GE Healthcare , and Palo Alto Networks . Before Tuesday’s opening bell, DuPont is expected to deliver a nearly 6% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter revenue to $3.07 billion and a 12.6 % increase in earnings per share (EPS) to 98 cents, according to the consensus of analysts estimate compiled by LSEG. Besides the reported quarter and forward guidance, we’ll want to hear where things stand on DuPont’s plan to split into two companies. Last month, the company decided against separating its water business but moved up its electronics spin timeline. Before Thursday’s open, GE Healthcare is expected to report a 2.5% increase in fourth-quarter revenue to $5.33 billion and a 6.8% increase in EPS to $1.26. We sold some shares of GEHC last Tuesday, locking in some profits as we remain cautious about the state of the health-care industry in China and want to hear more from the company about it. After Thursday’s closing bell, Palo Alto Networks is expected to report an 11% increase in its fiscal 2025 second-quarter revenue to $2.2 billion and a 6.8% increase in EPS to 78 cents. We last trimmed Palo Alto on Jan. 8, realizing a nearly 100% gain on a stock that has fallen out of favor. We’ll have to see whether the three analysts who downgraded the stock that week were right. A strong report Thursday evening from fellow cybersecurity firm Fortinet sent Palo Alto shares higher on Friday. Week ahead Monday, Feb. 10 Before the bell earnings: McDonald’s Tuesday, Feb. 11 10 a.m. ET: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual economic report to Congress : Senate Banking Committee Before the bell: DuPont , Coca-Cola, AutoNation After the bell: DoorDash, Lyft, Super Micro Wednesday, Feb. 12 8:30 a.m. ET: Consumer price index for January 10aET: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual economic report to Congress: House Financial Services Committee 2 p.m. ET: Treasury budget statement Before the bell: CVS, Biogen, Restaurant Brands After the bell: Robinhood, Reddit Thursday, Feb. 13 8:30 a.m. ET: Producer price index for January 8:30 a.m. ET: Weekly jobless claims Before the bell: GE Healthcare After the bell: Palo Alto Networks, Airbnb, Coinbase Friday, Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day) 8:30 a.m. ET: Retail sales for January 9:15 a.m. ET: Industrial production and capacity utilization for January 10 a.m. ET: Business inventories for December Before the bell: Moderna (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.
Rekindled inflation concerns and President Donald Trump threatening reciprocal tariffs Friday slammed the door on the possibility of a winning week on Wall Street.
