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. Mixed market : The S & P 500 spent Friday’s session mostly unchanged as it tried for a fourth record close this week. Before Friday’s opening bell, the August reading of the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge was tame . Combine that with other reports this week pointing to a healthy economy, and investors were feeling reassured that central bankers did not make last week’s big interest rate cut out of fear of stalling growth. So far, Wednesday has been the only down session of the week for the S & P 500, which was on pace for its sixth weekly gain in the past seven. Still frothy : The S & P Short Range Oscillator pulled back from Tuesday’s most overbought reading since August. But as of Thursday’s close, it was still firmly overbought, where it has been for the past eight sessions. Our discipline requires us to consider trimming in overbought markets. To that end , on Wednesday, we made small sales in Meta Platforms , Alphabet , and Danaher . On Friday, we lightened up on GE Healthcare , which hit an all-time high during the session. Nice quarter : When historically troublesome September ends Monday, it looks like the S & P 500 will turn in a solid monthly gain. To be sure, a lot can happen until then. But a positive September, which is notoriously the worst month of the year, would be the first in five years for the broad market index. Monday also brings the third quarter on Wall Street to a close. The S & P 500 finishing the past three months in the green would be its fourth positive quarter in a row for the first time since its seven-quarter winning streak, which ended in the fourth quarter of 2021. Month to date, consumer discretionary, utilities, and materials were the best-performing S & P 500 sectors. Quarter to date, utilities, real estate, and industrials were tops. Dividend hike : Honeywell on Friday announced an annual dividend increase of 4.6% to $4.52 per share. While additional capital returns to shareholders like us are always welcome, Honeywell has been a tough stock to own this year. During the Club’s September Monthly Meeting , Jim Cramer said he’s been tempted to sell but kept Honeywell because there’s huge value in its individual businesses such as aerospace. Looking ahead, we will be holding management accountable to act on the portfolio reshuffling timeline that CEO Vimal Kapur laid out earlier this month at an industry conference. Up next : The big economic number of next week will be Friday’s job report for September. Wall Street will be parsing the data for clues to how much the Fed might cut interest rates at its November meeting. After ending their tightening cycle and ushering in easing last week, the Fed is expected to follow up its 50-basis point rate cut in September with 75 basis points worth of cuts before year-end. The only Club name reporting earnings in the week ahead is Mexican beer powerhouse Constellation Brands on Thursday. (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.
People walk through the financial district near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on September 19, 2024, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | 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.
