My top 10 things to watch Thursday, Jan. 2 1. The new trading year was getting off to a strong start on Wall Street after back-to-back years of 20%-plus gains for the first time since the 1990s. Mag 7 stocks were responsible for most of the gains since Election Day 2024. So, of course, conclusion is they have to go down. I don’t believe that. 2. Apple is offering small discounts on phones in China. The Club stock trades like it will never come down. But it’s trading at 34 times 2025 earnings estimates and is arguably the most inflated Mag 7 stock. 3. Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300, tracking the biggest stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, dropped 2.9% overnight in its steepest decline since 2016. Weaker-than-expected manufacturing numbers and worries about tariffs were to blame. 4. Countdown to Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald Trump . The soon-to-be-president-again’s talk about corporate tax and capital gains rate cuts are in play as well as trade tariffs. 5. Evercore ISI cuts its GE Healthcare price target to $98 per share from $102. The stock has been extremely disappointing for the Club. Like Danaher , it needs better China stimulus that never seems to occur. 6. Mortgage demand sank 22% for the two weeks ended Dec. 27, 2024, compared with the week before that period. Mortgage Bankers Association released two weeks of data after being closed over the holiday. 7. Bond yields were lower Thursday after a choppy 2024 . The 10-year yield started last year below 3.9%, before rising above 4.7% in the spring, retreating back to below 3.7% in the fall, and ending the year above 4.5%. 8. Oil climbed a little higher. Boy, do I never trust that. West Texas Intermediate crude , the U.S. oil benchmark, saw 5%-plus gains for December and the fourth quarter. But WTI was flat for all of 2024. 9. Piper Sandler downgraded Biogen to hold from buy and made a catch-up price-target adjustment to $138 from $315. The stock closed Tuesday at around $153. They said that building out an Alzheimer’s franchise is an “uphill battle.” It was one of the worst performers last year in a horrible group. 10. Eli Lilly , an CNBC Investing Club core holding , looks to extend its winning streak over the broader market to six years. The stock jumped more than 30% last year. Yes, Lilly also has an Alzheimer’s treatment. But it also dominates the GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drug market with Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk . 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.
The Wall Street Bull statue covered in snow on Nov. 15, 2018.
Erik Mcgregor | Lightrocket | Getty Images
My top 10 things to watch Thursday, Jan. 2
1. The new trading year was getting off to a strong start on Wall Street after back-to-back years of 20%-plus gains for the first time since the 1990s. Mag 7 stocks were responsible for most of the gains since Election Day 2024. So, of course, conclusion is they have to go down. I don’t believe that.
2.Apple is offering small discounts on phones in China. The Club stock trades like it will never come down. But it’s trading at 34 times 2025 earnings estimates and is arguably the most inflated Mag 7 stock.
3. Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300, tracking the biggest stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, dropped 2.9% overnight in its steepest decline since 2016. Weaker-than-expected manufacturing numbers and worries about tariffs were to blame.
