My top 10 things to watch Friday, Jan. 3 1. China’s central bank is signaling that it will cut interest rates at some point this year, according to a report in The Financial Times . When will it matter to the economy? The People’s Bank of China also is planning a shift toward more orthodox monetary policy in 2025. I don’t think it matters. 2. Tesla’s shipments from its Shanghai factory declined 3% on annual basis in 2024, to 916,660. That’s the first year-over-year drop since full-scale production began there in 2020. Its annual global deliveries also fell . Meanwhile, Canaccord upped its Tesla price target to $404 a share from $298, citing a “generational set of growth opportunities ahead” including robotics and autonomous vehicles. 3. Wolfe Research raised its price target on Club name Coterra Energy to $35 a share from $32 and kept its buy-equivalent outperform rating on the stock. This is the most attractively valued natural gas and oil play, but it never does anything anyway. It should, but doesn’t. 4. Wolfe also has become more selective on bank stocks, but remains upbeat on Wells Fargo and accordingly hiked its PT to $87 a share from $75. The Club name is the bank most exposed to regulatory reform under the incoming Trump administration. Tremendous buyback, too. 5. Deutsche Bank lifted its PT on SoFi to $14 a share from $11, but kept its hold rating. Analysts see “rekindled animal spirits” in the economy following the election results. In fintech I like Robinhood , which has been able to win over young people who otherwise haven’t been interested in the market. 6. BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF is showing declines. Bloomberg News reported that $333 million was pulled Thursday in its third straight day of outflows. That’s the losing streak since it launched last year. The fund, which trades under the ticker IBIT, saw a rush of new money during bitcoin’s post-election rally. We own BlackRock for the Club. 7. A preliminary study from Cornell’s business school found a notable decline in grocery spending among households with at least one person taking GLP-1 drugs. Spending falls by roughly 6% within six months of adoption, with bigger declines in high-calorie foods like chips and candy. Big implications for food players like Kraft Heinz and Campbell’s . GLP-1 maker Eli Lilly is a Club name. 8. Wedbush Securities upgraded PulteGroup to a buy-equivalent outperform, arguing the stock’s nearly 30% pullback since mid-October is overdone. I worry that 2025 could bring weakness in housing as mortgage rates stay elevated. 9. Meta Platforms has a new policy chief : Joel Kaplan, who used to be George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff. Kaplan is replacing Nick Clegg, in the latest example of Silicon Valley preparing for Trump . Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, and Meta donated $1 million to his inauguration fund. 10. RBC Capital expects another good year for software, pointing to multiple catalysts including stabilized spending trends and AI-driven innovations. ServiceNow , Datadog and Club holding CrowdStrike were among the names that caught price target bumps. 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.
A person checks their phone at a Tesla dealership near a parked Cybertruck on January 2, 2025 in Alhambra, California.
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My top 10 things to watch Friday, Jan. 3
1. China’s central bank is signaling that it will cut interest rates at some point this year, according to a report in The Financial Times. When will it matter to the economy? The People’s Bank of China also is planning a shift toward more orthodox monetary policy in 2025. I don’t think it matters.
2. Tesla’s shipments from its Shanghai factory declined 3% on annual basis in 2024, to 916,660. That’s the first year-over-year drop since full-scale production began there in 2020. Its annual global deliveries also fell. Meanwhile, Canaccord upped its Tesla price target to $404 a share from $298, citing a “generational set of growth opportunities ahead” including robotics and autonomous vehicles.
3. Wolfe Research raised its price target on Club name Coterra Energy to $35 a share from $32 and kept its buy-equivalent outperform rating on the stock. This is the most attractively valued natural gas and oil play, but it never does anything anyway. It should, but doesn’t.
