My top 10 things to watch Wednesday, Oct. 15 1. Bank of America’s better-than-expected earnings report this morning showed a level of charge-offs that is incredibly low. Club name Wells Fargo yesterday also set aside less money for losses. Nobody else seems to be warning about lurking bad corporate loans. Is JPMorgan the outlier here? 2. After a great quarter on all metrics for Bank of America and tremendous investment banking and wealth gathering at Morgan Stanley , you have to question whether we should still give net interest income so much attention and instead talk about earnings growth. That could help banks command a higher price-to-earnings ratio. Both stocks were up more than 3% this morning. 3. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told me last night that Agentforce is “part and parcel” of the company now. But will the suite of AI tools move the earnings needle? That’s the big question and what I worry about with this stock, which we’ve long owned for the Club. I do like hearing that Williams-Sonoma and Dell are using Agentforce, though. 4. Club name Abbott Labs reported a fine quarter, but narrowed its earnings per share guidance range because of tariffs. Not happy that the stock was getting hit on the print, but we’ve had to take our lumps with this Club stock before and we’ll do it again. Shares were falling more than 3% this morning. 5. Apollo Global has reportedly put in another bid to buy Papa John’s , which shows that restaurant valuations have gotten too low. Was CEO Todd Penegor, who took over last year from Wendy’s , put in to sell the pizza chain? That would make sense. In restaurants, I liked Texas Roadhouse , but cattle prices won’t stop going up, pressuring margins. 6. ASML reported a very strong quarter. Watch this company. It has proprietary semiconductor equipment like no other. Chinese companies have been unable to duplicate it. China needs ASML’s lithography machines the most, and yet it said that China sales would be down. 7. Rothschild Redburn downgraded GE Vernova to a sell rating. You must be kidding me. The Club name tied to powering energy-intensive AI data centers has a huge order book. GE Vernona makes energy-generating natural gas turbines that hook up to data centers. 8. An investor group that includes Club names BlackRock and Nvidia announced plans to buy Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management and other investors. The deal is worth $40 billion. It’s being led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners investment fund. The stampede of data center deals continues. 9. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Johnson & Johnson to $190 from $178. J & J is one of the best drug stocks. I would still buy it. The company reported a strong quarter yesterday, with a rosy outlook and plans to spin off its orthopedics business. 10. BTIG initiated coverage of Nike with a buy and a $100 price target. The analysts also named the Club stock a top pick for 2026. If you don’t own Nike, buy it right here. Acknowledging there is “clearly still much work ahead” in the turnaround story, BTIG sees solid progress. 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.
