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. Markets: Stocks were still sharply lower in afternoon trading after the Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs in December, nearly 100,000 more than the consensus forecast. In addition, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% from 4.2% in November. Wage growth stabilized, though, with an increase of 3.9% year over year, a tick below estimates and the 4% gain seen in November. Interest rates screamed higher in reaction to the data, with the 10-year Treasury yield spiking to 4.75%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury note briefly touched 5%. The probability of multiple rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year looks dimmer and dimmer. The data even has some whispering the Fed may need to raise rates later this year, but we think it’s way too early to be talking about that. As far as we’re concerned, a good labor market with stabilizing wage growth is not a bad thing. The more people who are employed the better, and the solid wage gains should support consumer spending and corporate earnings growth. The strong hiring could explain the positive action Friday across big box retail stocks like Costco , a longtime Club name, and Walmart . A pair of inflation reports next week will determine where the conversation goes from here. Nevertheless, we have to acknowledge the competition higher yields create versus equities and how valuations contract when interest rates spike. Quick hits: Below are quick takes on a few headlines and market movers Friday. Reports out of Washington indicate the Supreme Court is likely to uphold the TikTok ban in the U.S. That would be good news for rival social media platforms including Club holding Meta Platforms because advertisers — and consumer eyeballs — would be forced to go elsewhere. Financials are tumbling, led lower by a double-digit percentage drop in Jefferies . The investment bank missed earnings per share estimates Wednesday evening, and with the market closed on Thursday, the ripple effects are just being felt now. Analysts at Oppenheimer said Friday the quarter isn’t a good read-through into Jefferies’ future or the other investment banks that report next week, including Club name like Goldman Sachs . The highly regarded Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo published a downbeat note about Apple’s 2025 prospects. In a blog post , Kuo wrote that he estimates iPhone shipments could fall 8% to 10% below consensus in 2025. In addition, Kuo argued there has not been any evidence to suggest Apple Intelligence is driving hardware upgrades and services revenue. Despite near-term caution of the market’s earlier optimism, Kuo is not bearish on Apple Intelligence’s long-term prospects. Apple shares fell roughly 2.5% Friday, slightly worse than the S & P 500’s decline of about 1.5%. In recent days, we’ve started to see expectations for 2025 recalibrate after Apple stock surged into the end of last year, strength that we sold into . That rethink includes a downgrade to sell by MoffettNathanson on Wednesday . Up next: The week ahead is a busy one. We’ll be monitoring updates from the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Jim Cramer will be boots on the ground, interviewing some of the biggest newsmakers in the industry while he’s there. Wednesday is the unofficial kickoff of fourth quarter earnings season with several big banks reporting. We’ll see the quarters from Club names Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs and BlackRock , as well as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup . Thursday is more bank earnings, with former Club name Morgan Stanley and Bank of America on the docket. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and UnitedHealth Group also report. On Friday, there’s more bank earnings, as well as oil services firm SLB . Earnings will be a driving force of the market, but so will economic data due to the sensitivity to every new data point and the impact on interest rates. The key releases next week will be the producer price index on Tuesday, consumer price index on Wednesday, and retail sales 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.
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.