Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, a helpful afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. (We are no longer recording audio, so we can get this new written article to members as quickly as possible.) Trying to bounce back: After a nice rally early in the session, the S&P 500 was struggling to stay on top of its gains. (The index moved solidly into the red after this story was first published.) This would make it two days in a row of late declines, which could simply be the result of the market trying to settle into neutral ground ahead of Friday's decline. employment data. Or perhaps the market is starting to fear the recent rise in oil prices? West Texas Intermediate crude traded lower for most of the session, but rose $1 around 1:45 pm ET, aligning almost perfectly with selling in the stock market. As we wrote in a Thursday morning commentary: This oil rally should not be ignored. .SPX @CL.1 Mountain 1D S&P 500 vs. WTI - 1 day Employment Friday: The latest monthly government employment reports have shown a resilient labor market on the surface with strong employment gains and moderate wage growth, but significantly negative revisions from previous months. That dynamic has led some market observers to think that cracks have begun to form. Let's see what the latest numbers show and observe the corresponding movements in the Treasury market, as the recent rise in bond yields has caused volatile behavior in stocks. Doubling down: Ford announced it has delayed production of a new all-electric SUV and truck. Instead, the automaker plans to expand its hybrid offering. By the end of the decade, Ford hopes to offer hybrid powertrains across its Ford Blue lineup in North America. The Ford Blue division is home to all hybrid and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This update isn't a big surprise if you've been listening to CEO Jim Farley's comments on the last two earnings calls. With demand for electric vehicles slowing, pricing power weakening, and higher interest rates increasing the importance of profits, Ford has rightly pivoted to a much more prudent capital allocation strategy to slow down the pace of investment in electric vehicles. That doesn't mean the company has lost sight of scaling a profitable EV business over the long term, but what we'd prefer to see is Ford maximizing profits and cash flow. The company has responded to this call by manufacturing more cars of the type that are in demand. This means doubling the commitment to hybrid vehicles, whose sales increased by 42% in the first quarter. We believe the market will reward this strategy over time. That was the case for most of Thursday, although Ford shares fell after the market lost steam. The automaker's stock closed up nearly 2.8% on Wednesday after those quarterly sales figures. (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust holdings.) 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 fund'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 INVESTMENT 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 THE RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN RELATION TO THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULTS OR BENEFITS ARE GUARANTEED.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, a helpful afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. (We will no longer be recording audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.)
