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. Market moves : Stocks are off to a volatile start to the week. The ugly open Monday caused the S & P 500 to dip into bear market territory, meaning a decline of 20% from its high. There was a sharp rebound in the market shortly after 10 a.m. ET on the belief that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs. But that was quickly shot down by the White House. The brief rally, although not based on factual information, showed investors what could happen in the market if there’s any tariff relief and President Donald Trump backs off from this manufactured sell-off. This could help explain why markets stabilized in midday trading. Tariff talk : The Trump administration’s appetite to make trade deals is a question we simply do not know the answer to. On the one hand, it’s hard to have confidence in deal-making when White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said Vietnam offering zero percent tariffs isn’t enough. The exact goals of the tariffs — are they a revenue generator or being used to reduce trade barriers — are ambiguous. On the other hand, in a post on Truth Social at 11:14 a.m. ET, the president said negotiations with countries other than China “will begin taking place immediately.” If deals are struck with countries and tariffs are lowered one by one, that would be a market positive. However, China remains the top target for the White House. In that same post, Trump said the U.S. would impose additional tariffs on China of 50% effective April 9 if China does not drop its 34% retaliatory tariffs. Club approach : The fast-moving headlines and ongoing uncertainty are why we continue to take a wait-and-see approach to the market turmoil. We are constructive about the long-term outlook for stocks, especially as prices fall, and don’t want to lose sight of what can go right. But how other countries respond to tariffs, and how the U.S. responds in kind, is the wild card that is hard to predict. What we are monitoring in the days ahead is how will the European Union respond — it has indicated they are open to a deal — and if those additional China tariffs are imposed. Up next : On the earnings calendar, we’ll hear from the jean and jacket apparel company Levi Strauss after Monday’s closing bell. It will be interesting to see if and how Levi quantifies the impact tariffs have on its earnings outlook. The only economic data point is the NFIB small business optimism index. The big earnings and big inflation reports come later in the week. (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.
