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 update : The S & P 500 is trying to make it four consecutive positive sessions to start the year, but it will need a little help. Technology is doing its part on Wednesday, with most of the Magnificent 7 and software stocks trading higher. In fact, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks were two of the biggest gainers in the S & P 500. Pharmaceutical stocks also had another solid day. However, weakness spread across industrials, with declines in Eaton , Dover , GE Vernova , and Honeywell , and profit-taking finally caught up with the financials. Housing stocks under pressure: Shares of Blackstone , Invitation Homes , and other investment firms and housing-related companies fell this afternoon after President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he plans to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes with the goal of making housing more affordable for everyday Americans. Shares of BlackRock also dipped on the announcement, but it’s important to remember that the asset manager is not an active investor in the U.S. real estate market. It’s so common a misperception that BlackRock published a one-pager about it. By the way, a report from Blackstone last year found that institutions own only 0.5% of all single-family homes in the country. Still, BlackRock and many other financials were under pressure before the news, as many investors locked in profits to capitalize on the group’s strong move at the start of the year. Profit-taking: We can’t say we’re surprised by the selling. We did that on Monday when we trimmed our BlackRock position into a 3% rally. We also noted in Wednesday’s Morning Meeting that we’re feeling greedy in Goldman Sachs , Wells Fargo , and Capital One and are contemplating trimming. Bank earnings season begins next week, and the group is coming into the quarters red hot. We’re still upbeat about how the deregulatory environment will create tailwinds for the banks this year, but no one’s ever gone broke taking a profit. Up next : Jefferies Financial and Constellation Brands report after the closing bell. The Jefferies results should provide some insight into the strength of investment banking and capital markets activity. On the data side, there’s Challenger Job Cuts, weekly jobless claims, and New York Fed 1-Year inflation expectations. (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.
