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. The push and pull between the oil markets and equities continues . After a calm Wednesday, oil prices surged on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate topping $80 per barrel and reaching its highest level since July 2024 amid concerns about supply disruptions and a prolonged war. As oil prices rise, so do fears of inflation, which pushes the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield higher. The combination of rising oil prices, which act as a tax on consumers, with higher bond yields makes for an ugly combination for stocks. Over the past few days, spikes in oil prices have been met with commentary from the Trump administration about potential steps to stabilize the energy market. Nvidia shares turned lower after Bloomberg reported that the Trump Administration is drafting a plan that would give it more control over AI chip exports. According to the report, U.S. officials have drafted regulations requiring companies to seek U.S. approval to export AI accelerators to other countries. The report also says these rules wouldn’t function as an export ban but would instead make the U.S. government the “gatekeeper for the AI industry.” That’s an extremely important distinction, but it’s still surprising news because last May the Trump administration scrapped the Biden administration’s “AI diffusion rule” that would’ve set strict semiconductor export limits. Costco and Marvell Technology are the two big earnings reports on Thursday after the closing bell. There are no major earnings reports on Friday, but the economic data will be a big story. It’s jobs day, which means we’ll see the monthly non-farm payroll report at 8:30 am ET. Economists are forecasting a 55,000 increase in jobs for February, with average hourly earnings increasing 3.7% and the unemployment rate staying at 4.3%. The January retail sales report will also be released tomorrow morning. (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 discussed a stock on CNBC, 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.
