My top 10 things to watch Wednesday, March 4 1. Stock futures are pointing to a solidly higher open this morning, in contrast to yesterday’s sharp declines. The volatility of Tuesday’s session is another reminder of why investors shouldn’t flee in fraught geopolitical moments. 2. Oil gave up earlier gains and is now lower, with global benchmark Brent crude down to roughly $81 a barrel. Its session high yesterday was $85.12. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC this morning the Trump administration is planning to make “a series of announcements” to stabilize oil flows in the Persian Gulf. In a piece for Club members yesterday, we explored the linkage between oil and stocks during the Iran war. 3. Club name CrowdStrike beat on all key earnings metrics last night, and CEO George Kurtz elegantly explained that AI is a tailwind, not a headwind, because it protects data and agentic systems from breaches in real time. Much more encompassing than detecting software code vulnerabilities . Shares are flat this morning. Although the bear narrative hasn’t vanished, we’re still big believers in the stock . 4. Anthropic’s annualized revenue has topped $19 billion, Bloomberg News reported . That’s up from $14 billion just a few weeks ago when the AI startup announced its $30 billion funding round . Just massive growth, coinciding with its furious rollout of new AI tools that spooked investors in software stocks and plenty of other industries . Anthropic now has a feud with the Pentagon on its hands. 5. Ross Stores delivered better-than-expected earnings last night, sending shares up almost 7% premarket. Same-store sales jumped 9% in the holiday quarter, trouncing the 5.1% consensus, and its guidance on this key metric was strong, too. The off-price retail model is clearly winning over shoppers. We’ve owned Marshalls parent, TJX Companies , for ages. 6. Long-struggling retailer Target landed two upgrades in the wake of its surprisingly positive report Tuesday. Bernstein went to hold from sell, though its price target of $116 is a few bucks below where the stock is trading. Telsey Advisory Group went to buy from hold with a $145 target, betting that new CEO Michael Fiddelke can bring the magic back. 7. Big call: Bank of America resumed coverage of Tesla and upgraded the stock to buy. The analyst called Tesla “the current leader in consumer autonomy” and argued that Elon Musk’s company will quickly scale its robotaxi service into new markets beyond San Francisco and Austin. 8. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on oilfield services provider SLB to $60 from $53 and kept its buy rating on the stock. This is the only oil-and-gas name I’d own here. 9. Total mortgage application volume increased 11% in the final week of February from the previous week, per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Mortgage rates trended lower throughout last month and sat near a 4-year low last week. Club name Home Depot needs a sustained pickup in the housing market. 10. Another terrible day for what had been the world’s hottest stock market, South Korea’s Kospi Index . It plunged 12% today, its worst day ever, after a 7% slide yesterday. Chip stocks like Samsung are a big part of the Kospi. With margin calls likely a factor, I’m watching for any spillover into parts of our U.S. market. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
