The first rule of money management is never to have to say you are sorry. That’s why money managers never tell you in real time what their holdings are. It’s why they don’t hold monthly meetings. It’s why they don’t take questions. To which I say this: We run a club. We are open about what we do. How can you learn if you can’t even admit your mistakes? With our “Monthly Meeting” for December now in the books, here’s a look at how we misstepped in 2022 — and what we learned along the way. What we learned 1. Market cap matters. Some of our best stocks got out of hand. At one point Nvidia (NVDA), a very good company, was worth more than $820 billion, or more than 29 times sales. It didn’t matter that Nvidia is one of the finest, most innovative companies around. Just like there is a buy price for pretty much everything there is a sell price, too. When you have a very high price-to-sales ratio, you must ask yourself if there’s too much enthusiasm and not enough that can still take it higher? You must scrutinize whether the company has something up its sleeve in the next 12 months, not the next 12 years, that backs up the premium. If you’re creating answers to justify a valuation that has become unjustifiable, then you have to exit the position — as we should have done with Nvidia. 2. It’s key that a company be communicative with shareholders. Or does it dodge you and treat you unfairly? That’s been our experience with Bausch Health (BHC). No matter what we do they will not talk to us. They will not call us back. They won’t validate the thesis they laid out on “Mad Money.” So we are frozen, we don’t know what to do. This belligerence is unacceptable and puts us in limbo, a terrible place to be. 3. Don’t fall for the grand tour, or the grand lunch for that matter. You have no idea how many executives I go out with each week. Of course, each has a good story. Same with the executives who come on “Mad Money.” It’s always sunny. That’s why meeting with an executive can be fatal. CEOs are salespeople for their institution. They are incredibly effective. You have to be skeptical and resist the sirens. 4. Beware of stories based on the total addressable market size. You can get all bulled up for nothing. So often a company says an opportunity is so huge you have to get in on it. I didn’t fall into this trap with SmileDirectClub (SDC), the braces company, which told us that the worldwide total demand for its products was $500 billion. That may have been true when the stock was at $15 a share two years ago. But it also may be true at 53 cents a share, where it is now. Remember these more pertinent words: show me the money. 5. Don’t fight the Federal Reserve. No matter how rock solid your story might be, no matter how much the earnings could ramp up, if the Fed is trying to knock down inflation, it will knock down your stock, too. A hawkish Fed is your enemy. When we forgot this, we lost a lot of money. In a bear market, capital preservation trumps all. And, now… What we got right 1. Make things and do stuff. Last November, we made a determination that we were going to buy stocks of companies that ‘make things and do stuff’ at a profit. This one phrase saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars because the world changed from being in love with companies that may, one day, make stuff, but certainly not at a profit. Those all turned out to be losers. 2. And don’t be expensive. As the Fed grew more vociferous we had to add a new corollary to our favorite statement: the company had to make things and do stuff profitably, and not be expensive. The Fed’s actions shrunk the multiples of stocks that grew sales and earnings but the price to earnings was just too high to own. The more we sold of these kinds of stocks the more money we saved. 3. We never fell for fads. The market went gaga for all sorts of themes this past year that we felt had little validity — everything from charging stations to green hydrogen and electric vehicles and car parts. We never took the bait. We never trusted the street. We knew not to buy what Wall Street was selling. 4. Boring is good. As the year went on, we found ourselves being drawn more and more to companies that simply weren’t interesting. They were just cheap relative to their peers in ways that made no real sense, so we held them and their values came out over time. They paid out dividends every quarter and reduced their share counts through steady repurchases, thereby increasing our ownership. They were consistent and dependable with their earnings. The job of a money manager is to make as much money as possible with the least amount of risk. Boring reduces risk and volatility, but also increases reward. 5. Don’t panic. If you’ve done your homework and are confident that the story of a company is a good one, don’t panic even if the market says you’re wrong. Some of the best buys we had this year — buys like that of Estee Lauder (EL), Devon (DVN) or Honeywell (HON) — were opportunities because we knew the story and would not let the market shake us out of them. (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.
A trader watches as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), November 2, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The first rule of money management is never to have to say you are sorry. That’s why money managers never tell you in real time what their holdings are. It’s why they don’t hold monthly meetings. It’s why they don’t take questions.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One en route to the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 24, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding. In yesterday’s newsletter, we talked about how a blitzkrieg of missile-led diplomacy seemed to help de-escalate tensions.
The flipside of that strange path to a truce is that missiles are, well, fundamentally weapons. Mere hours after both countries agreed to the ceasefire, Israel said its longtime rival had fired missiles into its borders — an accusation which Tehran denied — and was preparing to “respond forcefully.” Probably with more missiles.
U.S. President Donald Trump — who reportedly brokered the ceasefire with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — expressed frustration with those developments.
“I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either but I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning,” Trump told a reporter pool en route to the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
His admonishments seemed to work. There is now a fragile armistice between the two countries.
Oil prices fell and U.S. stocks jumped.
Reuters uploaded a photo of Israeli residents playing frisbee at the beach on June 24. Flights at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport are resuming, and Iran’s airspace is partially open, according to flight monitoring firm FlightRadar24, CNBC reported at around 3 a.m. Singapore time.
Three hours after that update, NBC News, citing three people familiar with the matter, reported that an initial assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency found the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturdayleft “core pieces … still intact.”
Trump pushed backed on those accusations Tuesday night, writing that “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!”
And so it goes.
What you need to know today
Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, for now The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, announced by Trump on Monday, appears to be holding. Israel on Tuesday said it would honor the ceasefire so long as Iran does the same. Earlier in the day, both countries accused each other of violating the truce, and said they were ready to retaliate, prompting Trump to say he’s “not happy” with them. Stay updated on the Israel-Iran conflict with CNBC’s live blog here.
Oil pares losses Oil prices regained some ground during Asia trading hours Wednesday. Both U.S. crude oil and global benchmark Brent rose around 1.5%. On Tuesday stateside, oil prices tumbled roughly 6%. Earlier in the day, Trump said China can keep buying oil from Iran, in what seemed like a sign that the U.S. may soften its pressure campaign against Tehran.
Powell says Fed is ‘well positioned to wait’ At a U.S. congressional hearing Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was still strong. But he noted that inflation is still above the central bank’s target of 2%, and the Fed has an “obligation” to prevent tariffs from becoming “an ongoing inflation problem.” In combination, those considerations make the Fed “well positioned to wait” before making a decision on interest rates.
Don’t make trade political: Chinese premier “Globalization will not be reversed,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday through an official English translation at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in China, often dubbed “Summer Davos.” Li urged all sides not to turn trade into a political or security issue, and said engaging in the international economy is a way of “reshaping the rules and order.”
[PRO] Not ‘bullish enough’ on rally: HSBC The S&P 500′s rally off its April lows has brought it back to roughly 1% off its record high in a very short time. It’s an advance that has perplexed many investors, who worry that another pullback is on the horizon. But Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC, said he worries he’s not “bullish enough” on the current rally.
And finally…
Renminbi notes next to U.S. dollar notes at a Kasikornbank in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2023.
China is devising more ways for foreign institutions to use the yuan, as international confidence in the U.S. dollar falters.
In a sign of growing resolve in Beijing to lure the world away from the dollar, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng announced plans last week to set up a center for digital yuan internationalization in Shanghai and promote the trading of yuan foreign exchange futures. Beijing has already rolled out a digital version of its currency to replace some cash and coins in circulation.
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about the Israel-Iran conflict, aboard Air Force One on June 24, 2025, while traveling to attend the NATO’s Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding. In yesterday’s newsletter, we talked about how a blitzkrieg of missile-led diplomacy seemed to help de-escalate tensions.
The flipside of that strange path to a truce is that missiles, well, are fundamentally weapons. Mere hours after both countries agreed to the ceasefire, Israel said its longtime rival had fired missiles into its borders — an accusation which Tehran denied — and was preparing to “respond forcefully.” Probably with more missiles.
U.S. President Donald Trump — who reportedly brokered the ceasefire with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — expressed frustration with those developments.
“I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either but I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning,” Trump told a reporter pool en route to the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
His admonishments seemed to work. There is now a fragile armistice between the two countries.
Oil prices fell and U.S. stocks jumped.
Reuters uploaded a photo of Israeli residents playing frisbee at the beach on June 24. Flights at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport are resuming, and Iran’s airspace is partially open, according to flight monitoring firm FlightRadar24, CNBC reported at around 3 a.m. Singapore time.
Three hours after that update, NBC News, citing three people familiar with the matter, reported that an initial assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency found the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturdayleft “core pieces … still intact.”
And so it goes.
What you need to know today
Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, for now The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran, announced by Trump on Monday, appears to be holding. Israel on Tuesday said it would honor the ceasefire so long as Iran does the same. Earlier in the day, both countries accused each other of violating the truce, and said they were ready to retaliate, prompting Trump to say he’s “not happy” with them. Stay updated on the Israel-Iran conflict with CNBC’s live blog here.
Oil prices slump for a second day Oil prices tumbled Tuesday, its second day of declines, as the market betthat the risk of a major supply disruption had faded. U.S. crude oil settled down 6% at $64.37 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent fell 6.1%, to $67.14 during U.S. trading. Prices closed 7% lower on Monday. Earlier Tuesday, Trump said China can keep buying oil from Iran, in what seemed like a sign that the U.S. may soften its pressure campaign against Tehran.
Powell says Fed is ‘well positioned to wait’ At a U.S. congressional hearing Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was still strong. But he noted that inflation is still above the central bank’s target of 2%, and the Fed has an “obligation” to prevent tariffs from becoming “an ongoing inflation problem.” In combination, those considerationsmake the Fed “well positioned to wait” before making a decision on interest rates.
U.S. is committed to NATO: Secretary-General There is “total commitment by the U.S. president and the U.S. senior leadership to NATO,” the military alliance’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Tuesday morning, as the summit kicked off in The Hague, Netherlands. But America expects Europe and Canada to spend as much as the U.S. does on defense. Ahead of the summit, members agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035.
[PRO] Not ‘bullish enough’ on rally: HSBC The S&P 500′s rally off its April lows has brought it back to roughly 1% off its record high in a very short time. It’s an advance that has perplexed many investors, who worry that another pullback is on the horizon. But Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC, said he worries he’s not “bullish enough” on the current rally.
And finally…
Pictures from the semi-official Tasnim news agency show the Stena Impero being seized and detained between July 19 and July 21, 2019 near strait of Hormuz, Iran.
According to Angeliki Frangou, a fourth-generation shipowner and chairman and CEO of Greece-based Navios Maritime Partners, which owns and operates dry cargo ships and tankers, vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are still being threatened by continuous GPS signal blocking.
“We have had about 20% less passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and vessels are waiting outside,” Frangou told CNBC.
“You are hearing a lot from the liner [ocean shipping] companies that they are transiting only during daytime because of the jamming of GPS signals of vessels. They don’t want to pass during the nighttime because they find it dangerous. So it’s a very fluid situation,” Frangou said.
Mercedes-Benz is sending nearly 5,000 electric vans to Amazon’s European delivery partners in its biggest EV handoff to date. The fleet will hit the streets in five countries in the coming months.
Three-quarters of the fleet are Mercedes’ larger eSprinter vans, while the rest are the more compact eVito panel vans. More than 2,500 are going to Germany, and Amazon says this new EV fleet will help deliver more than 200 million parcels a year across Europe.
This is the biggest EV order Mercedes-Benz Vans has ever received. It builds on a partnership that started in 2020, when Amazon first added more than 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes to its delivery network.
“We’re further intensifying our long-standing relationship with Amazon and working together toward an all-electric future of transport,” said Sagree Sardien, head of sales & marketing at Mercedes-Benz Vans. “Our eVito and eSprinter are perfectly tailored to meet the demands of our commercial customers regarding efficiency and range.”
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In 2020, Mercedes-Benz joined Amazon’s Climate Pledge, a commitment Amazon co-founded with Global Optimism to reach net zero by 2040.
Both the eSprinter and eVito are designed with delivery drivers in mind. With batteries tucked into the underbody, the vans offer unrestricted cargo space. Both come standard with the MBUX multimedia system, which supports the integration of automatic charging stops and Mercedes’ public charging network via navigation.
Safety and comfort got upgrades, too. New driver assistance features come standard, and the Amazon vans are customized with shelves and a sliding door between the cabin and cargo area for easy parcel access.
The eVito vans, which were built at Mercedes’ plant in Vitoria, Spain, are ideal for last-mile urban deliveries. They come in 60 kWh or 90 kWh battery options, with peak motor outputs of either 85 kW or 150 kW, and can travel up to 480 km (298 miles) on a full charge.
Meanwhile, the eSprinter is the all-rounder for range and loading volume. Built in Düsseldorf, it comes in two lengths and three battery sizes, with a range of up to 484 km (300 miles). It boasts up to 14 cubic meters of cargo space and can handle a gross weight of up to 4.25 tonnes.
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