During another busy week of earnings and stock market swings, we picked our spots and made six trades, including calling up a Bullpen name. We also changed two Club price targets. Here’s a day-by-day look. Monday The week started with a small Caterpillar (CAT) sale after a huge run and an initiation of a new position in DuPont (DD), which had been on our Bullpen watch list. Shortly after the opening bell, we trimmed some Caterpillar and booked some profits after the industrial giant’s blowout earnings last week. Revenue rose 22% year-over-year in the second quarter and adjusted earnings per share jumped 75%. This was, in part, due to the U.S. government’s increased infrastructure spending . Shares popped 9% on the earnings release, closing that day at a record high of $288.65. The stock was finishing this week just under that level. Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust — the holdings we use for the Club — owns 315 shares of Caterpillar. Monday’s trade decreased CAT’s weighting to 3.03% from 3.26%. in our portfolio. Monday afternoon, we bought 375 shares of DuPont. The specialty chemical maker has a 1% weighting in the Club’s portfolio. DuPont has an attractive growth story for 2024. Management said during their second-quarter earnings call that the bottom in the company’s semiconductor business is here, a similar narrative we’ve heard in the industry landscape more broadly. We like the idea of exposure to semiconductors at a lower industrials multiple rather than the higher chip-stock multiple. Tuesday We added shares of Coterra Energy (CTRA) in the morning and purchased more Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) in the afternoon. We bought more Coterra on Tuesday’s dip, one day after the oil and natural gas producer delivered mixed quarterly results and soft guidance. We thought the decline was overdone. With West Texas Intermediate crude prices down briefly Tuesday morning due to growth scares and Coterra underperforming the group due to a mischaracterization of its quarter, we pounced on the weakness and called it an opportunity to buy small in this half oil, half natural gas production company. We own 1,550 shares of Coterra. Tuesday’s trade increased CTRA’s weighting to 1.48% from 1.1% in the portfolio. Our Stanley Black & Decker buy, which came a week after the shine came off the company’s post-earnings glow, increased the tool manufacturer’s weighting in the portfolio to 0.82% from 0.33%. With an excess of cash in the portfolio, we’re looking for stocks that are selling at a discount. Stanley Black & Decker is expected to enter 2024 with a lower cost structure, along with a clean inventory position, earning somewhere between $4 to $5 per share in 2024 from the $1 previously expected to earn next year. (On Friday, Wolfe Research downgraded SWK to underperform from peer perform (sell from hold), l argely due to valuation . Our counter is that the company is ahead of plan on its turnaround efforts.) Wednesday Wednesday was our busiest day. The Club executed two trades, trimming our position on Halliburton (HAL) and buying more GE Healthcare Technologies (GEHC), along with changing our price targets for Disney (DIS) and Eli Lilly (LLY). The Club increased our GE Healthcare position to 850 shares, bumping up its weighting in the portfolio to 2.16% from 1.91%. The medical device sector, which GEHC is a part of, has been in a steady decline recently as the aversion to health-care names this year continues. As investors, not traders, we like the company’s fundamentals. GE Healthcare, a few weeks ago , delivered an upside quarter and raised its full-year outlook. We raised our Eli Lilly price target to $600 per share from $460, maintaining our longstanding view that this is the best growth story in mega-cap pharma. Our PT hike came one day after Lilly shares surged to a new all-time high on the promise around the company’s expected obesity drug and great earnings. Despite the market attention on Big Tech, the energy sector has performed the best since mid-July. We used the run as a chance to take profits in Halliburton, which has rallying since May. We still believe in the stock and still own 1,400 shares. Wednesday’s trade only reduced HAL’s weight in the portfolio to 1.97% from 2.24%. We lowered Disney’s price target to $120 per share from $140 but maintained our 1-rating on the lagging entertainment stock. The PT reduction came shortly after Disney reported mixed quarterly results on low expectations. While we did see evidence that CEO Bob Iger’s turnaround plan is working, our previous price target for Disney was too high based on how the stock has been trading this year. Bottom line It was an active week for the portfolio as earnings season has a tendency to bring on the action as we trimmed around the edges on positions that had outsized moves to the upside and bought the dips in companies that had good quarters but were less well received. In total we put roughly $47,000 into the market, lowering our cash position to 11.3% from nearly 13%. Our cash is still at a very healthy figure, which provides some protection in case this recent market struggle extends itself into next week. If and when the S & P 500 Oscillator becomes oversold, expect us to be more aggressive in deploying the war chest we have built up over the past handful of weeks. Until then, we remain patient, gradual buyers into weakness in profitable, quality companies. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long SWK, CAT, DD, GEHC, CTRA, DIS, LLY, HAL. See here for a full list of the stocks. Club Director of Portfolio Analysis Jeff Marks contributed to this report.) 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.
CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer
Rob Kim | NBCUniversal
During another busy week of earnings and stock market swings, we picked our spots and made six trades, including calling up a Bullpen name. We also changed two Club price targets. Here’s a day-by-day look.
The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) closed a $1 billion loan to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.
The money is being loaned to Constellation Energy Generation, which is renaming the 835 megawatt (MW) Three Mile Island Unit 1 the Crane Clean Energy Center. Constellation said in September 2024 that it would restart the reactor under a power purchase agreement with Microsoft, which needs more clean power to feed its growing data-center demand.
The project is estimated to cost around $1.6 billion, and the DOE says the project will create around 600 jobs. The reactor is expected to start generating power again in 2027.
Three Mile Island Unit 1 (in the foreground in the photo above) went offline in 2019 because it could no longer compete with cheaper natural gas, but it wasn’t decommissioned. It’s capable of powering the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes. It’s on the same site as the Unit 2 reactor (in the background in the photo above) that went into partial nuclear meltdown in 1979, and is known as the worst commercial nuclear accident in US history.
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When asked about the loan’s timing, Greg Beard, senior adviser to the Loan Programs Office, told reporters on a call that it would “lower the cost of capital and make power cheaper for those PJM [Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland] ratepayers.” Data centers are driving up electricity costs for consumers.
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An affordable Bronco EV? Not for those in the US. Ford opened orders for the electric Bronco in China, starting at under $33,000.
Ford Bronco electric pre-orders open at under $33,000
Ford announced the All-Wheel Drive electric SUV is officially open for pre-sale on Tuesday, starting at RMB 229,800 ($32,300).
The electric Bronco is available in pure electric (EV) and extended range electric vehicle (EREV) options. It’s offered in three variants, priced from RMB 229,800 ($32,300) to RMB 272,800 ($38,400).
All models are All Wheel Drive, while the pure electric version costs an extra 10,000 yuan ($1,400). Ford is offering pre-sale buyers some pretty sweet benefits, including a camping experience package (with an added roof tent), a Mountain Kitchen Multi-Function Tailgate gift, an overnight stay package (for your vehicle), and more.
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The electric Ford Bronco is about the same size as the standard 4-door version sold in the US at 5,025 mm long, 1,960 mm wide, and 1,815 mm tall.
The electric Ford Bronco (Source: Ford)
Although it may look the same, the EV version draws power from a 105.4 kWh LFP battery pack from BYD’s FinFreams, providing up to 650 km (404 miles) CLTC driving range.
It’s equipped with two electric motors, one in the front and the other in the rear, producing a combined 445 horsepower (332 kW).
The electric Ford Bronco (Source: Ford)
The EREV version combines a 43.7 kWh battery with a 1.5T engine, delivering a pure-electric range of 220 km (137 miles) and a combined CLTC driving range of 1,220 km (758 miles).
Some of the higher trims feature Ford’s Fuyu ADAS system, developed exclusively for buyers in China with a roof-mounted LiDAR and over 30 sensors and cameras. It even features a cool “off-road logbook” that shows drivers over 20 popular routes across China.
The interior is custom-tailored for Chinese buyers with a 15.6″ central infotainment and a smaller driver display screen. It also offers a massive 70″ AR head-up display (HUD).
Unlike the Ford vehicles we’re accustomed to seeing, the electric Bronco includes a 7.5L refrigerator in the center console.
The AWD electric SUV is coming at a critical time as Ford aims to revamp its business in China. Ford is working with local partners on new technologies, designs, and powertrain ideas for global markets.
Ford’s sales in China are down by over 14% through October this year, but new electrified vehicles, including the Bronco, are expected to help turn things around. Ford’s lineup in China mainly consists of gas-powered vehicles, which have quickly fallen out of favor with buyers shifting to more advanced, more efficient, and often lower-priced domestic EVs.
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The cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
The Trump administration will provide Constellation Energy with a $1 billion loan to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, Department of Energy officials said Tuesday.
Previously known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, the plant is expected to start generating power again in 2027. Constellation unveiled plans to rename and restart the reactor in Sept. 2024 through a power purchase agreement with Microsoft to support the tech company’s data center demand in the region.
Three Mile Island Unit 1 ceased operations in 2019, one of a dozen reactors that closed in recent years as nuclear struggled to compete against cheap natural gas. It sits on the same site as Three Mile Island Unit 2, the reactor that partially melted down in 1979 in the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
The loan would cover the majority to the project’s estimated cost of $1.6 billion. The first advance to Constellation is expected in the first quarter of 2026, said Greg Beard, senior advisor to the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, in a call with reporters. The loan comes with a guarantee from Constellation that it will protect taxpayer money, Beard said.
Constellation’s stock was up more than 2% in after hours trading on Tuesday.
The control panel in the main control room of the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant is seen on Oct. 30, 2024 in Middletown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
CEO Joe Dominguez hinted at federal financial support previously, telling investors in Sept. 2024 that Constellation would “take a look as we finance the project at loan guarantees and other things that will be available.” Constellation is the largest operator of nuclear plants in the U.S.
When asked why Constellation was receiving the loan now, Beard said Tuesday that Constellation could have completed the project without help from the Energy Department. But the loan will help make electricity cheaper for consumers on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection, which serves more than 65 million people across 13 states, Beard said.
“What’s important for the administration is to show support for affordable, reliable, secure energy in the U.S.,” Beard told reporters. “This loan to Constellation will lower the cost of capital and make power cheaper for those PJM ratepayers.”
Electricity prices
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that his department’s loan office would use most of its money to support the nuclear industry. President Donald Trump signed four executive orders in May that aim to significantly expand new nuclear capacity.
Consumers in many states in the PJM region are facing significant electricity price increases as the rapid increase in demand from artificial intelligence data centers outstrips available supply.
“We want to bring as much net addition of dispatchable, reliable electricity onto the grid to stop these price rises in electricity,” Wright told reporters on Tuesday.
The turbine deck of the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant is seen on Oct. 30, 2024 in Middletown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
The Crane Clean Energy Center is one of three shuttered nuclear plants in the U.S. that are aiming to start generating power again this decade subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Crane had the capacity to power more than 800,000 homes when it closed in 2019, according to Constellation.
The Energy Department is supporting the restart of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan with a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International. NextEra Energy announced in October plans to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa through an agreement Alphabet‘s Google Unit.
When asked whether NextEra will receive a loan for Duane Arnold, Beard told CNBC that Trump’s executive orders direct the Energy Department to “prioritize the restart of nuclear reactors.”