During the October Monthly Meeting , we took questions directly from Investing Club members. Here are Jim Cramer’s and portfolio director Jeff Marks’ responses. Their answers have been edited for clarity. 1. Why do rising interest rates have such a negative effect on technology stocks? (Rod) Jim Cramer: When the Federal Reserve started raising rates, we made sure to reiterate that we prefer companies that are profitable, generate cash flow, and return cash to shareholders because these characteristics help mitigate the risk of higher funding costs associated with higher rates. Mega-cap tech names have been holding up because they earn a lot of money. As an example, during the period when rates started to soar, Nvidia (NVDA) initially got hurt but the company proved resilient as it kept getting more orders from customers. Jeff Marks: It’s frequently viewed that the present value of a company is based on the sum of future cash flows discounted back at a certain rate – the rate often used to discount back is based on Treasury yields. The higher the interest rate, the lower the present value of each cash flow and thus, a low stock price. Funding costs also matter for growth companies, which are often in tech. If rates are higher, it becomes more expensive to borrow to fund growth and expansion plans if the company doesn’t have the cash. That’s why we made the change last year and said you have to own profitable companies that generate cash flow when the Fed starts hiking rates. 2. Why haven’t the stocks of oil companies risen at the same rate as the price of oil? Is this just a lag effect or are fears about a slowdown offsetting the higher oil prices? (Todd) Jim Cramer: I believe that the rally in oil was a short squeeze that is now over. I don’t think it deserved to be in the $90’s because it didn’t have the economic growth. President Joe Biden mistakenly did not refill the strategic petroleum reserve so he was not able to offload oil. I do think Russia ordered oil and sent it to China which kept it off the market. Our own producers surprisingly did not break ranks. What has happened is the artificial nature of the short squeeze engineered by traders and whole countries came apart when we realized that there were no bids and there was not enough oil in the market. We own Coterra (CTRA), our play on natural gas, which keeps edging higher. CEO Tom Jorden was right when he said that he was putting his bet on natural gas and he’s crushing it. If you don’t own Coterra, I think you’re making a mistake. Jeff Marks: I think the market sniffed out that oil was closer to making a near-term top and that’s why the stocks weren’t being priced like oil was making a run to $100. But if the price of oil stocks remains disconnected from the price of the commodity for long, then what tends to happen is you get some M & A chatter around one of the bigger fishes looking to acquire an independent. That’s exactly what played out last week when the story about Exxon’s interest in Pioneer (PXD) was renewed. And, that deal was announced Wednesday. We plan to sell our PXD stake as soon as our trading rules allow. 3. I am concerned with Apple’s decline. Is it time to begin trimming or still “own it, don’t trade it?” (Donald) Jim Cramer: Many years ago when Apple (AAPL) traded in the $20s and $30, Shark Tank investor Daymond John came on “Mad Money” and recommended the stock, saying “stick with it, it’s a winner.” John appeared on “Mad Money” on Tuesday and said he believes the upcoming Vision Pro from Apple is going to be a winner too. There’s an opportunity for Apple to create a partnership with ESPN and pull content onto the miraculous Vision Pro mixed reality headset. Jeff Marks: Still in the “own it, don’t trade it” camp. It’s served us well for many years – through rate hiking cycles, pandemics, and trade wars – and it’s been better to hold it through all those events instead of trying to time the sell-point but also the re-entry level. Our Club analyst Zev Fima recently showed us the math behind it . 4. I’ve had Salesforce for quite a while on your recommendation and have a solid gain. But It’s fallen roughly 10% in the past month – more or less in line with the Nasdaq. Do you still think this is a long-term hold? (Peter) Jim Cramer: Marc Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce (CRM), is determined that artificial intelligence is going to produce more profits for companies which will then produce more money to hire people. The stock jumped after it announced a better-than-expected quarter . There are people who say their business is weak but this business is on fire. Jeff Marks: Yes, I do, the company has made great strides expanding margins and increasing free cash flow, while keeping its steady cadence of around 10% revenue growth despite the uncertain macro. Salesforce has gotten better at managing dilution with its buybacks. The company is still the leader in customer relationship management and its generative AI tools could add a layer of incremental growth. 5. In light of the government’s anti-trust challenge, is Amazon “dead” money? (John) Jim Cramer: FTC chair Lina Khan does not have a strong antitrust case against Amazon (AMZN) – her arguments don’t make sense. Khan has had it out for Amazon since she was in law school and the case is garbage and it will be thrown out rather quickly. Jeff Marks: I don’t think so because I don’t think anything is going to come of it. And if anything, we’re in the camp that a breakup of Amazon into different parts could unlock value for shareholders. And by the way, I know Amazon recently has made great strides on the cost side and improving profitability, but if Amazon’s different businesses – the AWS cloud unit and retail – were independent, there would be increased scrutiny on each to expand margins and grow profits. 6. Over/Under in the next 12 months that Costco distributes a special cash dividend. (David) Jim Cramer: I spoke with Costco CFO Rich Galanti and he said it’s only a matter of “when, not if” the company distributes a special dividend. We love Costco (COST) because, unlike its retail peers, it doesn’t have theft problems. Costco is one of my absolute favorites in the portfolio. Costco is crushing it. Jeff Marks: I’m going to take “the over” on the special cash dividend because I think Costco likes collecting the 5% interest on its cash. But I’m going to “take the under” on a membership fee hike. 7. Can you review the concept of trading around a core position and give an example of how and when to do so? (Peter) Jeff Marks: What we did with Eli Lilly (LLY) recently is a great example. It’s been a core name since we bought it because we’ve been believers that Lilly had the best growth profile of any large-cap pharma name due to the value of its pipeline. But periodically, when everyone gets bulled up around one idea, the stock becomes a “crowded trade” and gets extended in the short term, which is why we recently trimmed some a few dollars below $600. Sure enough, the stock pulled back to the low $500s over the next few weeks. We didn’t pull the trigger and repurchase what we sold higher at those lower levels, but that cash became of good use when the whole market was getting clobbered last month. And, now with all the positive attention GLP-1s — those diabetes/weight loss drugs like Mounjaro — have gotten recently, the stock looks ready to break above that $600 price. Diabetes drug Mounjaro is expected to get approval to treat obesity soon. Jim Cramer: When you have a core position in a company where you have a long-term thesis, when the stock makes a huge move, you take a little bit of and redeploy it somewhere else in the portfolio. We did this in Humana (HUM) when we sold some HUM shares to secure a 12% gain. With the extra cash on hand, we felt that we had the case to buy, and traded around Procter & Gamble (PG). 8. Why do you like Stanley Black & Decker when you currently state invest in stocks that are making money and not losing money? (Norman) Jim Cramer: We like to have something related to the housing cycle that could make money. The decline in the stock is kind of ridiculous because this is the premier tool company in the world valued at $12 billion, has a strong 4% annual dividend yield, a management team that’s focused, and has gotten its costs down. Jeff Marks: Yes, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) has had a few unprofitable quarters this year, but this is a special situation. Over the past year, the company was plagued by too much inventory, a bad cost structure, and a complex supply chain. But, the company is in the process of fixing all three. After losing money for three straight quarters, the company is expected to return to profitability in the upcoming reported quarter and the earnings recovery is expected to pick up into 2024 with expectations that it earns more that year than it did in 2022. 9. When you speak of buying on the way down and waiting for the next level, how do you determine what the next level down is? (James) Jim Cramer: This is more of an art, not a science. I learned a strategy from Michael Steinhardt, who is an unbelievable hedge fund manager, called a pyramid style of buying. It’s where you start small and build up, but only if it means it lowers your cost basis. Jeff Marks: You can do this a few ways. Sometimes we use a percentage basis – so on every 3% to 5% pullback. You could also use dividend yields – so if you bought a stock at a 3.75% yield, the next level could be at 4%. But conviction levels matter and what’s happening in the market is important as well. 10. I had a sizeable position in Honeywell for years and the stock is well off its 2021 highs. Should I continue to hold it? (Rhonda) Jim Cramer: We were expecting business changes at Honeywell (HON) and management followed through Tuesday when it announced a reorganization of the company. CEO Vimal Kapur, who replaced Darius Adamczyk earlier this year is reorganizing the business into different divisions starting in the first fiscal quarter next year. We want to see what he does with these changes but need to give the new leader some time to show us how he can bring out value for shareholders. Jeff Marks: I know CEO Vimal Kapur is early in his tenure, but I think the clock is ticking on Honeywell to bring out value and that’s worth owning it for. Yesterday (Tuesday) he announced the strategic reorganization of the company – that’s a positive first step. Next, I’d like to see acquisitions that accelerate growth and dispositions of non-core assets. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be surprised to see chatter around an activist wanting to break the company up, based on the success of the General Electric (GE) and Raytheon Technologies splits. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long NVDA, CTRA, AAPL, CRM, AMZN, COST, LLY, HUM, PG, SWK, HON. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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. 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During the October Monthly Meeting, we took questions directly from Investing Club members. Here are Jim Cramer’s and portfolio director Jeff Marks’ responses. Their answers have been edited for clarity.
Capable of delivering up to 1,200 kW of power to get electric commercial trucks back on the road in minutes, the new ABB MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System is part of an ecosystem of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) that ABB’s bringing to this year’s ACT Expo.
ABB E-mobility is using the annual clean trucking conference to showcase the expansion of its EVSE portfolio with three all-new charger families: the field-upgradable A200/300 All-in-One chargers, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System for heavy-duty vehicles shown (above), and the ChargeDock Dispenser for flexible depot charging.
The company said its new product platform was built by applying a computer system-style domain separation to charger design, fundamentally improving subsystem development and creating a clear path forward for site and system expansion. In other words, ABB is selling a system with both future-proofing and enhanced dependability baked in.
“We have built a system by logically separating a charger into four distinct subsystems … each functioning as an independent subsystem,” explains Michael Halbherr, CEO of ABB E-mobility. “Unlike conventional chargers, where a user interface failure can disable the entire system, our architecture ensures charging continues even if the screen or payment system encounters issues. Moreover, we can improve each subsystem at its own pace without having to change the entire system.”
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The parts of ABB’s new EVSE portfolio that have been made public so far have already been recognized for design excellence, with the A400 winning the iF Gold Award and both the A400 and C50 receiving Red Dot Design Awards.
New ABB chargers seem pretty, good
ABB’s good-looking family; via ABB.
ABB says the systemic separation of its EVSE enhances both reliability and quality, while making deployed chargers easier to diagnose and repair, in less time. Each of the chargers’ subsystems can be tested, diagnosed, and replaced independently, allowing for quick on-site repairs and update cycles tailored to the speed of each systems’ innovation. The result is 99% uptime and a more future-proof product.
“The EV charging landscape is evolving beyond point products for specific use cases,” continued Halbherr. “By implementing this modular approach with the majority of our R&D focused on modular platforms rather than one-off products … it reduces supply chain risks, while accelerating development cycles and enabling deeper collaboration with critical suppliers.”
Key markets ABB is chasing
HVC 360 Charge Dock Dispenser depot deployment; via ABB.
PUBLIC CHARGING – with the award winning A400 being the optimal fit for high power charging from highway corridors to urban locations, the latest additions to the A-Series All-in-One chargers offer a field-upgradable architecture allowing operators to start with the A200 (200kW) with the option to upgrade to 300kW or 400kW as demand grows. This approach offers scalability and protects customer investment, leading to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings over 10 years.
PUBLIC TRANSIT AND FLEET – the new Charge Dock Dispenser – in combination with the already in market available HVC 360 – simplifies depot charging with a versatile solution that supports pantograph-, roof-, and pedestal charging options with up to 360kW of shared power and 150m/490 ft installation flexibility between cabinet and dispensers. The dispenser maintains up to 500A output.
HEAVY TRUCKS – building the matching charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles and fleets represents a critical innovation frontier on our journey to electrify transportation. Following extensive collaboration with industry-leading truck OEMs, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System delivers up to 1,200kW of continuous power — 20% more energy transfer than 1MW systems — providing heavy-duty vehicles with purpose-built single-outlet design for the energy they need during mandatory driver breaks. To support other use cases, such as CCS truck charging, a dual CCS and MCS option will also be available.
ABB says that the result of its new approach are chargers that offer 99% plus uptime — a crucial statistic for commercial charging operations and a key factor to ensuring customer satisfaction. The new ABB E-mobility EVSE product family will be on display for the first time at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (ACT Expo) in Anaheim, California next week, then again at Power2Drive in Munich, Germany, from May 7-9.
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Along with Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-based ultralight aircraft company Whisper Aero has secured a $500,000 grant to help advance the company’s innovative electric jet motor concept off the drawing board and onto the testing phase.
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced plans to award $500,000 to Tennessee Tech and Whisper Aero through the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative.
“We look forward to using these award dollars to place students in internships working directly with Whisper Aero leaders,” said Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham. “By learning from an electric propulsion innovator like Whisper Aero, our students will gain invaluable perspective and can take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it right here in Tennessee.”
The grant will see a Whisper Aero glider fitted with a pair of the company’s eQ250 electric-powered jet “propulsors” for UltraQuiet flight. Tennessee Tech faculty and students will carry out copper-bird ground testing to ensure the safe integration of engines, batteries, and controllers, and kickstart Tennessee Tech’s new Crossville Mobility Incubator.
Whisper Aero’s main claim to fame is its innovative UltraQuiet WhisperDrive (above). It’s effectively an electrically spun ducted fan jet engine that uses a large number of stiff composite fan blades inside a lightweight, acoustically treated duct. With so many blades, the Whisper Aero propulsor can push more air than a conventional prop while spinning much more slowly. As such, the “blade passage frequency” moves up to more than 16,000 Hz – outside the range of most human hearing but not, supposedly, high enough to freak out the beagles.
The Whisper Aero ultralight is effectively an Aériane Swift3 glider fitted with a pair of Whisper’s eQ250 propulsors, each capable of up to 80 lbs. of thrust. The Ultralight has a wingspan of over 40 ft with a maximum L/D of 35:1 and can be stressed to a design loading of +6/-4g, making it capable of some pretty impressive acrobatic feats.
The Swift3 glider is designed for a low speed, low power cruising speed of 45–55 knots with “just” 6.5 hp. Power-off glides from a few hundred feet showed a low sink rate, and a climb rate of 1,250 ft/min with full self-launching power (in other words: the Whisper glider doesn’t have to be towed by a launch vehicle, like a conventional ultralight glider).
Quiet cool
Dual WhisperDrive fans deliver ~160 lbf of thrust; via Whisper Aero.
Range under full power is about 109 miles with current battery tech, but it’s expected that range under the latest EPiC 2.0 energy batteries would rise to nearly 170 miles.
Nathan Millecam, CEO of Electric Power System, said, “EPiC 2.0’s leap in energy density and thermal performance has enabled a significant increase in range, a clear validation of our next-gen cell technology. We are impressed by what the Whisper team continues to achieve in advancing electric aviation.”
The press release concludes explaining that flight tests are expected to show that the Whisper Aero glider can be flown, “a few hundred feet away from neighborhoods without any disturbances, while carrying a 220 lbs. payload with full range,” which is all kind of ominous in today’s political climate, but still pretty neat from a purely tech perspective.
With support from TNECD’s Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative, Tennessee Tech University and Whisper Aero are partnering to advance next-generation propulsion technology in the aerospace industry. This collaboration will enhance aerospace research and workforce development, ensuring Tennessee remains a leader in cutting-edge mobility solutions.
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A Tesla Cybertruck owner believed Elon Musk’s claims that the Cybertruck would be able to “act as a boat” and “cross rivers”, and he got his $100,000 stuck because of it.
Elon Musk has often made claims about how Tesla vehicles could float and briefly serve as a boat in the past.
We have never been taken too seriously because Tesla’s warranty states something different about taking the vehicle into water.
However, the CEO doubled down on the claim specifically for the Cybertruck.
Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy.
The CEO added that the goal is for a Cybertruck to be able to cross the water between SpaceX’s Starbase and South Padre Island in Texas, which is about 360 meters (1,100 feet).
We have been taking the Cybertruck more seriously with water because we learned that Tesla built a ‘wade mode’ for the truck to be able to go into the water. Tesla says the mode increases the ride height to the max and temporarily “pressurizes the battery pack.”
The problem is that it is activated through the off-roading mode, which is not covered under Tesla’s warranty – so we are taking everything with a grain of salt.
Whenever Tesla’s warranty contradicts what Musk says, it is better to follow to the warranty.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Truckee, California, appears not to have received this sage advice since they activated the wade mode and attempted to get into the water.
The Cybertruck owner quickly got stuck. The local California Highway Patrol (CHP) shared some pictures of the aftermath (via Facebook):
CHP Truckee helped with the recovery and commented on the incident:
Cybertruck activated “Wade Mode”… and waded a bit too far… We’re all for testing boundaries… but maybe not the waterline. Remember folks, “Wade Mode” isn’t “Submarine Mode.” If your plans include exploring the great outdoors, make sure to know your limits and the terrain.
There’s no detail on the damage to the Cybertruck, if any.
At the risk of stating the obvious, this is clearly more of a user error than a Cybertruck problem.
I think the verdict is clear: Cybertruck is far from the best electric pickup truck for off-roading.
However, in general, you shouldn’t expect a truck to get out of water on a muddy bank.
I think a lot of Cybertruck owners are new to trucking and off-roading, and they are making the truck look worse than it is at off-roading.
If you want to take your Cybertruck off-road, I recommend to first go with an off-roading guide that can help avoid some simple mistakes like this.
Also, in general, don’t take Elon Musk’s claims at face value when he says that Tesla vehicles can do something that sounds like an exaggeration. It probably is an exaggeration.
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