The bulls returned to Wall Street on Friday after a brief hiatus. In the week ahead, investors from all camps will focus on a series of labor market reports for clues on where the U.S. economy and stock market may go from here. The S & P 500 , Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average are coming off a volatile, holiday-shortened trading week. Despite a big and broad rally in Friday’s session, the major stock benchmarks all posted weekly losses. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq both lost 0.5%, while the 30-stock Dow dropped 0.6%. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq entered Friday on five-session losing streaks. The Dow had been on a four-day skid. The market was closed Wednesday for New Year’s Day. Sure, it’s now 2025, but “the same stocks that are good are still good,” Jim Cramer said on Friday’s Morning Meeting. He noted that the winners circle in 2024 once again included semiconductor companies such as Club holding Nvidia , our No. 1 portfolio performer last year. The artificial intelligence chip king also was among our top-performing stocks last week, with a 5.7% gain that trailed only oil-and-gas producer Coterra Energy and solar firm Nextracker , which both rose roughly 6.5%. We booked a nearly 1,000% profit when we trimmed some Nvidia shares on Thursday. 1. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address at the annual CES conference in Las Vegas, set to begin at 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday , is one of the biggest events on the corporate calendar in the week ahead. “The scuttlebutt on the speech is that you’ve seen none of it,” Jim said. “A lot of emphasis, by the way, on total cost of ownership and the return that you get by buying his chips. I think that’s going to change the discussion” and quiet concerns about custom AI processors encroaching on Nvidia’s turf, he added. 2. The employment picture will command the spotlight on the economic front, starting Tuesday morning with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for November. The closely watched reading, known as JOLTS, measures the tightness or slack in the labor market. Economists expect 7.7 million job openings in November, according to Dow Jones. That would be in line with the prior month. 3. The main jobs event of the week is Friday morning’s nonfarm payroll report for December. The consensus forecast is that the U.S. added 155,000 jobs in the final month of 2024 and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, according to estimates compiled by Dow Jones. In November, nonfarm payrolls expanded by a better-than-expected 227,000 , while the unemployment rate matched forecasts. 4. Before Friday’s official government report, payroll processing firm ADP will release its look at private-sector job creation in the U.S. on Wednesday morning. The ADP report is expected to show that 130,000 jobs were added in December, per Dow Jones. Initial jobless claims also will be released Wednesday, a day earlier than normal, because Thursday is the national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. The U.S. stock market also is closed Thursday. The fresh batch of labor market data will help shape investors’ thinking about the course of Federal Reserve policy this year. A stronger-than-expected December jobs report, in particular, has the potential to reinforce expectations for less supportive monetary policy in the year ahead. In mid-December, the central bank released projections that showed policymakers expect to lower interest rates just twice in 2025 , down from an expectation of four cuts provided in September. The more hawkish stance spooked the stock market, and the S & P 500 remains nearly 2% below its Dec. 17 close, the day before the Fed’s disclosure. We’ll keep a close eye on bond yields for real-time clues on how the market is perceiving the forthcoming labor numbers. Strong data generally lends support for yields. “[Bonds] are reacting to every piece of data. I think that’s because there’s a perception that the economy is actually accelerating, doing well,” Jim explained during Thursday’s Morning Meeting. 5. Modelo and Corona brewer Constellation Brands is the only Club holding set to report earnings this week. The numbers are now due out before the bell Friday, instead of the originally scheduled Thursday, because of the national day of mourning. Analysts expect Constellation to have earned $3.32 cents per share on revenues of $2.54 billion in the three months ended Nov. 30, according to LSEG. We added to our position in Constellation Brands on Tuesday. Within the report, the year-over-year growth rate of its beer business will hold a lot of weight. Investors were not satisfied with the 6% figure in Constellation’s June-to-August period, which represented a slowdown from the 8%, 11%, and 11.8% growth seen in the three prior quarters. Constellation’s struggling wine-and-spirits division also will be in focus. CEO Bill Newlands in October talked about some “green shoots” in some higher-end wine brands, and now we’ll get to see whether there was any sequential improvement in this disappointing segment. There’s plenty more for Constellation executives to discuss on their earnings call. When it comes to President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal for higher tariffs on Mexican imports, we’re curious if management will mention the possibility of securing exemptions. Analysts at Roth MKM floated this possibility late last year , citing an agreement with the Justice Department that effectively requires Constellation to make its Mexican beers in Mexico. The U.S. surgeon general’s new warning on alcohol and cancer risks, which weighed on the stock in Friday’s session, also figures to be a topic of conversation. Week ahead Monday, Jan. 6 10 a.m. ET: Durable Goods and Advance Total Manufacturing report for November 9:30 p.m. ET: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang keynote at CES Tuesday, Jan. 7 10 a.m. ET: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) 10 a.m. ET: ISM Services for December Before the bell: Apogee Enterprises (APOG) After the bell: Kura Sushi USA (KRUS) Wednesday, Jan. 8 8:15 a.m. ET: ADP Employment Survey 8:30 a.m. ET: Initial jobless claims 2 p.m. ET: FOMC minutes Before the bell: AngioDynamics (ANGO), Helen of Troy (HELE), Simply Good Foods (SMPL), Albertsons (ACI) After the bell: Penguin Solutions (PENG) Thursday, Jan. 9 NYSE and Nasdaq closed for national day of mourning Friday, Jan. 10 8:30 a.m. ET: Nonfarm payroll report 10 a.m. ET: Preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Before the bell: Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Constellation Brands (STZ) After the bell: WD-40 (WDFC) (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long NVDA, STZ, CTRA and NXT. 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. 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.
“Now Hiring” signage outside a Home Depot store in San Carlos, California, US, on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The bulls returned to Wall Street on Friday after a brief hiatus.
In the week ahead, investors from all camps will focus on a series of labor market reports for clues on where the U.S. economy and stock market may go from here.
The Dodge Charger Daytona EV made headlines when it rolled out fake engine noises as a way to make the EV appeal to muscle car drivers. As it turns out, they weren’t the right sort of fake engine noises – and now Stellantis has to recall 8,000 of them for a fix.
What’s more, the recall’s “suspect period” reportedly begins on 30APR2024, when the first 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona was produced, and ends 18MAR2025 … when the last Charger EV was produced.
RECALL CHRONOLOGY
On April 17, 2025, the FCA US LLC (“FCA US”) Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“TSRC”) organization opened an investigation into certain 2024–2025 model year Dodge Charger vehicles that may not emit exterior sound.
From April 17, 2025, through May 13, 2025, FCA US TSRC met with FCA US Engineering and the supplier to understand all potential failure modes associated with the issue. They also reviewed warranty data, field records, and customer assistance records to determine field occurrences.
On May 14, 2025, the FCA US TSRC organization determined that a vehicle build issue existed on certain vehicles related to a lack of EV exterior sound, potentially resulting in noncompliance with FMVSS No. 141.
Basically, if you have a Dodge Charger EV, expect to get a recall notice.
It just keeps getting funnier
My take on the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, via ChatGPT.
If you’re not familiar with the Charger Daytona EV’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust,” it’s a system that employs a combination of digital sound synthesis and a physical tuning chamber (translation: a speaker) to produce a 126 decibel sound that approximately imitates a Hellcat Hemi V8 ICE. That’s loud enough to cause most people physical pain, according to Yale University – putting it somewhere between a loud rock concert and a passenger jet at takeoff.
While you could argue that such noises are part and parcel with powerful combustion, they’re completely irrelevant to an EV, and speak to a particular sort of infantile delusion of masculinity that I, frankly, have never been able to wrap my head around. Something akin to the, “Hey, look at me! I’m a big tough guy!” attention-whoring of a suburban Harley rider in a “Sons of Anarchy” novelty cut, without even enough courage to ride a motorcycle, you know?
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Is it an electric van or a truck? The Kia PV5 might be in a class of its own. Kia’s electric van was recently spotted charging in public with an open bed, and it looks like a real truck.
Kia’s electric van morphs into a truck with an open bed
The PV5 is the first of a series of electric vans as part of Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle business (PBV). Kia claims the PBVs are more than vans, they are “total mobility solutions,” equipped with Hyundai’s advanced software.
Based on the flexible new EV platform, E-GMP.S, Kia has several new variants in the pipeline, including camper vans, refrigerated trucks, luxury “Prime” models for passenger use, and an open bed model.
Kia launched the PV5 Passenger and Cargo in the UK earlier this year for business and personal use. We knew more were coming, but now we are getting a look at a new variant in public.
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Although we got a brief glimpse of it earlier this month driving by in Korea, Kia’s electric van was spotted charging in public with an open bed.
Kia PV5 electric van open bed variant (Source: HealerTV)
The folks at HealerTV found the PV5 variant with an open bed parked in Korea, offering us a good look from all angles.
From the front, it resembles the Passenger and Cargo variants, featuring slim vertical LED headlights. However, from the side, it’s an entirely different vehicle. The truck sits low to the ground, similar to the one captured driving earlier this month.
Kia PV5 open bed teaser (Source: Kia)
When you look at it from the back, you can’t even tell it’s the PV5. It looks like any other cargo truck with an open bed.
The PV5 open bed measures 5,000 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width, and 2,000 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm. Although Kia has yet to say how big the bed will be, the reporter mentions it doesn’t look that deep, but it’s wide enough to carry a good load.
Kia PV5 Cargo electric van (Source: Kia)
The open bed will be one of several PV5 variants that Kia plans to launch in Europe and Korea later this year, alongside the Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab configurations.
In Europe, the PV5 Passenger is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant is rated with a WLTP range of 181 miles or 247 miles.
Kia PBV models (Source: Kia)
Kia will reveal battery specs closer to launch for the open bed variant, but claims it “has the longest driving range among compact commercial EVs in its class.”
In 2027, Kia will launch the larger PV7, followed by an even bigger PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1 in the works, which is expected to arrive sometime next year or in 2027.
What do you think of Kia’s electric van? Will it be a game changer? With plenty of variants on the way, it has a good chance. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Senate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy projects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry’s expansion in the latest version of President Donald Trump‘s big spending bill.
The measures, if enacted, would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, hurt the electric grid, and potentially raise electricity prices for consumers, trade groups warn.
The Senate GOP released a draft of the massive domestic spending bill over the weekend that imposes a new tax on renewable energy projects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China. The bill also phases out the two most important tax credits for wind and solar power projects that enter service after 2027.
Republicans are racing to pass Trump’s domestic spending legislation by a self-imposed Friday deadline. The Senate is voting Monday on amendments to the latest version of the bill.
The tax on wind and solar projects surprised the renewable energy industry and feels punitive, said John Hensley, senior vice president for market analysis at the American Clean Power Association. It would increase the industry’s burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s a new tax in a package that is designed to reduce the tax burden of companies across the American economy,” Hensley said. The tax hits any wind and solar project that enters service after 2027 and exceeds certain thresholds for how many components are sourced from China.
This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity production tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar projects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to about $450 billion worth of infrastructure investment, Hensley said.
“It is going to take a huge chunk of the development pipeline and either eliminate it completely or certainly push it down the road,” Hensley said. This will increase electricity prices for consumers and potentially strain the electric grid, he said.
The construction industry has warned that nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades are at risk if the energy tax credits are terminated and other measures in budget bill are implemented. Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean technology manufacturing.
“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, in a statement. “Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects.”
The Senate legislation is moving toward a “worst case outcome for solar and wind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Sunday note.
Trump’s former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” The Tesla CEO posted on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”