My Top 10 Things to Watch for Friday, January 2nd 1. S&P 500 futures have been rising since early this morning as the market prepares for the first open of 2026. The broad market index rose more than 16% in 2025, marking the third consecutive year of annual increases. The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq are also on track for a positive start after a stellar year. 2. Warren Buffett has officially handed over his legendary 60-year tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway to Greg Abel. The conglomerate, which Buffett led from 1964 to 2024, achieved a compound annual growth rate of 19.9%. This is roughly twice the long-term performance of the S&P 500. 3. The Trump administration announced that it will delay increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities for another year. The order signed Wednesday will maintain the 25% tariffs President Trump imposed on these products in September. 4. Argus raised its price target on Ulta Beauty from $650 to $700 and reiterated a buy rating on the cosmetics retailer’s stock. The new PT represents a nearly 16% upside to the 2025 closing price. 5. Keefe Bruyette raised his price target on Capital One from $260 to $290 and maintained a Buy rating. The updated target represents nearly 20% upside compared to the previous close. 6. Macau’s December casino revenue increased by 14.8% year-on-year. That bodes well for U.S. casino operators with significant exposure to the region, including Wynn Resorts, LVS and MGM. 7. The Financial Times reported that SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI could all go public as soon as this year. Together, these deals could exceed the total proceeds from the approximately 200 IPOs we have identified in 2025. This is certainly a positive for Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division. 8. Vertiv stock rose nearly 5% premarket after Barclays changed the stock from hold to buy and raised its price target from $181 to $200. The analysts predicted “significant upside potential” compared to consensus revenue estimates for 2026 and 2027, and noted that Vertiv could catch up with other AI companies such as GE Vernova. 9. Raymond James resumes Apple coverage with unchanged rating and no price target. Analysts said the iPhone maker’s stock has limited upside potential because its current valuation already reflects the company’s strengths to a large extent. We maintain a “proprietary, non-tradable” theory regarding the club’s shares. 10. Taiwan Semi shares are rising in pre-market trading after the company received a one-year license to import chip manufacturing equipment from the United States to its China operations. Sign up for free for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Markets email newsletter (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
