My Top 10 Things to Watch for Monday, March 2nd 1. Dow futures are down about 500 points, while global oil benchmark Brent crude has soared more than 8% in the wake of last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Stock markets can accept a short war if the impact on oil prices is limited. It’s not so long that the oil gets hot. 2. For now, the market sees nothing positive or positive about the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains. But perhaps it will eventually become more tame when it comes to international conflicts. 3. Oil tankers have been rerouted to avoid the critical Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns that supply disruptions due to the conflict will continue. Citigroup raised its price targets on a number of energy companies, including Chevron and Exxon. In my Sunday column for Investing Club subscribers, I explained how I approach oil stocks and the broader market during these difficult times. 4. Piper Sandler upgraded CrowdStrike from Hold to Buy ahead of tomorrow night’s earnings call. The cybersecurity provider’s report is one of five big things we’ll be watching this week. I realize that concerns about AI disruption for Cybername are overblown, but CrowdStrike’s high returns won’t preclude it. 5. Another important theme of my Sunday column: Wall Street’s growing concerns about the private credit industry. A feature in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend about Blue Owl Capital’s co-CEOs won’t help the company survive the outflow. Blue Owl stock, already down 29% since the beginning of the year, fell another 2% this morning. 6. Barclays lowered its price targets for alternative asset managers, but maintained buy ratings on KKR, Ares Management, and Apollo Global. We reiterated our unchanged rating on Blackstone. Analysts say it’s too early to know where the true risk lies in portfolios, but the outflow from investment vehicles known as BDCs cannot be ignored. 7. Nvidia plans to unveil a new “inference” processor designed to run OpenAI and other customers’ AI systems more efficiently, the Wall Street Journal reported. It will use technology that the club’s name, Nvidia, licensed from startup Groq late last year for $20 billion. Elsewhere, Nvidia has once again replaced Micron as Morgan Stanley’s top semiconductor candidate. 8. JP Morgan has upgraded its purchase of Netflix to a hold as it resumes insurance coverage for Netflix after a limited period of time. With Netflix ending its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery, analysts believe the streaming giant still has a healthy organic growth story, citing its “under-monetized” advertising business and strong content. I also like that Netflix hasn’t spent billions of dollars in capital investment in AI and hasn’t been hurt by disruption risk. 9. Nucor’s price target at Wells Fargo was raised from $184 to $194. Analysts kept their investment rating on the stock at “buy,” arguing that the rise in steel prices due to the Trump administration’s tariffs would be a factor pushing up the stock price. TheStreet views the American steelmaker as a high-quality cyclical stock protected by the president. 10. Goldman Sachs downgraded Novo Nordisk from buy to hold and cut the drugmaker’s PT from $63 to $41. Mr. Goldman pointed to “disappointing” results in recent trials for Novo Nordisk’s next-generation obesity drug Kaglisema, which failed to outperform rival Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The club owns and loves Eli Lilly. 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.
