Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market moves: Tech stock strength on Wednesday pushed the Nasdaq up nearly 2% and above 20,000 for the first time ever. The S & P 500 jumped almost 1%. Both Wall Street benchmarks were bouncing back after back-to-back losses. The Dow was being left out of the rally, right around unchanged late Wednesday trading. A lower close for the Dow would extend its losing streak to five straight sessions. Some of the big movers in the market were the Magnificent Seven, with Tesla as well as Club names Alphabet , Meta Platforms , Amazon , and Apple hitting all-time highs. Apple hit an intraday record for the ninth straight session Wednesday, helped by the release of new iPhone artificial intelligence features. Broadcom was our best performer on the session, jumping more than 6% on a media report that it’s working to help Apple develop a customer AI server chip. Broadcom reports earnings after Thursday’s close. The health-care sector, on the other hand, was continuing its weak performance. Major health insurer and pharmacy benefits manager stocks were dragging down the group after lawmakers introduced a bill to cut drug costs and reform PBMs. Drug stocks were also getting hit, with Club holdings Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb down on the day. Utilities, real estate, and consumer staples were other weak spots in Wednesday’s market. The 10-year Treasury yield was higher, even as the November report on consumer prices showed an increase in the inflation rate that was in line with the consensus forecast. The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at next week’s meeting increased to about 95% from 89% one day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The Fed kicked off its easing cycle with a 50-basis-point rate cut in September followed by a 25-basis-point reduction in November. Bank on it: Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf spoke at Goldman Sachs’ Financial Services Conference early Wednesday. The conversation was not short-term focused but more broad-based, with Scharf talking about big themes like the macroeconomic environment, the bank’s strategic initiatives, and the regulatory landscape. It was similar to Jim Cramer’s interview with Scharf back in October. Here are some key Scharf quotes from the conference. On the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump:
