As many people adopt or foster dogs and cats while staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s a different kind of “pet” that can help businesses: Spot, a robot dog created by engineering company Boston Dynamics.  Spot is not a house pet or a toy for entertainment, it’s a four-legged robot that can walk up […] More

Pandemic winners such as Zoom Video and Peloton will continue to be standouts until there is safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, CNBC’s Jim Cramer contended Thursday.
The “Mad Money” host said that even though the pandemic is now in its seventh month, the stocks continue to have reasons to move to the upside. Other beneficiaries include the homebuilders and packaging companies, he said.

“The stay-at-home story, it’s not quitting,” Cramer said. “Every time we get hit with another wave of Covid infections — this is wave three, when wave four happens and wave five happens — these stocks will keep roaring. I bet they’re going to keep roaring until we all have been vaccinated.”
Cramer acknowledged there are some investors who are wary of Zoom’s valuation as the stock has run up 688% so far in 2020. It notched another all-time high Thursday. However, the former hedge fund manager said the company has done a nice job innovating, including its recently announced product that will allow organizations to host paid events through Zoom.
“All of this keeps Zoom one step ahead of the posse and the short sellers,” Cramer said. “So what if it trades at 50 times sales? Think of Zoom as an entity that’s trying to grow into its market cap. If we’re going headed back into another lockdown, or pseudo-lockdown, or partial lockdown, then you better believe Zoom gets a major boost.”
Soon-to-be-public DoorDash also has developed creative new offerings to adapt to the work-from-home world, offering tailwinds for the stock after its planned IPO, Cramer said. The company established an initiative to allow businesses meal benefits and perks while they’re working remotely, a substitute for catered lunches that used to arrive at the office.
Cramer said packaging companies represent another category of under-the-radar pandemic winners. In particular, Cramer said stocks such as International Paper and Westrock had been real laggards prior to the health crisis and he had avoided recommending them.

“They added too much capacity to meet the demand for delivery. It’s gotten so bad that they had to close mills and shut down the production,” Cramer said. “But that’s all changed with the stay-at-home economy. We’ve never had so much demand for boxes. Look at FedEx up again today.”
Big restaurant chains such as Chipotle and Darden Restaurants, the parent of Olive Garden, have the balance sheets and scale to withstand the persistence of the coronavirus, Cramer said. That is especially true as smaller restaurants struggle without relief from Washington, he added.
Not every stay-at-home stock has succeeded lately, Cramer acknowledged. Video game stocks have largely stalled, he said, but he contended there is a move higher in the future. “Sony and Microsoft are about to launch brand new consoles. I recommend buying Take-Two Interactive, my favorite. My charitable trust owns it. It’s going to have a huge holiday season.”
Disclaimer
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Microsoft and Two-Two Interactive. More

L Brands shares tumbled 15% in extended trading Monday after the company announced it struck an agreement with Sycamore Partners to terminate its Victoria’s Secret deal.  The company said it is “implementing significant cost reduction actions and performance improvements at Victoria’s Secret,” which will include “proactive measures” to ensure liquidity “in light of the ongoing Covid-19 […] More

As coronavirus outbreaks continue to grow across a number of states, the U.S. response is still hampered by a lack of testing and an inability to direct resources to so-called hot spots, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday. Nationally, the U.S. has ramped up testing from an average […] More

U.S. President Donald Trump approaches reporters as he departs on campaign travel to Minnesota from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, September 30, 2020.
Carlos Barria | Reuters

Big companies distanced themselves from a Washington, D.C., consultant and Trump ally who launched a vulgar attack on Sen. Kamala Harris during the vice presidential debate Wednesday night.
Harlan Hill, an advocate of President Donald Trump’s, is the head of the Logan Circle Group. The website of the company says it is a “boutique public relations and political consulting firm” and lists a slew of what appear to be clients under a title of “Trusted by the best.” 

Corporate giants such as American Airlines and AT&T are among those listed. There are also political organizations, including the Trump campaign and the House campaign of California Republican Darrell Issa. 
Hill, who had been a frequent guest on Fox News, called Harris a vulgar name on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Kamala Harris comes off as such an insufferable lying b—-. Sorry, it’s just true,” Hill tweeted. He initially did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
After publication of the story, Hill said he has done work for both AT&T and American Airlines, either directly or through what he calls “consulting partners.” 
“In my 10 years in consulting, I have done work for all of the companies mentioned on the Logan Circle Group websites — either directly or thru consulting partners — when I’m released from our NDAs, I will be happy to discuss the specifics of these campaigns,” Hill told CNBC. 

Hill will no longer be allowed to appear on Fox News, the network said Thursday. 
Both American Airlines and AT&T distanced themselves from him on Thursday and demanded he stop using their names and logo on his website. 
“We have found no record of this person working for us, and he certainly never will in the future. We have contacted him and demanded he remove our name and logo from his website,” Jim Greer, a spokesman for AT&T, told CNBC. 
American Airlines told CNBC that it has found no record of working with Hill. Anti-Trump Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt retweeted Hill’s tweet about Harris, asking AT&T and American Airlines whether they were comfortable with Hill representing him. “You are right,” the airline tweeted from its account. “We won’t tolerate it. We just told Mr. Hill to stop using our name & logo. He doesn’t represent us & never will.”
Hill also has seen pushback from other groups that his website says he has ties with. 
Child Justice, a nonprofit organization that, according to its website, provides “pro bono legal services to protect children ‘lost in the system’ after exposure to family violence, physical/sexual abuse, substance addictions or neglect” is also on Hill’s company website as an organization that trusts him. 
The executive director of the group, Eileen King, told CNBC that the group hired Hill years ago to help it build a new website but he hasn’t done any work for it since. 
After being informed of Hill attacking Harris, King said her group may consider asking him to now remove its name from his website entirely. Further, she added, the work he did on the website wasn’t great. 
“It was kind of eh. Nothing horrible. Nothing too great. I don’t think he had any particular interest or sympathy with our cause,” she said.  More