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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed a rule that would strengthen federal limits on industrial soot, one of the country’s most deadly air pollutants.
The proposal is the latest action by the Biden administration to better address environmental justice and air pollution.
Communities of color are systematically exposed to higher levels of soot and other air pollutants as they are more likely to be located near highways, oil and gas wells and other industrial sources.

Seen from the window of an Amtrak train, smoke billows up from power plants alongside the tracks in Northern Virginia.
Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis Historical | Getty Images

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed a rule that would strengthen federal limits on industrial soot, one of the country’s most deadly air pollutants that disproportionately impacts the health of low-income and minority communities. 
The proposal is the latest action by the Biden administration to better address environmental justice and air pollution. Research shows that exposure to particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, leads to heart attacks, asthma attacks and premature death. Studies have also linked long-term exposure to soot with higher rates of death from Covid-19.

Communities of color are systematically exposed to higher levels of soot and other air pollutants as they are more likely to be located near highways, oil and gas wells, and other industrial sources.
The EPA proposal seeks to limit the pollution of industrial fine soot particles — which measure less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — from the current annual level of 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level between 9 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter, which the EPA said aligns with the latest health data and scientific evidence. However, officials said they are also considering public comment on an annual level as low as 8 micrograms per cubic meter and as high as 11 micrograms per cubic meter.
The Trump administration had declined to tighten the existing Obama-era regulations that were set in 2012, despite warnings from EPA scientists that doing so could save thousands of lives in the U.S.
“The 2012 standards are no longer sufficient,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters during a briefing Thursday. “This administration is committed to working to ensure all people have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and an opportunity to live a healthy life.”
If the proposal is finalized, a strengthened annual PM 2.5 standard at a level of 9 micrograms per cubic meter — the lower end of the agency’s proposed range — would prevent up to 4,200 annual premature deaths and result in as much as $43 billion in net health benefits in 2032, according to the EPA.

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Some public health advocates criticized the proposed standards as not going far enough. Paul Billings, senior vice president at the American Lung Association, said the soot standards must be lowered to an annual level as protective as 8 micrograms per cubic meter in order to best safeguard public health.
“Cleaning up deadly particulate matter is critical for protecting public health,” Billings said. “Failing to finalize the standards at the most protective levels that health organizations are calling for would lead to health harms that could have been avoided, and would miss a critical opportunity to meet President Biden’s environmental justice commitments.”
Air pollution takes more than two years off the average global life expectancy, according to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Sixty percent of particulate matter air pollution is produced by fossil fuel combustion, while 18% comes from natural sources like dust, sea salt and wildfires, and 22% comes from other human activities.
PM 2.5 particles can be emitted directly from the source, including construction sites, unpaved roads, fields or smokestacks, or form in the atmosphere as a result of reactions of chemicals like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants emitted from power plants, industrial facilities and vehicles, according to an EPA fact sheet.
Industries including oil and gas companies and automakers have long opposed a stricter standard on soot pollution. During the Trump administration, a slew of industry groups argued against scientific findings on the public health impact of PM 2.5 exposure and urged the government to maintain the existing standard.
The EPA is accepting public comment for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register. The agency is scheduled to release a final rule by August.

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Germany’s BioNTech is launching a U.K. trial of personalized mRNA therapies, including cancer vaccines, from September.
It aims to deliver 10,000 therapies to patients before 2030.
Campaigners called on the government to ensure any positive outcome could be delivered at an accessible price point and include delivery to global cancer patients.

A NHS vaccinator administers the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 booster jab to a woman, at a vaccination centre in London. BioNTech is launching a large-scale trial of mRNA therapies to treat cancer and other diseases in the U.K.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

LONDON — The U.K. government on Friday announced a partnership with German firm BioNTech to test potential vaccines for cancer and other diseases, as campaigners warned any breakthrough must remain affordable and accessible.
Cancer patients in England will get early access to trials involving personalized mRNA therapies, including cancer vaccines, which aim to spur the immune system to attack harmful cells.

They will be administered to early and late-stage patients and target both active cancer cells and preventing their return.
BioNTech will set up new research and development centers in the U.K., with a lab in Cambridge and headquarters in London, and aim to deliver 10,000 therapies to patients from September 2023 until the end of the decade.
The company developed one of the most widely-distributed Covid-19 vaccines alongside U.S. pharma firm Pfizer. Its CEO, Ugur Sahin, said it had learned lessons from the coronavirus pandemic about collaboration between the British National Health Service, academics, regulators and the private sector in the development of drugs that it was applying now.
“Our goal is to accelerate the development of immunotherapies and vaccines using technologies we have been researching for over 20 years,” he said in a statement. “The collaboration will cover various cancer types and infectious diseases affecting collectively hundreds of millions of people worldwide.”
Peter Johnson, Britain’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, said mRNA technology had the potential to transform approaches to a number of illnesses.

The government confirmed to CNBC the announcement represented a private investment into the U.K., but would be supported by a new Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad funded by the NHS.

Other mRNA cancer vaccines, including a collaboration between U.S. firms Moderna and Merck, are also being trialed.
Tim Bierley, a campaigner at U.K.-based group Global Justice Now, said big pharmaceutical companies had “terrible record of price gouging on new medicines, even where public money has played a key role in bringing them to the market.”
“The government has a moral duty to push BioNtech to set the price of this potentially life-saving vaccine so it is accessible to all,” he said.

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Mohga Kamal-Yanni, policy co-lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance — a global group of health organizations, economists and activists — said news of the trial was good, but that any outcome “belongs to the people” due to the amount of public funding involved.
“The U.K. government must say how it will ensure any new medicine, vaccine or technology will be made available and affordable to developing countries,” Kamal-Yanni said.
A government spokesperson told CNBC the research was at too early a stage to discuss pricing and distribution, but pointed to its record in distributing free Covid-19 vaccines.

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Commercial aircraft are generally expensive to manufacture, operate, maintain and fly, but not many think about the cost that goes into painting one.
Dean Baldwin Painting is a 57-year-old aircraft painting company based in Macon, Georgia. It owns and operates five facilities across the U.S. Its clients are some of the largest airlines in the world, including United, Delta and JetBlue.

The average cost to paint a plane falls between $175,000 and $200,000, according to the company.
“The safety, the compliance, the environment, the manpower, the training — it’s not as easy as most people think,” says Barbara Baldwin-McNulty, CEO and owner of the company. “I think between the cost of having a facility with all these licenses and all these parameters, I think it’s also the time it takes to get a good team to provide the quality that the airlines do expect from you.”
The Federal Aviation Administration sets the safety standards for aircraft paint, and throughout the entire painting process, the plane is continually inspected to ensure those standards are being met. Beginning to end, the process involves multiple engineers, painters and inspectors.
Painting typically involves four to five layers but only tends to be as thick as a fraction of a millimeter. Those layers include an anti-corrosion primer, protective intermediate layers and a final outer layer, which is typically white. The color white is commonly used because it reflects light most effectively.
The global commercial aviation aircraft paint market was estimated at nearly $18.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to a $65 billion market by 2027.

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Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract, reportedly worth up to 200 million euros ($212 million) per year including commercial agreements, will make the 37-year-old the highest-paid footballer in history, and the highest-paid athlete in the world.
The Portuguese forward’s move comes as Saudi Arabia reportedly readies a potential joint bid to stage the 2030 World Cup.
And it follows the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s buyout of historic Premier League club Newcastle United in late 2021. 

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with the jersey after signing with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr Football Club in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 30, 2022.
Al Nassr Football Club / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi club Al-Nassr, and the kingdom’s growing investments in the sport, could have ripple effects across Europe and the U.S., experts have told CNBC.
Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract, reportedly worth up to 200 million euros ($212 million) per year including commercial agreements, will make the 37-year-old the highest-paid footballer in history, and the highest-paid athlete in the world. 

For context, Ronaldo’s individual annual earnings will exceed the total staff wage bill for roughly half of the clubs in the English Premier League. The former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus star earlier this week contended that the “unique contract” was befitting of his status as a “unique player.”
Ronaldo had his contract with Manchester United terminated in November after he gave an explosive interview criticizing the club and its manager, Erik ten Hag.
The Portuguese forward’s move comes as Saudi Arabia reportedly readies a potential joint bid to stage the 2030 World Cup, and follows the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s buyout of historic Premier League club Newcastle United in late 2021. 
The Financial Times reported in October that the Saudi PIF had committed more than $2 billion to sponsorship deals over the first eight months of 2022, most of which was directed toward domestic soccer competitions.

Author and soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire told CNBC on Thursday that rather than an effort to rival the major European leagues, Al-Nassr’s signing of Ronaldo was a “marketing exercise” that enables the kingdom to diversify its commercial appeal beyond natural resources, given the size of the player’s individual profile.

“If you take a look at the social media following that somebody of Cristiano Ronaldo’s status brings, it’s far greater than that of an individual football club,” Maguire said. 
“Saudi Arabia has a young population, so he will attract that generation. There’s economic benefits, there’s political and societal benefits, and the financial cost is a complete irrelevance.”
Manchester United and Liverpool in Saudi crosshairs?
The Saudi PIF’s takeover of Newcastle United was met with criticism across the soccer world — deemed an effort to launder the country’s reputation against the backdrop of a poor human rights record. 
A group called NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing sprung up in protest at the takeover, but having watched their club endure a prolonged spell of mediocrity, many Newcastle fans cheered the investment in the hope of becoming a competitive force in England and beyond.
Just 15 months on from the completion of the deal, the club sits third in the Premier League table, sandwiched between perennial giants Manchester City and Manchester United.
Saudi officials have consistently denied allegations of sportswashing in their various sporting pursuits, and the Newcastle takeover consortium led by British businesswoman Amanda Staveley insists the PIF is independent from the Saudi government.
However, PIF forms the bedrock of the Saudi economic project and its Vision 2030 program. Statements lauding the PIF’s progress from King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appear in its annual financial statements.
The PIF owns 80% of the club, with the remaining 20% split between Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media. The PIF has been contacted for comment.
Ownership controversies have also surrounded Premier League champions Manchester City, (owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group) and French champions Paris Saint-Germain (owned by Qatar Sports Investments). 
Having observed other state-sponsored takeovers over the past decade, along with the success of the contentious FIFA World Cup in Qatar in December, Maguire suggested that Saudi Arabia could look to expand its soccer portfolio in one of two ways.
“PIF could go down a similar route to the UAE in having the City Football Group and going for a multi-club ownership model, where effectively you have a mothership and you have a lot of satellites,” he suggested. 
Aside from its flagship club Manchester City, the ADUG’s City Football Group now owns nine other clubs across four continents with consistent branding and availability of resources.

“From a financial point of view, that’s actually turning out to be quite successful because you can have continuity in terms of culture and philosophy at clubs, you can transfer players around to help their development, and then you can start to sell them at higher prices, so it’s actually proven to be, these days, a pretty smart model,” Maguire added.
Alternatively, given the number of high net worth individuals in Saudi Arabia likely to be interested in building on the Newcastle United acquisition, he suggested other high-profile clubs could come into Riyadh’s sights. 
Both Liverpool and Manchester United, arguably the two biggest clubs in England in terms of global profile, have publicly declared that they are open to investment, and possibly even a full sale.
“[The Saudis] have seen the positive response from Newcastle fans — there are two clubs which are publicly up for some form of investment in Liverpool and Manchester United and no disrespect to Newcastle United, they’re much bigger fish,” he said.
“Sports investment is attractive. You won’t necessarily get a substantial return on your investment financially, given the high prices they are likely to have to go and pay for a club of that stature, but the non-financial return on investment as we’ve seen at both the Etihad (home of Manchester City) and PSG is a positive one.”
Individual star signings model could threaten MLS
Credit ratings agency DBRS Morningstar suggested that Ronaldo’s move to the Saudi Pro League, and the country’s apparent intentions, could imperil the credit risk profiles of European and North American clubs.
“In Europe, as player costs at football clubs are tied to their revenues, increasing individual salaries driven by foreign demand could decrease squad quality over time. This could have a longer-term impact on on-pitch results, brand values, and viewership for teams that are unable to grow revenue and reinvest in their squads,” said DBRS Morningstar Senior Vice President for Sports Finance Michael Goldberg. 
Saudi investment has disrupted professional golf in the form of LIV Golf, a breakaway competition from the traditional PGA Tour that utilized Riyadh’s deep pockets to draw some of the game’s biggest names.
However, Goldberg suggested that attracting a handful of superstars in the twilight of their careers to a team sports league would not be sufficient for Saudi Arabia to attract a critical mass of fan interest, since the quality of play would still be considerably lower than in top European leagues.
The Saudi model poses more of a threat to the U.S., he noted, since Major League Soccer (MLS) has a long-running strategy of attracting aging star players to build interest and viewership. To this end, each club is permitted to sign three players whose compensation package is excluded from the team’s salary cap.

For example, Italian winger Lorenzo Insigne left Serie A team Napoli to join Toronto FC in 2022 and became the highest-paid player in MLS history with a reported annual salary of $12.4 million. This pales in comparison with the mammoth contract signed by Ronaldo.
“The SPL can far outpay MLS clubs and could threaten a key aspect of MLS’ business model. While the overall quality of play in the MLS has been increasing rapidly through investment in player development, coaching, and designated players, the quality gap between it and the SPL is much narrower than that of the SPL relative to the European leagues,” Goldberg said.
As such, DBRS Morningstar believes the SPL’s financial might and willingness to target star players from European leagues, who may otherwise consider the MLS, could negatively impact North American clubs’ credit profiles.
Goldberg anticipates that Saudi investment will pose a greater immediate risk to individual sports like golf, tennis, mixed martial arts (MMA), and racing.
European wage inflation
European clubs have continually increased transfer fees and player salaries in recent decades in order to attract and retain top talent and stay competitive. 
Goldberg suggested that Saudi investment in individual players could propel player salaries higher, but European soccer body UEFA recently introduced rules stipulating that no club can spend more than 90% of its yearly revenues on wages, transfers, and agent fees in 2023. This limit will further reduce to 70% in 2025.
“As such, if revenues do not continue to grow, European clubs’ wage bills will be capped. Under this scenario, increased individual player salaries could lead to reduced squad quality over time and a competitive disadvantage versus teams outside Europe,” Goldberg said.
“Any negative impact on on-pitch results, brand values, and viewership would also affect European football clubs’ credit profiles, and clubs that could not grow revenue and reinvest in their squads would be most exposed.”

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The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association announced Tuesday that it had suspended Zhao Xintong and his compatriot Zhang Jiankang from competing in the World Snooker Tour.
The announcement marked the latest in a series of suspensions as part of an ongoing investigation into the fixing of snooker matches for betting purposes.

YORK, UK – Nov 12, 2022: Zhao Xintong of China competes during the first round match against Sam Craigie of England at 2022 UK Snooker Championship in York.
Zhai Zheng/Xinhua via Getty Images

LONDON — A match-fixing scandal has led to the suspension of 10 Chinese players from snooker’s top touring circuit, including two big names from the popular billiards sport.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association announced Tuesday that it had suspended Zhao Xintong and his compatriot Zhang Jiankang from competing in the World Snooker Tour. Both players have the right to appeal against the decision.

Zhao — the ninth-ranked player in the world who is considered one of the sport’s top prospects — won the U.K. Championship in 2021 to claim his first ranking title and become only the fourth non-British player in history to triumph at the event.
The announcement marked the latest in a series of suspensions as part of an ongoing investigation into the fixing of snooker matches for betting purposes.
Alongside Zhao, notable among the 10 suspensions was the 2021 Masters champion Yan Bingtao, whom the WPBSA banned on Dec. 12., shortly before Chen Zifan.

EDINBURGH, Scotland – Nov. 30, 2022: Yan Bingtao of China reacts during the first round match against Liam Highfield of England on day three of the 2022 BetVictor Scottish Open.
Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu were suspended in early December, after Liang Wenbo became the first player named in October.
Both Yan and Zhao were due to take part in the 2023 Masters, which begins Sunday and concludes on Jan. 15, but both have been replaced in the draw for the top-tier event.

“This decision is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes in breach of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations,” the body said in a statement Tuesday.
“The WPBSA can confirm that the wider investigation is now at an advanced stage, and it is anticipated will be completed shortly at which point any potential charges will be considered.”
CNBC has contacted the WST for comment from the players’ representatives. None of the 10 suspended players have spoken publicly to the U.K. press since the WPBSA announcements.

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Last year’s new vehicle sales in the U.S. were the worst in more than a decade.
Automakers are hoping 2022 will mark a bottom for the market.
Sales have been at or near recessionary levels on top of demand that has piled up during the coronavirus pandemic.

New Jeeps on display at a New York City car dealership on Oct. 5, 2021.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

DETROIT — Automakers are hopeful last year’s new vehicle sales — the worst in more than a decade — will mark a bottom for the market, at least in the near term.
Industry estimates range from 13.7 million to 13.9 million new vehicles being sold last year in the U.S., a roughly 8% to 9% decline compared with 2021 and the lowest level since 2011 when sales were recovering from the Great Recession.

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Sales varied widely by automaker, as parts and supply chain problems affected companies at different times, but most — with General Motors’ 2.5% gain as a notable exception — were down compared with 2021. Ford Motor, Hyundai and Kia all reported low single-digit declines. Toyota Motor was down 9.6%, while Stellantis, Nissan and Honda Motor posted double-digit falls of 13%, 25% and 29.4%, respectively.
But auto industry executives remain cautiously optimistic that sales will rebound in 2023, regardless of recessionary fears, rising interest rates and other economic concerns. A typical year prior to the pandemic saw more than 17 million in sales.
Toyota and GM said they expect U.S. auto sales to increase to about 15 million vehicles this year. That would be a roughly 9% increase over 2022. S&P Global Mobility and Edmunds expect 2023 new U.S. vehicle sales to be 14.8 million, while Cox Automotive’s preliminary forecast is 14.1 million.
“We’re cautiously optimistic about the future. In 2023, there will be an uptick not quite as high as we would love it to be but going the right direction,” Jack Hollis, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America, said during a briefing Wednesday. “Demand is still higher than our supply.”

The reason for the optimism is two-fold: Sales have been at or near recessionary levels due to parts and supply chain issues, plus demand has piled up from consumers and businesses after years of tight vehicle inventories during the pandemic.

Automakers have reported record or near-record results in recent years amid the tight supply of new vehicles and resilient consumer demand. They have banked on sustained pent-up demand as inventory levels normalize, hoping to avoid heavy discounts or incentives to move vehicles.
The deep discounts typical of the industry help to maintain production and increase sales, however several auto executives have vowed they will not return to such tactics at the cost of profits.
Automakers can offset underwhelming retail sales with fleet sales to governments and companies such as rental car agencies. Those bulk sales have taken a back seat to retail customers in recent years and are traditionally less profitable than those to consumers but assist in moving product.
“The fleet demand is very high, no doubt,” Hollis said, adding he believes there will be a “moderation” across the industry regarding incentives.
Charlie Chesbrough, Cox’s senior economist and senior director of industry insights, said he doesn’t believe vehicle sales will post any notable increase in 2023 — unless automakers let up on pricing to make them more affordable.
Automakers have largely passed rising commodity costs to build vehicles onto consumers, making the vehicles more expensive. That, combined with skyrocketing interest rates, higher gas prices and broad inflation, has dampened new vehicle demand.
“This is one of those rare times where we really have no idea which direction the market could go. It could easily go up or down from where we’re at right now,” Chesbrough told CNBC. “The pace over the last couple of months has been definitely pointing to a weakening market.”
Vehicle inventories improved toward the end of the year — a sign record-high vehicle prices may finally ease. And higher volumes bring the potential for a “demand destruction” scenario, where supplies begin to outpace demand.
Many on Wall Street also fear that the most profitable days for automakers may be behind them amid higher interest rates, falling used vehicle prices and a normalization of sales mix away from fully loaded models.
Chesbrough said there’s “certainly downside risk to the market” in the event of a full-blown recession. But he said the impact wouldn’t be as prevalent as it has been in the past because many lower-income and subprime borrowers, who would typically leave the new vehicle segment during a recession, have already done so because of low inventories and record-high prices.
Last year’s sales total remains an estimate because not all automakers publicly release results. Motor Intelligence reports sales were nearly 13.9 million units last year, Cox Automotive estimates sales at 13.8 million and Edmunds and Wards Intelligence estimate 13.7 million.

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We’re growing increasingly worried about some richly valued companies in our portfolio, including the likes of Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT). Expensive stocks remain out of favor on Wall Street — just as they had been for much of last year — and there could be more room for them to fall as recession fears mount. Other stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust , the portfolio we use for the Club, do not carry the same level of valuation risk. We wanted to call attention to some of those lower-multiple stocks that we believe are worth watching. We’re focusing on forward price-to-earnings ratios, calculated by dividing share price by estimated earnings-per-share over the next 12 months. The quotient is what’s known as the multiple . The S & P 500 ‘s overall multiple has fallen over the past year, going from around 21x forward earnings in early January 2022 to around 16.8x on Thursday. A lot goes into what investors are willing to pay for a stock, including higher interest rates — which make bond yields more competitive with stock returns — and the growth rate of a company’s profits relative to peers. As an investor looking to buy a stock, it may be easier to run the P/E in reverse. In this high-level hypothetical, start with the multiple you want to pay and multiply that by forward earnings estimates. If you’re willing to assign a 10 multiple to earnings per share of $5, that translates to a stock price of $50. But now growth is less certain and interest rates are going up, so you think paying 10x forward earnings is too risky. Instead, you think paying 8x forward earnings is more appropriate, meaning you’re only willing to pay $40 per share. Eventually it becomes clear profits are shrinking, and the company won’t earn $5 per share anymore; estimates now call for EPS of $4. In this scenario, paying 8x future earnings is too rich because the earnings growth is less robust. You determine you’re only willing to pay 7x forward earnings of $4 per share, translating to a stock price of just $28. This is an oversimplified explanation, to be sure. But it offers a look at what happens to stock prices when investors, in general, are less willing to pay a premium for a stock in an environment where that company’s earnings growth is slowing down and bonds are increasing in attractiveness. Right now, a key problem for the market is that many investors believe earnings estimates are too high. If the Federal Reserve stays hawkish and the U.S. economy continues to weaken and tip into recession, corporate profits may erode more than currently expected. This could intensify the pressure on stock prices. Higher-multiple stocks have a smaller margin for error in situations like this. Even a slight downward revision to earnings could lead to a considerable decline in richly valued shares. With this in mind, here are six Club stocks that currently fit our definition of reasonably priced, meaning they trade either around or below the S & P 500’s overall valuation. JNJ mountain 2022-01-05 Johnson & Johnson’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is currently trading around 17.4x forward earnings, and the health-care company fits within the more defensive-oriented posture we believe is appropriate in this market. We’re also inching closer to J & J’s split into two publicly traded companies , a decision we believe will enhance shareholder value. On Wednesday, the company’s consumer health unit, which plans to be called Kenvue, filed with the U.S. securities regulator to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The pharmaceutical and medical technology divisions will retain the J & J name and own at least 80.1% of Kenvue. META mountain 2022-01-05 Meta Platforms’ stock performance over the past 12 months. Shares of Meta Platforms (META) trade at less than 16x forward earnings estimates, following a brutal 2022 for the once high-flying stock. Meta’s reliance on advertising revenue makes it more exposed to economic conditions than, say, J & J. However, the stock’s below-market multiple provides some comfort. Plus, the Instagram and Facebook parent let go more than 11,000 employees late last year, an important step to bring down expenses in the face of topline headwinds. HAL mountain 2022-01-05 Halliburton’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Oilfield services provider Halliburton (HAL) trades at roughly 13x forward earnings, a valuation that we find very reasonable. The stock is below its five-year average P/E of 17.2, per FactSet, and the company’s underlying business has been performing well. Management has talked about a multiyear drilling cycle, stemming from previous years of underinvestment, which should help the business remain resilient. Halliburton is up more than 7% since we added 150 shares to our position Dec. 16 . Our other three energy stocks — Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Devon Energy (DVN) and Coterra Energy (CTRA) — also maintain P/Es well below the S & P 500. We like the group here, evidenced by our purchase of 25 PXD shares on Wednesday . Morgan Stanley MS mountain 2022-01-05 Morgan Stanley’s stock performance over the past 12 months. At just under 12x forward earnings, Morgan Stanley (MS) is one of only two financial stocks in our portfolio. We’re comfortable owning it at present valuations despite a potential recession on the horizon. It carries an annual dividend yield of roughly 3.6%, which rewards investors for their patience, and the company bought back $2.6 billion worth of stock in the three months ended Sept. 30. Morgan Stanley checks all our boxes as a company that does real things for a profit, returns capital to shareholders and is reasonably priced. WFC mountain 2022-01-05 Wells Fargo’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Wells Fargo (WFC)— the other bank in our portfolio — trades at 8.3x forward earnings and is well-liked by analysts . While recession fears may be weighing on the stock, Wells Fargo’s loan portfolio is very high quality. The bank also benefits from the Federal Reserve’s higher interest rates. We also view the company as a turnaround story as it looks to get past regulatory restrictions . F mountain 2022-01-05 Ford Motor’s stock performance over the past 12 months. Ford (F) has one of the lowest price-to-earnings multiples in our portfolio, at just under 7x. We like the automaker here, with Jim saying on Thursday that he’d buy the stock at current levels . In December, Ford’s money-making F series pickup trucks registered their best sales month of 2022 — a positive sign after months of production disruptions limited availability. We’re fans of the company’s electric vehicle strategy, too. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) 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.

A Halliburton oil well fielder works on a well head at a fracking rig site January 27, 2016 near Stillwater, Oklahoma.
J. Pat Carter | Getty Images

We’re growing increasingly worried about some richly valued companies in our portfolio, including the likes of Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT). Expensive stocks remain out of favor on Wall Street — just as they had been for much of last year — and there could be more room for them to fall as recession fears mount. More

China will likely be able to live with Covid-19 by the end of March, based on how quickly people have returned to the streets, said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie.
Chongqing, Guangzhou and the resort city of Sanya have announced in the last few days that the worst of their local outbreaks has passed.
Shanghai medical researchers projected in a study that the latest Covid wave would pass through major Chinese cities by the end of 2022, while rural areas — and more distant provinces in central and western China — would be hit by infections in mid- to late-January.

Subway passenger traffic in Shanghai is quickly returning to levels seen before the latest Covid wave, according to Wind data. Pictured here is a subway car in the city on Jan. 4, 2023.
Hugo Hu | Getty Images News | Getty Images

BEIJING — China will likely be able to live with Covid-19 by the end of March, based on how quickly people have returned to the streets, said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie.
Subway and road data show traffic in major cities is rebounding, he pointed out, indicating the worst of the latest Covid wave has passed.

“The dramatic U-turn in China’s Covid policy since mid-Nov implies deeper short-term economic contraction but faster reopening and recovery,” Hu said in a report Wednesday. “The economy could see a strong recovery in Spring.”
In the last several days, the southern city of Guangzhou and the tourist destination of Sanya said they’d passed the peak of the Covid wave.
Chongqing municipal health authorities said Tuesday that daily visitors to major fever clinics was just over 3,000 — down sharply from Dec. 16 when the number of patients received topped 30,000. The province-level region has a population of about 32 million.

Chongqing was the most congested city in mainland China during Thursday morning’s rush hour, according to Baidu traffic data. The figures showed increased traffic from a week ago across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other major cities.
As of Wednesday, subway ridership in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou had climbed significantly from the lows of the last few weeks — but had only recovered to about two-thirds of last year’s levels, according to Wind Information.

Caixin’s monthly survey of services businesses in December found they were the most optimistic they’d been in about a year-and-a-half, according to a release Thursday. The seasonally adjusted business activity index rose to 48 in December, up from a six-month low of 46.7 in November.
That below-50 reading still indicates a contraction in business activity. The index for a separate Caixin survey of manufacturers edged down to 49 in December, from 49.4 in November. Their optimism was the highest in ten months.

Poorer, rural areas next

Shanghai medical researchers projected in a study that the latest Covid wave would pass through major Chinese cities by the end of 2022, while rural areas — and more distant provinces in central and western China — would be hit by infections in mid- to late-January.
“The duration and magnitude of upcoming outbreak could be dramatically enhanced by the extensive travels during the Spring Festival (January 21, 2023),” the researchers said in a paper published in late December by Frontiers of Medicine, a journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Education.
Typically hundreds of millions of people travel during the holiday, also known as the Lunar New Year.
The researchers said senior citizens, especially those with underlying health conditions, in China’s remote areas face a greater risk of severe illness from the highly transmissible omicron variant. The authors were particularly worried about the lack of medicine and intensive care units in the the countryside.
Even before the pandemic, China’s public health system was stretched. People from across the country often traveled to crowded hospitals in the capital city of Beijing in order to get better health care than they could in their hometowns.
Oxford Economics senior economist Louise Loo remained cautious about a rapid rebound in China’s economy.
“A normalisation in economic activity will take some time, requiring among other things a change in public perceptions towards contracting Covid and vaccine effectiveness,” Loo said in a report Wednesday.
The firm expects China’s GDP will grow by 4.2% in 2023.

Lingering long-term risk

The medical researchers also warned of the risk that omicron outbreaks on the mainland “might appear in multiple waves,” with new surges in infections possible in late 2023. “The importance of regular monitoring of circulating SARS-CoV-2 sublineages and variants across China shall not be overestimated in the months and years to come.”
However, amid a lack of timely information, the World Health Organization said Wednesday it was asking China for “more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing.”
China in early December abruptly ended many of its stringent Covid controls that had restricted business and social activity. On Sunday, the country is set to formally end a quarantine requirement for inbound travelers, while restoring the ability of Chinese citizens to travel abroad for leisure. The country imposed strict border controls beginning in March 2020 in an attempt to contain Covid domestically.

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