Business

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday offered investors a selection of stocks that he believes will do well this year.
To come up with his picks, he examined the best- and worst performers in the S&P 500 from last year and chose five potential 2023 winners from each list.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday offered investors a selection of stocks that he believes will do well this year.
To come up with his picks, he examined the best- and worst performers in the S&P 500 from last year and chose five potential 2023 winners from each list.

related investing news

“One of the easiest traps to fall into is simply sticking with winners. And it works for a long time — right until it doesn’t,” he said. 
Here are the best-performers from 2022 that Cramer believes could continue to see gains this year:
Halliburton

Cramer predicted that the stock has a multiyear rally ahead of it.

Constellation Energy

The company will likely be a big beneficiary of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, he said, adding that he believes Constellation Energy is the best operator of nuclear plants.

Enphase Energy

Calling it the “renewable golden boy,” Cramer said the solar energy technology company is a profitable, solid business.

McKesson

Stocks of drug distributors such as McKesson tend to work well during an economic slowdown, he said.

Northrop Grumman

The company’s stock could be the best defense contractor to own as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, according to Cramer.

Here are the worst performers from 2022 that he believes could mount a comeback this year:
Netflix

“I believe Netflix has turned itself around because they were so confident on that last conference call. You know, for almost two years, their conference calls were funereal, even when Squid Game took the world by storm,” he said, adding, “And lots of growth-oriented money managers want to find improving franchises, and that fits Netflix to a tee.”

Stanley Black & Decker

Investors interested in the stock should start a small position here and gradually buy more on the way down, he recommended.

VF Corp

Cramer said that while VF Corp stock had a “horrendous performance” last year, he’s betting that new interim CEO Benno Dorer will help the company return value to shareholders in 2023.

Meta Platforms 

Cramer said that while the stock has been a “disaster,” he believes that the metaverse will either take off or fizzle out this year. The former scenario would be good news for the company, while the latter would mean the company could divert its metaverse budget to other segments such as Reels and WhatsApp, he said.

Advanced Micro Devices

He said that while AMD stock has been battered by waning demand in personal computers this year, he’s still a believer of CEO Lisa Su and the company’s underlying business.

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Halliburton, Meta Platforms and Advanced Micro Devices.

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

Loading chart…

Loading chart…

Blackline Inc: “It’s enterprise software that’s losing money. Those are the ones I’m trying to get people to stay away from.”

Loading chart…

Piedmont Lithium Inc: “Much too dangerous. Way too speculative. We’re going to take a pass on that one.”

Loading chart…

Loading chart…

Bloom Energy Corp: “They’re not working. They’re too expensive. I want you to avoid Bloom Energy.”

Loading chart…

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc: “This thing has had way too big a move. I can not get behind it. It’s way too speculative.”
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Eli Lilly.

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday warned investors that the tech industry will likely see more layoffs due to continuing macroeconomic headwinds.
His comments come after Salesforce said Wednesday that it is slashing 10% of its staff and curtailing office space.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday warned investors that the tech industry will likely see more layoffs due to continuing macroeconomic headwinds.
“There are so many tech companies with bloated payrolls that are still trying to grow rapidly, overpaying for new employees, and they fear that layoffs will mean that their time in the sun is over,” he said, adding, “They don’t seem to understand that their time in the sun ended over a year ago.”

related investing news

6 hours ago

His comments come after Salesforce said Wednesday that it is slashing 10% of its staff and curtailing office space. The cloud-based software firm had over 79,000 employees as of December.
Shares of Salesforce rose 3.57% on Wednesday.
The layoffs, part of a broader restructuring plan at Salesforce, are the company’s latest headcount reductions after it let go of hundreds of employees in November.
Other tech firms, including Meta Platforms, Netflix and Lyft, culled their workforces to cut costs last year as persistent inflation, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes and normalizing demand from the height of the pandemic continue to dog the formerly burgeoning industry. 
Cramer said that while the industry is likely to see more cuts this year, investors should refrain from becoming overly optimistic about how tech companies and their stocks will fare once more employees are laid off.

“I’m saying that this decline won’t be as bad as the 2000 and 2001 [recession]. It won’t be that. Nor am I saying that tech stocks can rally endlessly on cost cuts,” he said.
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Salesforce and Meta Platforms.

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The WHO is concerned about how quickly the XBB.1.5 subvariant is spreading in the northeastern U.S.
“It is the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet,” WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said.
The WHO does not have any data yet on the severity of XBB.1.5, but there’s no indication it makes people more sick than previous subvariants, she said.

XBB.1.5 strain, January 4, 2023, Suqian, Jiangsu, China.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that’s currently dominating the U.S. is the most contagious version of Covid-19 yet, but it doesn’t appear to make people sicker, according to the World Health Organization.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, said global health officials are worried about how quickly the subvariant is spreading in the northeastern U.S. The number of people infected with XBB.1.5 has been doubling in the U.S. about every two weeks, making it the most common variant circulating in the country.

“It is the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet,” Van Kerkhove told reporters during a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday. “The reason for this are the mutations that are within this subvariant of omicron allowing this virus to adhere to the cell and replicate easily.”
It has been detected in 29 countries so far but it could be even more widespread, Van Kerkhove said. Tracking Covid variants has become difficult as genomic sequencing declines across the world, she said.
The WHO doesn’t have any data yet on the severity of XBB.1.5, but there’s no indication at the moment that it makes people sicker than previous versions of omicron, Van Kerkhove said. The WHO’s advisory group that tracks Covid variants is conducting a risk assessment on XBB.1.5 that it will publish in the coming days, she said.
“The more this virus circulates the more opportunities it will have to change,” Van Kerkhove said. “We do expect further waves of infection around the world but that doesn’t have to translate into further waves of death because our countermeasures continue to work.”
Scientists say XBB.1.5 is about as good at dodging antibodies from vaccines and infection as its XBB and XBB.1 relatives, which were two of the most immune evasive subvariants yet. But XBB.1.5 has a mutation that makes it bind more tightly to cells, which gives it a growth advantage.

As XBB.1.5 rapidly spreads in the U.S., China is battling a surge of cases and hospitalizations after abandoning its zero-Covid policy in response to social unrest late last year. U.S. and global health officials have said Beijing is not sharing enough data on the surge with the international community.
“We continue to ask China for more rapid regular reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths as well more comprehensive real-time viral sequencing,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.
A growing number of countries, including the U.S., are requiring airline passengers from China to test negative for Covid before boarding their flights. China’s foreign ministry has said such measures lack a scientific basis and has accused the governments of manipulating Covid for political purposes. But the WHO director-general said the requirements are understandable given the limited data coming out of China.
“With circulation in China so high and comprehensive data not forthcoming, it’s understandable that some countries are taking steps they believe will protect their own citizens,” Tedros said Wednesday.
Beijing’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention shared data Tuesday with the WHO indicating BA.5 sublineages, BA.5.2 and BF.7, account for about 98% of all infections in the country. But Van Kerkhove said China is not sharing enough sequencing data from around the vast country.
“It’s not just a matter of knowing what variants are circulating,” Van Kerkhove said. “We need the global community to assess these, to look at mutation by mutation to determine if any of these are new variants circulating in China but also around the world.”

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Picking the right place for short-term savings can be “tricky” amid high inflation and rising interest rates.
While there have been signs of slowing inflation, the Federal Reserve expects higher interest rates to continue.
Experts cover what to expect from savings, certificates of deposit and Series I bonds.

dowell | Moment | Getty Images

Investors have many options when saving for short-term goals, and those choices have become more complicated amid high inflation and rising interest rates.
While there have been signs of slowing inflation, the Federal Reserve is expecting higher interest rates to continue.

“It looks like this year might be a little tricky,” said Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com, a website that tracks the most competitive options for savings.  
More from Personal Finance:Strategies that can help you dig out of holiday debtWhy your savings account interest may be behind the FedExperts say it’s time to boost 401(k) contributions for 2023
Although the Fed’s federal funds rate has reached the highest level in 15 years, savings account interest rates haven’t matched these hikes, Tumin explained. 
As of Jan. 4, online high-yield savings accounts were paying an average of 3.48%, according to DepositAccounts, with some smaller banks reaching 4%. 
Still, if you’re keeping money in a savings account, Tumin said it’s better to stick with established banks.

He cautioned savers to be “real careful” with financial technology companies partnering with banks for checking and savings accounts and other cash products. “You should go directly to FDIC-insured banks, rather than through fintechs,” Tumin said. 

It’s a ‘strange environment’ for certificates of deposit

Another option for savings, certificates of deposit, or CDs, may present opportunities for short-term savers, Tumin said. 
“It’s kind of a strange environment where we actually can get a higher rate for short-term CDs than long-term CDs,” he said.

It’s kind of a strange environment where we actually can get a higher rate for short-term CDs than long-term CDs.

Founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com

While Tumin expects savings account interest to rise, these rates may not match one-year CDs, which have more closely followed the Fed, and were offering an average of 4.81% as of Jan. 4, according to DepositAccounts.
“From that point of view, you might be better off with a one-year CD than an online savings account over the next year,” he said.

Series I bonds are still a ‘great consideration’ for short-term investors

As inflation has soared, Series I bonds, an inflation-protected and nearly risk-free asset, have also become a popular choice for short-term savings.
I bonds are currently paying 6.89% annual interest on new purchases through April, down from the 9.62% yearly rate offered from May through October 2022.
“These have become very popular among our clients as the rates have skyrocketed,” said certified financial planner Eric Roberge, founder of Beyond Your Hammock in Boston. “This makes them great considerations for shorter-term investors.”

I bonds earn monthly interest with two parts: a fixed rate, which may change every six months for new purchases but stays the same after buying, and a variable rate, which changes every six months based on inflation.
While the current 6.89% annual rate may be appealing, the yield may change in May, based on six months of inflation data. Since you can’t access the money for one year, there’s the potential to lock in a lower rate after the first six months. 
Still, if you need your money in one to five years, this could be a choice to consider, Roberge said.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Michael Rubin’s sports platform company Fanatics is divesting its 60% stake in NFT company Candy Digital, according to an internal email obtained by CNBC.
Fanatics, who previously held the majority share of Candy Digital, will be selling its interest to an investor group led by Galaxy Digital, the crypto merchant bank led by Mike Novogratz.
Sports NFTs have seen a drop in valuation and popularity amid the broader ‘crypto winter,’ impacting companies like Candy Digital and Dapper Labs.

Fanatics Founder/Executive Chairman Michael Rubin attends Fanatics Super Bowl Party at College Football Hall of Fame on February 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mike Coppola | Getty Images

Michael Rubin’s sports platform company Fanatics is divesting its 60% stake in NFT company Candy Digital, according to an internal email obtained by CNBC.
Fanatics, who previously held the majority share of Candy Digital, will be selling its interest to an investor group led by Galaxy Digital, the crypto merchant bank led by Mike Novogratz, which was the other original founding shareholder, according to the email.

Fanatics declined to comment.
Candy Digital was founded in June 2021 in the middle of the sports NFT boom, competing with companies like Dapper Labs in the digital sports collectible space. One of its first efforts came out of a multiyear licensing agreement with MLB to produce nonfungible tokens, which included an exclusive Lou Gehrig NFT. It also released digital collectibles with Netflix’s Stranger Things, WWE, and several Nascar teams.
However, akin to the broader NFT market, sports NFTs also saw a decline amid the ‘crypto winter’ that has seen the value of nearly all digital assets plummet. Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day digital trading platforms that ranked No. 9 on last year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list, laid off 22% of its company in November.
Candy Digital had raised a $100 million Series A round in October 2021, valuing it at $1.5 billion at the time. Investors in that round included SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, Insight Partners, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, according to previous CNBC reporting.
It is unclear what Fanatics received for its stake in the company, but Rubin wrote “Divesting our ownership stake at this time allowed us to ensure investors were able to recoup most of their investment via cash or additional shares in Fanatics – a favorable outcome for investors, especially in an imploding NFT market that has seen precipitous drops in both transaction volumes and prices for standalone NFTs.”

Rubin cited several factors for Fanatics’ divesture in the email, which he wrote was a “rather straightforward and easy decision for us to make for several reasons.”
“Over the past year, it has become clear that NFTs are unlikely to be sustainable or profitable as a standalone business,” Rubin wrote. “Aside from physical collectibles (trading cards) driving 99% of the business, we believe digital products will have more value and utility when connected to physical collectibles to create the best experience for collectors.”
In January 2022, Fanatics acquired Topps trading cards for roughly $500 million after also acquiring the rights to produce MLB trading cards, severing a nearly 70-year partnership between Topps and baseball’s top league.
Fanatics raised $700 million in fresh capital in December, aiming to use that new money to focus on potential merger and acquisition opportunities across its collectibles, betting and gaming businesses. It also pushed the company’s valuation to $31 billion.
The company, which started as an e-commerce platform selling team merchandise to sports fans, has looked to expand across the entire sports ecosystem. The company is also weighing an initial public offering, and Rubin recently met with more than 90 internet, retail and gaming analysts from various Wall Street firms, where he spoke of Fanatics’ growth plans, according to previous CNBC reporting.
Fanatics, a three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company, was ranked No. 21 on last year’s list.
Here’s the full email Rubin sent to Fanatics staff on Wednesday:

Team Fanatics –
Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a chance to recharge and spend quality time with family and friends during the holidays, and that your 2023 is off to a great start.
As we’re getting back into the swing of things, I wanted to share some news with all of you. Effective immediately, Fanatics has divested our approximately 60% stake in Candy Digital. We have sold our interest in the NFT company to an investor group led by Galaxy Digital, the other original founding shareholder. When we looked at all the factors on the table, this was a rather straightforward and easy decision for us to make for several reasons.
Business Model – NFTs will most likely emerge as an integrated product/feature and not as a standalone business: Over the past year, it has become clear that NFTs are unlikely to be sustainable or profitable as a standalone business. Aside from physical collectibles (trading cards) driving 99% of the business, we believe digital products will have more value and utility when connected to physical collectibles to create the best experience for collectors. To that end, we already hold a broader and more significant set of NFT and digital collectibles rights within our Fanatics Collectibles business that came with our trading cards rights (NFL, MLB, NBA and more), which we are seamlessly integrating with the world-class physical collectibles rights we currently have. Ultimately, our goal is to grow the number of sports collectors. Connectivity between physical and digital collectibles will be the most powerful way to create an emotional resonance and enduring success for NFTs and their collectors.
Investor Relationships: Taking this immediate action not only makes sense for the strategic direction of Fanatics, but also allows us to maintain the integrity of the relationships with our investors. The investors in Candy bought into the vision not because of NFTs or Candy itself, but because of our track record at Fanatics. This proven track record is a result of your hard work and our alignment on the mission to build the leading global digital sports platform. Therefore, it was imperative to us to protect their investment as the market and financial environment changed. Divesting our ownership stake at this time allowed us to ensure investors were able to recoup most of their investment via cash or additional shares in Fanatics – a favorable outcome for investors, especially in an imploding NFT market that has seen precipitous drops in both transaction volumes and prices for standalone NFTs.
Cultural Integration: Similar to how quickly we mobilize when the right strategic acquisition or partnership presents itself, we move even quicker when we realize things aren’t working. One of our core values – One Fanatics…Win As A Team – is integral to our success and only works when we can leverage the collective intelligence and expertise of all of our teams and colleagues. Unfortunately, we never achieved full integration of Candy within the Fanatics environment or culture due to shareholders with competing objectives and goals. Our culture of building, growing and winning as a team is what makes this company special, and we were not willing to compromise on this front.
We are 100% confident that this was the best long-term decision for Fanatics and our partners and we look forward to growing our digital and trading cards business together under Fanatics Collectibles with the incredible rights we have across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, WWE, UFC, F1, UEFA, Disney and more.
Happy New Year to all,
Michael Rubin
CEO, Fanatics More

Shares of Rivian Automotive hit a new 52-week low after the company missed its 25,000-unit production target for last year.
The EV startup said it produced 24,337 vehicles last year.
The stock fell 80% during 2022 amid production, parts and supply chain problems.

Employees work on an assembly line at startup Rivian Automotive’s electric vehicle factory in Normal, Illinois, April 11, 2022.
Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters

Shares of Rivian Automotive notched a new 52-week low on Wednesday after the company missed its 25,000-unit production target for last year.
The EV startup late Tuesday said it produced 24,337 vehicles in 2022, including 10,020 in the fourth quarter. Of those, 20,332 vehicles were delivered to customers during the year, including more than 8,000 from October through December.

related investing news

The missed target caps off a difficult year for the company as well as Rivian investors. Shares of the automaker declined by more than 80% during 2022 amid production, parts and supply chain problems.
Rivian said during its IPO roadshow in 2021 that it expected to build 50,000 vehicles in 2022. But it cut that guidance by half in March due to production and global supply chain issues.
Shares of Rivian during early trading Wednesday dipped by as much as 4.5% to $16.56 a share before reversing course and gaining more than 2% to close at $17.71 a share. A year ago the stock traded for $106.80 a share.

Shares of Rivian have fallen more than 80% in the last 12 months.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 jumped to a record high last quarter, according to Edmunds.
“Sticker shock doesn’t begin to describe it,” one auto expert said. When you factor in rising interest rates, many car buyers face a significant affordability problem.

Financing a new or used car is more expensive than ever, new research shows.
Amid rising interest rates and elevated auto prices, the share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 jumped to a record high, according to Edmunds. For the first time, just over 15% of consumers who financed a new car in the fourth quarter of 2022 committed to a monthly payment of $1,000 or more — the highest level on record — compared with 10.5% one year ago, Edmunds found.

The average price paid for a new car in December set a record of $46,382, according to a separate estimate from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. While there are signs the market is cooling, sticker prices are up 2.5% from a year ago.
At the same time, the interest rate on new car loans reached 6.5%, up from 4.1% a year earlier, Edmunds data shows. As the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to combat persisting inflation, auto loan rates could tick even higher, although consumers with higher credit scores may be able to secure better loan terms.
More from Personal Finance:Interest rate hikes have made financing a car pricier10 cars with the greatest potential lifespanCar deals are hard to come by
“Elevated pricing coupled with repeated interest rate increases continue to inflate monthly loan payments,” Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
Now, more consumers face monthly payments that they likely cannot afford, according to Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights. Car buyers are hit with “shock and awe” as high prices and rising rates cause monthly payments to balloon, he said.

“Sticker shock doesn’t begin to describe it,” Drury said. “When you factor in the financing, it’s very jarring.”

Many Americans are also choosing more expensive SUVs and pickups with all the bells and whistles, he added, which can cost 30% more than the base price.
“Base models, while enticing in theory, rarely hit the street,” Drury said, cautioning car shoppers to ask themselves if they’re “buying too much car.”
“There could be a perfectly good substitute at about half the cost,” he added.

It’s the ‘tip of the negative equity iceberg’

A customer looks at a vehicle at a BMW dealership in Mountain View, California, on Dec. 14, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shelling out more to finance a car today puts car buyers at greater risk of going underwater on those loans down the road as used car values decline, Drury cautioned.
“At the onset of the pandemic, consumers benefited from low interest rates and elevated trade-in values, helping shield even the more questionable financing decisions from resulting in negative equity,” he said.
“But as we shifted toward an environment with diminished used car values and rising interest rates over the past few months, consumers have become less insulated from those riskier loan decisions, and we are only seeing the tip of the negative equity iceberg.”
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More