Leaders, laggards after Powell's speech — plus, key Starbucks, Honeywell updates
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Leaders, laggards after Powell's speech — plus, key Starbucks, Honeywell updates

Why This Matters

Every weekday, the Investing Club releases the Homestretch; an actionable afternoon update just in time for the last hour of trading.

August 22, 2025
06:50 PM
3 min read
AI Enhanced

Every weekday, the CNBC with Jim Cramer releases the stretch — an actionable afternoon , time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.

Market moves : Stocks were headed for a positive week, thanks to a big rally on Friday in reaction to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell 's speech at the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium.

Heading into the address, the market was unsure if Powell was going to hint at a possible interest rate cut at next month's central bank policymaking meeting.

So, the market jumped upon hearing Powell talk growing downside risks in the labor market and how the "shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance." Powell's remarks lifted stocks and pushed bond yields lower as traders increased their bets around multiple rate cuts before year-end.

The market's surge Friday is playing out we discussed late Thursday, with the more dovish Fed unleashing rallies in cyclical, more economically sensitive stocks that stand to benefit the most from lower rates.

Some of the biggest gainers in the portfolio Friday were Capital One , DuPont , and Depot . The laggards were defensive groups consumer staples, utilities, and health care.

Within the portfolio, Bristol Myers Squibb , Costco , and TJX Companies trailed the broader market.

Bids coming : Starbucks expects to receive non-binding offers for a stake in its China within the next two weeks, according to Reuters.

Private equity firms Carlyle, EQT, Hillhouse Investment, and Primavera Capital were named in the story as interested partners. Bain Capital and Chinese giant Tencent were mentioned, too.

It's another sign of gress in Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol's turnaround.

Quantum note : We mentioned in Wednesday's stretch the reports around Honeywell and other investors seeking a funding round for the quantum unit Quantinuum at a $10 billion valuation.

Analysts at Bank of America ed on the report Friday, saying they believe the quantum unit's valuation "suggests upside potential to undervalued Honeywell SOTP." SOTP is an abbreviation for sum-of-the-parts and is a way to value a company undergoing a breakup, Honeywell.

Next week: The stragglers of Big report earnings, including quarterly results from Nvidia , CrowdStrike , Dell nologies, Marvell nology, and Snowflake.

Retail earnings will continue with Best Buy, Gap, Dick's Sporting Goods, Five Below, and many others.

On the economic data side, the key report for the week will be the July personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index on Friday morning.

(Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long COF, DD, HD, BMY, COST, TJX, HON, NVDA, CRWD.

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FinancialBooklet Analysis

AI-powered insights based on this specific article

Key Insights

  • The Federal Reserve's actions could influence market sentiment across sectors
  • Earnings performance can signal broader sector health and future investment opportunities
  • Financial sector news can impact lending conditions and capital availability for businesses

Questions to Consider

  • How might the Fed's policy stance affect borrowing costs and economic growth?
  • Could this earnings performance indicate broader sector trends or company-specific factors?
  • Could this financial sector news affect lending conditions and capital availability?

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