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. Markets: The S & P 500 is hitting another record high off more trade agreements. Late Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced what he called a “massive deal” with Japan that included a reduced tariff rate of 15%, including for cars and car parts, and an investment of $550 billion in new capital in the United States. Stocks got an extra boost shortly before noon following a Financial Times report that the U.S. and European Union are close to finalizing a trade deal that would impose a 15% tariff on most goods, down from the 30% rate both sides have threatened if no deal is reached by Aug. 1. Recent trade deals and reports suggest that tariffs on imports to the U.S. are here to stay. Still, that hasn’t stopped the market from climbing to new highs. Tariffs may sticking around, but the market is liking the lowered rates and pledges from foreign governments to buy more U.S. goods and invest in the United States through what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has now called an “innovative financing mechanism.” Chip shift? : Shares of Club name Broadcom started Wednesday lower after a publication called DigiTimes Asia reported that fellow portfolio member Meta Platforms has chosen MediaTek over Broadcom to make its new 2 nanometer custom chip. If true, the news would be somewhat surprising since Meta Platforms and Broadcom have close ties. Broadcom not only partners with the social media giant on its MTIA accelerator , but CEO Hock Tan also serves on Meta’s board. However, MediaTek also has a history with Meta, having collaborated on custom silicon for augmented reality glasses — so this new reported partnership isn’t surprising and doesn’t indicate any tension with Broadcom. Still, Meta branching out to new partners doesn’t change our thesis on Broadcom and its larger AI accelerator opportunity, and shares eventually shook off their earlier losses to trade higher by about 0.75% in the afternoon. Broacom’s AI business is exploding, with growth expected to sustain into its next fiscal year and demand accelerating in the back half. Looking ahead, Broadcom expects to increase its list of hyperscale customers for AI chips from three — widely believed to be Meta, Alphabet, and TikTok parent ByteDance — to seven, driving growth for years to come. Up next: There are no portfolio holdings reporting after the closing bell on Wednesday. But there are plenty of key reports, including Google parent Alphabet , Tesla , ServiceNow , IBM , Chipotle , and United Rentals . Before the opening bell on Thursday, we’ll see earnings from Club names Honeywell and Dover . A few other companies scheduled to report are American Airlines , Blackstone , Dow Inc , Southwest Airlines , Flex and Keurig Dr. Pepper . (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.
Trade optimism lifts stocks, and Broadcom shares shake off a reported wrinkle in Meta’s chip plans
