The Club’s top 10 things to watch Monday, Dec. 8 1. Stocks were little changed early this morning after another winning week. Wall Street awaits the Fed’s upcoming interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. The market is pricing in 89% odds of a 25-basis-point cut, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Another one would be the third for 2025. Club stocks Broadcom and Costco report earnings this week. 2. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced that investment officer and Geico CEO Todd Combs will step down this year. Combs, who joined Berkshire in 2010, is departing for JPMorgan Chase as head of the bank’s new Security and Resiliency Initiative. The move came ahead of Buffett stepping down as Berkshire CEO at the end of the year. 3. IBM announced plans to buy data streaming platform Confluent in an $11 billion all-cash deal. Shares of Confluent surged 29%, while IBM stock fell roughly 1.5%. IBM says the acquisition will help grow its AI offerings moving forward. 4. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives predicts 2026 will be the year Club name Apple gets its artificial intelligence act together. He expects Apple to partner with Google’s Gemini in a big way. He sees Tim Cook remaining CEO at least through the end of 2027. Ives reiterated his buy rating but increased his price target to $350 from $320. 5. Microsoft is in talks to possibly shift its custom chip business to fellow Club name Broadcom from Marvell , according to The Information. Broadcom has gotten lots of attention lately for its role in co-designing Google’s TPUs, which power Gemini. Shares of Marvell sank more than 6% this morning. 6. Bank of America hiked its Carvana price target to $455 from $385. Analysts, who held a buy rating on shares, cited Carvana being added to the S & P 500 . Plus, BofA forecasts tailwinds to Carvana’s capital structure and potential for lower cost of capital. Carvana stock jumped 8.5% on the announcement, which also noted that Honeywell spin-off Solstice Advanced Materials will leave the index. 7. Deutsche Bank downgraded 3M to hold from buy and cut its price target to $178 from $199. The analysts see “only very low single-digit upside” to consensus estimates through 2028. 8. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors to a buy from hold as part of a sector call. The analysts see a “moderately more positive” view on internal combustion engines and hybrids for the year. Still, analysts are “leaning more cautious,” arguing that the electric vehicle “winter” will continue through 2026. 9. Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller assumed coverage of Club name Capital One with a buy rating and $270 price target. Peller thinks the credit card issuer will continue to grow and support a higher stock valuation. 10. Truist upgraded discount chain Five Below to buy from hold and raised its price target to $216 from $179. The analysts cited “unicorn-like growth.” Plus, they said the stock is up 65% this year but is still trading at a below-average multiple. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
