More problems at New York Community Bancorp have yet to derail the big bank trade

By News Room Last updated Mar 6, 2024

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. (We’re no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Stocks rally: Markets have broadly recovered from Tuesday’s pullback with nearly every S & P sector in the green. However, the market gave back some gains following a report that New York Community Bancorp sought a cash infusion to shore up its balance sheet. The bank later announced it received an equity investment of more than $1 billion from investors. Unlike last March, the problems of another regional bank have yet to derail the big bank trade. Look at Wells Fargo , which made a new 52-week high Wednesday. It’s the top-performing big bank in 2024. Morgan Stanley shares traded lower, but they had risen too much Monday on no news whatsoever, prompting us to trim the position Tuesday. We never have a problem with taking something off in a problem position that rallied on nothing fundamental. Though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the view of no imminent rate cuts when he spoke on Capitol Hill, the NYCB report caused Treasury yields to dip, which in turn supported a bounce in interest-rate sensitive stocks. Quick hits: DuPont crossed above $70 for the first time since giving weak 2024 guidance in January. An upbeat note by Fermium Research may be the reason why. The analysts talked about the ongoing recovery in the company’s semiconductor business, while the inventory destock in its shelter unit is finished. The water solutions destock is nearing the end with orders picking up for the second quarter. CrowdStrike trashed Palo Alto Networks on its earnings call Tuesday, causing shares of the latter to sit out Wednesday’s cybersecurity rally. We don’t want to count out Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora, but the pressure is on to prove his “platformization” strategy is working. Later: Earnings after the close should be relatively quiet. Thursday morning features reports from Kroger , Burlington Stores , American Eagle Outfitters , and BJ’s Wholesale . Broadcom and Costco earnings report Thursday after the bell, while the big non-farm payroll report for February is out Friday before the bell. (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 New York Community Bank stands in Brooklyn on February 08, 2024 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

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