4 takeaways from the Investing Club’s ‘Morning Meeting’ on Monday

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments: Stocks slide to start trading week Oil declines after our Coterra sale alert Constellation bucks the market Another Amazon health-care move? 1. Stocks slide to start trading week All three major U.S. stock benchmarks were solidly in the red Monday, led by the Nasdaq ‘s decline of more than 2%. Both the S & P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by more than 1%. Tech stocks, in particular, were seeing weakness as the 10-year Treasury yield rose above 3%, a key psychological level. A week ago, the 10-year yield was under 2.8%. Higher rates tend to pressure growth-oriented stocks, many of which are tech names. “We have pressure on the Nasdaq that is extraordinary. Classic slowdown stocks are doing well,” Jim Cramer said during the “Morning Meeting,” while noting that, in Friday afternoon column for Club members, he warned there could be more downside ahead for the Nasdaq due to the meme-stock blow-ups. “The market wants to go lower, and when it wants to go lower, we are glad we have cash. We can do some sales if the stock is up, but we want to be defensive,” Cramer added. That is why last week the Club trimmed its positions in Danaher (DHR) and Linde (LIN). We made the decision to raise cash because the market was overbought and the froth in meme stock Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) suggested the need to act cautiously. 2. Oil pares losses in volatile session Crude futures are well of their Monday lows in a back-and-forth session that’s taken oil from slight gains to steep losses. West Texas Intermediate crude has recovered somewhat to trade down less than 1% at roughly $90 per barrel. The U.S. oil benchmark had traded as high as $91.26 per barrel Monday, which, combined with natural gas prices surging, had energy stocks looking like one of the few bright spots on an otherwise down day. That motivated our decision to trim 300 shares of Coterra Energy (CTRA) early in the session because we’re looking to cut back on our energy exposure in moments of outperformance. In addition to the strength we saw early Monday — before it too went back and forth between green and red — Coterra shares also rose more than 5% last week. “We’re not traders, but we know these stocks are volatile and we like to take some off,” Cramer said. Remember, we don’t book our trades until 45 minutes after the alerts go out to Club members. While that policy means sometimes the stock goes lower after we publish the alert, that’s OK because our main goal is to inform and help members with their portfolio, getting you the best price possible. 3. Constellation bucks the market Constellation Brands (STZ) shares were higher Monday, reflecting the strength of more defensive-oriented stocks in a market rife with slowdown fears. We’re pleased to see this action because it’s part of our rationale for owning the parent company of Modelo and Corona. Morgan Stanley analysts on Monday also reiterated their overweight rating on Constellation Brands, which could be helping the stock. In a note to clients, the analysts raised their earnings estimates for the quarter ending Aug. 31 and argued the company’s market-share gains are accelerating. “I think this is finally warranted,” Cramer said, referring to the stock’s strength Monday. “I’ve been waiting for it to happen.” 4. Another Amazon health-care move? We’re looking for the right level to buy additional shares of Amazon (AMZN). However, the reason for our interest is not The Wall Street Journal’s report Sunday that the company is among the firms bidding to buy Signify Health (SGFY), a home health services provider. This news of Amazon’s interest in Signify comes about a month after the e-commerce and cloud giant agreed to acquire primary-care provider One Medical . Amazon shares were down more than 3% Monday. “This health-care initiative is not, I think, going to sit well with the shareholders. I think people want retail. They want Web Services, and they want advertising. I think that [health care] is too much of a black box,” Cramer said. In addition to concerns that another health-care move could spark major antitrust scrutiny, Cramer said he’s not keen on the idea of Amazon competing against other companies to buy Signify. That is likely to push up the price, potentially diminishing the attractiveness of the possible acquisition. “I don’t want Amazon bidding for anything against others,” Cramer said. SGFY shares surged more than 30% on Monday. For the Club, our interest in picking up more Amazon shares is about positive developments on restoring margins. Management has been working on correcting overexpansion issues, and last week we found out the company plans to implement a holiday surcharge on third-party sellers who use the firm’s fulfillment services. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CTRA, LIN, DHR, STZ and AMZN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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 . 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