The stock market has spent the past month starved of good news. One day after our last Monthly Meeting on Friday, Feb. 27, the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. In retaliation, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz oil transport waterway and struck targets in Israel and neighboring Arab countries, as well as U.S. military facilities in the Mideast. The conflict has sent oil prices surging and stocks tumbling on inflation and economic growth fears. Since then, rising crude prices have been knocking down stocks, with Brent international crude up 50% over the past 19 trading sessions and West Texas Intermediate crude up 40%. During that same stretch, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq each fell more than 5%, as of Thursday’s close. Both indexes are on track for a fifth consecutive week of losses. Ahead of our upcoming Monthly Meeting ( livestreamed Friday at noon ET ), we normally look at our top and bottom performing stocks since our last meeting through the prior day’s close. During less volatile times, the current session trading does not usually impact things. However, with Brent and WTI prices spiking again Friday and the stock market sinking, our list did change — so, we must include Friday’s action. CrowdStrike & Palo Alto Networks From Feb. 27 to Thursday’s close, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks were top winners, up 5.5% and 5%, respectively. But news of Anthropic testing its most powerful AI model yet slaughtered enterprise software stocks Friday. CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks were not immune, as Jim Cramer has repeatedly said they should be. They each dropped more than 5% on Friday, putting them in negative territory since the war began. Worries about AI disruption, particularly from Anthropic’s Claude, have dogged software stocks for months. However, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks had been making a bit of a comeback as the Iran war increased the risks of cyberattacks and the need for the best-in-breed protection that those companies provide. Cisco Systems With tech stocks among Friday’s biggest losers, Cisco Systems was no exception, but to a much lesser extent. It had been a 3.4% winner from Feb. 27 through Thursday’s close. Friday morning, it was our only portfolio stock still in the green (up less than 1%) since the war began. Cisco has been a beneficiary of the AI buildout boom, which has shown no sign of slowing. The company’s networking equipment is an integral part of what makes data centers work. On March 9, we sold some shares to lock in profits. At the time, Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis for the Club, pointed to double-digit order growth in the latest quarter as a great sign of demand. The wildcard for Cisco and many of its tech peers is the worldwide shortage of memory, which is pushing up costs and pressuring margins. Meta Platforms Our two biggest losers from Feb. 27 to Thursday’s close only went further into the red in Friday’s down market. They switched places through, with Meta Platforms as the worst since the war began (off more than 17%). A large chunk of Meta’s losses occurred on the eve of the March meeting. Shares fell nearly 8% on Thursday after a Los Angeles jury found the Facebook parent and Alphabet’ s Google negligent, failing to warn users of the dangers associated with their social media platforms. Meta’s on the hook for paying 70% of damages totaling $6 million. Jim warned investors against selling and said the slump could be setting up a buying opportunity. Nike Nike was now the second worst (down 16.5% since the war began). Investors have been worried about what happens to consumer spending if there’s a prolonged conflict and the oil-price shock rekindles inflation, slowing down the global economy. In that scenario, people will have less money to spend on Nike’s shoes and clothes. A series of bearish analyst calls hasn’t helped the stock either. Nike’s consistent underperformance has challenged our view of the stock and turnaround story under CEO Elliott Hill. “We’re not happy with the turn” at Nike, Jim said in early March. (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.
