Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Thursday

CNBC Finance

4 min read

My top 10 things to watch Thursday, March 12 1. International Energy Agency's member countries are releasing 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves in response to the Strait of Hormuz supply shock. The U.S. is kicking in 172 million barrels. What will this mean for everyday households? Well, oil prices are rallying again this morning. We're seeing attacks on cargo ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran is reportedly making threats about the Red Sea, too. 2. Stock futures are lower this morning. Unsurprising due to oil climbing higher. That's been the relationship throughout the Iran war. The market has been trying to see through the conflict , but until we see reason to believe it's ending, the risk of much higher oil prices will remain on the table. 3. Atlassian announced it's laying off 10% of its workforce, equal to about 1,600 people. Its CEO said this will help the maker of collaboration software "self-fund further investment in AI and enterprise sales." Is this just AI washing? Or is this about the woes of the traditional seat-based software model, a la the "SaaS Apocalypse?" Is it the Jack Dorsey path, or just plain trouble? 4. Add Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater to the list of firms that have restricted withdrawals on private-credit funds. At Morgan Stanley, investors tried to withdraw roughly 11% of an $8 billion fund, but the fund is fulfilling less than half of that. Cliffwater received redemption requests of 14% on a nearly $33 billion fund, but approved fulfilling 7%. Issues in the private-credit space are why the Club exited BlackRock . 5. Stryker was hit by a cyberattack that may have been tied to an Iranian-linked hacking group . The Polish government also said it's investigating whether Iran was behind a failed cyberattack on its nuclear research center, according to Reuters . George Kurtz, the CEO of Club name CrowdStrike , told me in a text: ""You will see a lot more companies get targeted that are related to the conflict in Iran. And while the smoke screen of the war is going on, China is ramping up their activities. They are keenly interested in what's going on with the war." 6. Dick's Sporting Goods delivered a big beat for the fourth quarter. Same-store sales growth, revenue and adjusted earnings were all above the Street. Dividend boost, too. But its profit outlook for this year is weak, as the retailer cleans up the Foot Locker business it bought last year. The market likes the report, sending shares up about 5% this morning. 7. Eli Lilly is warning about copycat GLP-1s, saying it tested compounded products containing its tirzepatide mixed with vitamin B12 and found "significant levels of an impurity that results from a chemical reaction between the two." Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Eli Lilly's blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound. Are compounders dangerous? They are not FDA-approved but are legal in the event of a drug shortage. 8. Piper Sandler raised its price target on Exxon Mobil to $186 from $145 â obvious winner in the Iran war and higher oil prices. Analysts said it's unclear how long the turmoil in the Middle East will last, but they anticipate that crude balances will tighten in 2026. Still, I'm wary of chasing this war-fueled rally in oil stocks. 9. More in the oil patch: Wells Fargo double upgraded Occidental Petroleum to buy from sell. The primary reason for the big call isn't the recent spike in oil prices. It's that Occidental's drilling in the prolific Permian Basin is more efficient, allowing it to spend much less while keeping production levels the same. 10. There's growing chatter about the Iran war potentially creating a helium shortage . Qatar is a big producer of helium as a byproduct of liquefied natural gas. Helium is used in semiconductor manufacturing. A shortage would be positive for Club name Linde, a major supplier of industrial gases. 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.

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Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Thursday

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