2 bank CEOs talk up the consumer — plus, a buy call on a struggling portfolio stock

CNBC Finance

4 min read

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch â an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market moves : Stocks were chopping around for a second straight session as Wall Street braces for the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. It's widely expected that the central bank, in a split vote, will cut interest rates by 25 basis points. It would be the third Fed rate cut this year and the sixth since central bankers started easing monetary policy back in September 2024. Financials : The bank trade has been one of the strongest in the market since New York Fed President John Williams said on Nov. 21 that a rate cut at the December meeting was possible. The Invesco KBW Bank ETF has gained about 10% since then, which is roughly double the return of the S & P 500 . The exchange-traded fund hit a new high early Tuesday. The banks lost some steam, however, after JPMorgan 's CEO of consumer and community banking, Marianne Lake, called the consumer environment "a little bit more fragile." She was speaking at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference. Lake did, however, guide fourth-quarter investment banking fees up low single-digits year over year and markets revenue up in the low-teens year over year. She also expects expenses next year to total $105 billion, which is slightly higher than the FactSet consensus estimate of about $101.4 billion. Lake's comments sent JPMorgan shares lower by about 4% in the afternoon. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is usually pretty conservative in his discussion about the economy, so it's not surprising to see one of his top lieutenants offer a similar take. It's important to note that not every bank executive is gloomy. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, for example, described a resilient consumer at the same conference earlier as did Capital One CEO Rich Fairbank, calling the consumer "a source of strength in the economy." Life sciences: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the life-sciences tools group, and Club holding Danaher was one of three stocks that analysts started with a buy rating. Goldman is much more bullish on Danaher's biotechnology business next year than the Street is giving it credit for. The firm estimates organic revenue growth of 9.2% in 2026 compared to the consensus expectation of about 6.1% growth. Driving this out-of-consensus-outlook are signs that the pharmaceutical industry will start placing more bioprocessing equipment orders. Danaher shares have dropped about 2% in 2025, trailing the broader health-care sector's gain of about 9%. But Goldman is not the only analyst predicting a better year for Danaher. Morgan Stanley started Danaher with a buy-equivalent rating and named it a top pick earlier this month. Up next: AeroVironment and Cracker Barrel report earnings after the closing bell. Club holding GE Vernova is hosting an investor day later Tuesday. Chewy reports before Wednesday's opening 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.

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2 bank CEOs talk up the consumer — plus, a buy call on a struggling portfolio stock

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