Stocks jumped for the second straight week and reached record highs Friday as Washington trade and shutdown drama took a back seat to cooler inflation data and stronger earnings. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2% and a couple of.3%, respectively, for the week. In truth, the S & P 500 on Friday peaked above 6,800 for the primary time ever before closing slightly below that level. Each stock benchmarks finished Friday with record-high closes. Propelling stocks on the ultimate day of the trading week was an encouraging read on the buyer price index for September , which was released 10 days late attributable to the federal government shutdown. Headline CPI rose 0.3% month over month and three% yr over yr. The increases weren’t as much as expected. The core rate, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% from the prior month and three% from the year-ago period. Again, each gains were lower than expected. The CPI report was well received since it left the door wide open for the Federal Reserve to chop rates of interest again when central bankers gather next week. .SPX .IXIC 5D mountain S & P 500 and Nasdaq weekly performance The CPI was also the one official economic data released throughout the government shutdown, which was headed into its fourth week. The Senate adjourned Thursday and won’t reconvene until Monday afternoon. Because the shutdown dragged on, there was plenty of discuss President Donald Trump ‘s decision Friday to cancel trade talks with Canada, which ran an commercial featuring former U.S. President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs. On the more positive side of the trade ledger, the White House confirmed that Trump’s visit to Asia next week will include a gathering with Chinese President Xi Jinping . Neither the trade headlines nor the shutdown impasse moved markets. What did support the stock market, along with the inflation data, was a continued stream of great earnings reports , with roughly 30% of the S & P 500 posting quarterly results up to now. In truth, 87% of those names beat earnings expectations, in line with LSEG, which is way higher than the everyday 67% beat rate. Club names Danaher, Capital One, GE Vernova , Honeywell , and Dover all followed that trend after they each released their numbers this week. On Tuesday morning, Danaher posted a beat on the highest and bottom line because the life sciences company issued an upbeat initial forecast for its next fiscal yr. Shares, in turn, surged. Investors cheered the much-needed positive news for Danaher after an prolonged period of underperformance. DHR YTD mountain Danaher YTD “Danaher has tested our patience in recent quarters because the post-pandemic recovery proved difficult for firms that serve the biotech and pharmaceutical industries; a cloth presence in China added one other hurdle to beat,” Zev Fima, portfolio analyst for the Club, wrote in his earnings evaluation. “But a market response like we’re seeing Tuesday is why we were willing to remain invested in Danaher, once a reliable outperformer.” The Club maintained its $240-per-share price goal but downgraded the stock to a 2 rating , meaning we might consider buying more shares on a pullback. That doesn’t suggest a change in our Danaher thesis. Relatively, shares have advanced over 22% since late September, after we last added to our position. Danaher rose nearly 6.7% for the week and was No. 2 on our weekly leader board. Capital One posted a large quarterly earnings beat on Tuesday evening. Our biggest takeaway from the nation’s largest bank card issuer was its better-than-expected credit performance. During Friday’s Morning Meeting, Jim Cramer said Capital One was still his “favorite stock within the portfolio, regardless that it’s come up huge from after we bought it.” COF YTD mountain Capital One YTD “Credit has turn into a hot topic out there these days attributable to the notable collapses of auto parts manufacturer First Brands Group and the subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings. Since Capital One has a big exposure to the subprime market, some investors weren’t quite sure how its loans were holding up,” wrote Jeff Marks, director of portfolio evaluation for the Club. “That is why it was so essential to see Capital One once more report strong credit metrics, with better-than-expected net charge-offs and provisions for credit losses.” The Club maintained its buy-equivalent 1 rating and $250 price goal. Capital One’s weekly advance of nearly 6.5% put it fifth amongst our winners for the week. On Wednesday, GE Vernova reported strong earnings and robust backlog growth. Although management delivered on crucial line items, shares of the natural gas turbine manufacturer still tumbled amid weakness in speculative areas of the energy trade. GEV YTD mountain GE Vernova YTD The Club maintained its buy-equivalent 1 rating, though, encouraging members to purchase shares the next session. We also reiterated our $700 price goal on GE Vernova. In spite of everything, the unprecedented demand for more power due to increased AI data center investments is a financial windfall for energy stalwarts like GE Vernova. On Friday, Jim said, “This stock is a rocket ship,” comparing GE Vernova’s chart pattern to those of Alphabet , Advanced Micro Devices , and Oracle before those names mounted major rallies. While GE Vernova fell 2.6% this week and was our worst performer, the stock remains to be the second-best within the portfolio yr so far, with an over 77% increase. Honeywell posted a stellar quarterly report Thursday that outpaced expectations on sales, earnings and organic growth. Management also hiked the commercial conglomerate’s full-year guidance. What’s most notable to us, nonetheless, is the rebound in the corporate’s aerospace division. The earnings report comes ahead of Honeywell’s spinoff of Solstice Advanced Materials on Oct. 30. The split of the remaining aerospace and automation division can be accomplished within the second half of 2026. HON YTD mountain Honeywell YTD “These spins stand to support further growth and drive shareholder returns as they may allow each of the three latest entities to operate in a more focused and efficient manner,” Zev wrote in his earnings evaluation Thursday. The Club reiterated its buy-equivalent 1 rating and $255 price goal on Honeywell stock. Honeywell shareholders of record as of Oct. 17 will get one share of Solstice for each 4 shares of Honeywell. We plan to maintain our Solstice shares and our Honeywell shares, which were our fourth-best this week, with an almost 6.5% advance. Dover gave investors a reason to persist with the lagging stock after the corporate’s better-than-expected third-quarter profits on Thursday. Management also hiked its full-year earnings guidance, and highlighted Dover’s potential to learn from lucrative trends just like the AI buildout. DOV YTD mountain Dover YTD Dover stock had its second-best day of 2025 consequently. The Club reiterated its buy-equivalent 1 rating and price goal of $210. In spite of everything, even with Thursday’s pop, Dover shares are still trading at a steep discount to its industrial peers. Dover was our third-best weekly performer — rising nearly 6.6% over the past five trading days. Ten portfolio names are on the docket next week: Amazon, Apple , Bristol Myers Squibb, Boeing , Corning , Eli Lilly, Linde, Meta Platforms, Microsoft , and Starbucks. Through all of it, we’ll examine our thesis for every one, which may end up in changes to our rankings or price targets. To make certain, quarterly earnings aren’t the one time we do this. Texas Roadhouse was a main example this week. We downgraded Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday from a buy-equivalent 1 to a 2 rating. Rising beef prices proceed to pressure margins for Texas Roadhouse, a headwind that is prone to proceed through 2026 as well. Making matters more complicated, management can only slowly go through beef inflation with menu price increases as well. Still, we’re sticking it out within the stock for now. Texas Roadhouse was considered one of many portfolio moves made this week. We executed three trades, too. On Tuesday, the Club began a position in Corning . The corporate – known for manufacturing specialty glass, including fiber optic cables – can be a beneficiary of the AI buildout. That is since the rise of AI will increase demand for those self same connectivity products since they’re inside data centers. We also like Corning stock due to its Apple partnership. Club holding Apple previously announced a $2.5 billion commitment to Corning, which makes the quilt glass for all iPhones and Apple Watches. That very same session, the Club booked profits in Wells Fargo after the stock’s big post-earnings advance to record highs. We realized a gain of roughly 170% on shares purchased in January 2021. The sale, nonetheless, doesn’t reflect a change in our long-term bull thesis within the bank. On Friday, we sold some Eaton shares — capitalizing on the electrical equipment maker’s recent rebound. Eaton has rallied back up since management’s third-quarter guidance in early August got here in below expectations and whacked shares. We thought the post-earnings selloff was unwarranted, given the success of its Electrical Americas business, which heavily advantages from the AI boom. (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’ll 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 a couple of 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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