Stock losses accelerate on Israel-Iran attacks — plus, the latest on Amazon, Meta and Apple

CNBC

15 hours ago

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: Wall Street moved lower Friday afternoon as tensions in the Middle East escalate following Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Iranian state TV said that it has suspended nuclear weapons negotiations with the U.S. — the two sides had been set to talk on Sunday. Not long afterward, as headlines around Iranian missile attacks in Israel surfaced, losses in the stock market picked up steam. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 2%, leading to the downside, while both the S & P 500 and Nasdaq fell more than 1%. Meanwhile, oil prices spiked on the news, though the gains have moderated compared with where they were in overnight trading. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged 7% to above $74 a barrel. U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude also popped 7%, trading close to $73 a barrel. As Investing Club Portfolio Analyst Zev Fima wrote earlier this afternoon , our approach right now is to sit on our hands and not make any dramatic moves to the portfolio. "So as we approach what could be a weekend packed full of fear-inducing geopolitical headlines, we have to do that most difficult of things: nothing," he wrote. Medical shuffle: Club name Amazon is reorganizing its health-care business into six new units "with the goal of creating a simpler structure," our CNBC colleagues Annie Palmer and Ashley Capoot reported Friday. Here are a few excerpts from their story, though we recommend reading it in full : "Our leadership team has been focused on simplifying our structure to move faster and continue to innovate effectively," [Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services] said in a video chat. "One of the problems we're trying to solve is the fragmented experience for patients and customers that's common in healthcare." .... Amazon declined to share financial figures for its health business, but Lindsay said it is seeing "very strong growth" across the offerings. As long-term investors in Amazon, we remain intrigued by its ambitions in the massive health-care industry, particularly using its logistics prowess on the prescription drug delivery side. The acquisition of One Medical, a primary care provider, also was a big deal — and at the company's annual shareholder meeting in late May, CEO Andy Jassy said he was "very excited" about how its One Medical subscription is "continuing to grow." But in general, health care does seem to have been a tougher nut to crack than perhaps some expected. That's why Friday's report caught our eye because it shows Amazon is looking for ways to make progress and not being complacent with its organizational structures. Still, as of now, it's not a major needle-mover compared with the e-commerce, advertising and cloud-computing divisions. Meta's move: The founder of Scale AI, Alexandr Wang, confirmed that he's departing the startup to join Club name Meta Platforms , part of the Instagram parent's bold move to stay on the leading edge of artificial intelligence. When we wrote Wednesday about Meta investing nearly $15 billion to take a 49% stake in Scale AI, we were under the impression that Wang would join Meta's new "superintelligence" unit on top of his duties at the data-labeling startup. That is not the case. The new revelation underscores the aggressiveness of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg amid concerns that some of its AI technology was lagging in performance. Wang is well-known within the tech industry as a bright mind on AI — he founded Scale AI before he was 20 years old — and talent along with computing resources is very important in the AI race. Apple shipments: Rounding out these updates on Big Tech names, Reuters reported that 97% of the iPhones exported from India by manufacturer Foxconn went to the U.S. during the March-to-May period. That is a dramatic increase from the roughly 50% export rate in 2024, Reuters said, citing customs data. The reporting is a clear indication of Apple's strategy to navigate President Donald Trump's tariffs by relying less on China, which faces a much-higher duty rate than India. Up next: It's a quite week of earnings within the portfolio, though Lennar and Darden Restaurants are set to report on Monday and Friday, carrying implications for Club names Home Depot and Texas Roadhouse , respectively. Jabil, La-Z-Boy, GMS, Smith and Wesson Brands, Kroger, Accenture, and CarMax also report. The Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates and latest economic projections arrive on Wednesday. On the economic calendar, the latest numbers on retail sales and import/export prices are due out Tuesday morning, followed by initial jobless claims on Wednesday morning. Next Friday and into the weekend, the American Diabetes Associations' Scientific Sessions takes place, and Club name Eli Lilly will be there with updates. (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 . 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