How Wall Street’s postelection rally got obliterated — and what’s next

Every weekday, the Investing Club releases the Homestretch; an actionable afternoon update just in time for the last hour of trading.

Skip NavigationJoin ICJoin ProLivestreamMenuEvery 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. The postelection rally is a distant memory . The S & P 500 and Nasdaq on Thursday are having their worst days since April 2025, which was when President Donald Trump first announced sweeping tariffs. On Wednesday, as the indexes were soaring, Jim Cramer had been warning that Wall Street’s first reaction to the midterm Democratic wave might be wrong. How right he was to be cautious: The Nasdaq is down about 4.5%, which sent the tech-heavy index into a correction. A correction is defined by a decline of 10% from its record high — and for the Nasdaq, that record high was only a month ago. The S & P 500 is down about 4% Thursday, but not near correction levels. The market is plunging Thursday as investors stampede out of tech stocks. Tuesday’s Democratic sweep on Capitol Hill and victories key gubernatorial races are sparking fears of an AI data center slowdown. The market rally Wednesday, while strong, had a strong undercurrent of rotation out of the AI trade. It was just masked by sharp gains at the index levels. Wednesday’s rally also had the benefit of sharply lower oil prices on the thought the Democratic wave would prevent Middle East tensions from getting any worse. Not only are all 11 S & P 500 sectors in the red Thursday, crude is back up as traders reconsider the election’s implications for the Iran war. The AI trade is turning into the have and have-nots . During Thursday’s Morning Meeting, Jim made the point that the concerns about a slowdown in the data center buildout are not the same for every company. Over the past two days, he has said the election results will likely make it more difficult for companies that need financing to grow. That’s the neoclouds, of which CoreWeave is the most visible. Its shares are down almost 9% Thursday, extending its disastrous stretch. Since the Nasdaq’s record close Oct. 6, CoreWeave has lost over half its value. An article from Bloomberg on Thursday paints the picture . It says Microsoft is having buyer’s remorse and tightening oversight of data center projects with neoclouds. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms President Dina Powell McCormick said at a Wall Street Journal conference that building new data centers is “going to be harder.” While everything AI is getting crushed on Thursday, hyperscalers already have sprawling AI infrastructure in place for the compute demand that isn’t just going to go away. And if they’re forced to spend less because of new regulations, that could be a positive thing for their free cash flows. “Our view from Wednesday’s rally about the Mag 7 hyperscalers has not changed despite today’s selloff. They are in a much better financial position than the neoclouds to get access to funding and get data centers built,” portfolio director Jeff Marks said. The next big test is Friday’s job report . Before the opening bell, the government will releases the October nonfarm payrolls report. According to the FactSet consensus estimate, economists are looking for 65,000 new jobs following September’s much weaker-than-expected 29,000 additions. The October unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged at 4.2%. Average hourly earnings are seen up 0.3% in October, hotter than the prior month. What the jobs report shows will provide insights into how many more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes to expect, as Chairman Kevin Warsh balances the central bank’s dual mandate of maximizing employment and fostering price stability. The inflation side of the mandate is definitely what he’s most concerned with. While central bankers held rates steady at last month’s meeting, a hike in December was looking like a lock Wednesday. However, in one day, odds of nearly 83% for a rate increase sank to 66% on Thursday, according to the CME FedWatch tool . That’s a huge swing brought on by investors buying bonds over the past two days, which sent the 10-year Treasury yield back under 4.9%. But like the market from Wednesday to Thursday, everything could change Friday. The jobs reports holds the key. (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.Read More

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