Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s key moments. Stocks in the first half Why we trimmed P & G WFC, MS boost dividends 1. Stocks in the first half U.S. stocks started slightly lower Wednesday after the market notched a strong first half of 2023 last week. The S & P 500 shot up more than 15% in the first six months of this year. Since 1950, the benchmark gauge has only replicated this performance 11 times. If history repeats itself, July will be strong as well for equities. The last four times the index gained more than 15% in the first six months of the year, the S & P finished with a stronger full-year gain. The Dow , S & P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq have notched eight straight years of gains in July. 2. We trimmed P & G We sold 100 shares of Procter and Gamble (PG), shortly after the opening bell on Wednesday. This decreased the consumer staples giant’s weighting in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust to 2.78% from 3.3%, realizing a small loss since the stock was first purchased in April 2022. After a roughly 6% rally since early last month, P & G is trading near levels it once struggled to break above. 3. WFC, MS boost dividends After passing the Fed’s annual health check, Wells Fargo (WFC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) increased their quarterly dividends for shareholders. WFC’s annual dividend yield increased to around 3.23%, while MS’ dividend yield inched up to 3.93%. WFC said it has the capacity to continue to repurchase stock, while Morgan Stanley reauthorized an up to $20 billion multiyear buyback program. Jim Cramer said Wednesday, “It’s really a mistake not to be a buyer” of these two stocks. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long WFC, MS and PG. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.
