The latest inflation uptick means the Fed will likely raise interest rates one more time

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. Equities gain Knives out on Oracle A bold move on Ford 1. Equities gain, despite inflation uptick Stocks edged up in midmorning trading Wednesday — the S & P 500 was 0.23% higher — even as the monthly consumer price index showed inflation climbed more than expected last month. The CPI rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in August month-on-month, and was up 3.7% from a year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Wednesday. The index for gasoline was the largest contributor to the monthly all-items increase, accounting for over half of the uptick. The report also showed a continued advancement in the shelter index, which rose for the 40th-consecutive month. The news likely means the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points. 2. Knives out on Oracle Following Club holding Oracle ‘s (ORCL) post-earnings sell-off Tuesday, JPMorgan downgraded the software stock to neutral, from overweight, while lowering its price target to $100 a share, from $112. “Overall, we think the long-term prospects for the business remain positive and [Oracle’s cloud business] continues as an area of promise, though some choppiness and hurdles have emerged and the valuation cushion has lessened over the past 12-15 months due to the surge in ORCL shares,” analysts at JPMorgan wrote in a research note. We continue to see the sell-off as overdone and a clear-cut buying opportunity. The stock stabilized Wednesday and was trading up 0.88%, at $110.59 a share. 3. A bold move on Ford UBS initiated coverage of Club name Ford (F) with a buy rating and $15-per-share price target ahead of an increasingly likely strike . The firm thinks revenue from the higher-margin Ford Pro segment is key to keeping earnings more resilient than expected, arguing Pro software could create long-term upside over time. That could more than offset issues at Ford’s electric-vehicle division and mixed execution at its internal-combustion-engine unit. UBS said a potential strike is not in the firm’s numbers, but the analysts believe it is probable. More broadly, Ford stock may offer clues into Wall Street’s current attitude toward potential strikes by the United Auto Workers union, Jim Cramer said Wednesday. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long ORCL, F. 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.

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