Fed Rally Fuels Dow 37K, Apple's Record High, Southwest Airlines CEO Exclusive 12/14/23

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Jim Cramer (0:30)

It's Jim Cramer here. You're listening to the opening bell of CNBC's Squawk on the Street. Don't miss a minute of the action.

Carl Quintanilla (0:37)

Good Thursday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Jim Cramer, David Faber, Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Futures are holding their gains after the Dow's all-time high, the Fed pivot in full display.

Realty retail sales upside surprise. Jobless claims lowest since August. The 10-year, as you can see, still holding below 4 Our roadmap begins with that record-setting rally. The Dow crossing 37K for the first time. Market set for some further gains at the opening.

David Faber (1:02)

Plus, Apple shares hit an all-time high. That's an all-time closing high, and they are within striking distance of what would be an intraday high. Those stock gains fueling a $1 trillion boost to Apple's market cap. That's just this year.

And is Southwest Airlines poised for growth next year? CEO Bob Jordan is going to explain why he's optimistic. He's going to join us right here on the set of the New York Stock Exchange.

Jim Cramer (1:26)

As is Phil LeBeau.

David Faber (1:27)

As is Phil LeBeau. That's worthy of an announcement as well.

Carl Quintanilla (1:33)

It's good to have Phil in the house. Let's begin with this Fed-fueled rally. Jim, what you said yesterday, the coming 24 hours would be key.

Jim Cramer (1:40)

Well, I have to tell you, I was surprised at how sanguine he is.

I think he'd have to own that. I mean, I've been saying that he's going to do a soft landing, so it was not off-base, but I did think that he showed a level of flexibility that is unusual for Fed chief. Usually, they just leave it that way and just see how many people get hurt and then take action, and he didn't do that. You know, David, there's an element of this man which is unpredictable, even as he looks like he's completely predictable.

David Faber (2:13)

Does that make him exciting?

Jim Cramer (2:15)

No, he's definitely not exciting, but he did take a shot at the bears.

Did you hear what he said inside of it? He said, oh yeah, and those who like thought we were gonna have a recession, they were wrong. That is it. That's like the, that's the, he showed something right there. That was the quote.

David Faber (2:30)

Are you in the camp now that says, all right, you know, we're, the focus is now not just on inflation any longer, but also on employment and the dual mandate? The second part of it has now come to the fore?

Jim Cramer (2:43)

I was surprised because there really doesn't seem to be any reason to worry about employment yet, but you've got Goldman, a faster return to the 2% target means faster cuts, Bank of America, a holiday gift, the dovish pivot arrives, Deutsche Bank, Powell breaks out the punch bowl, UBS, next up, break cuts. I mean, these are all the things which just say, don't abandon the market, but rotate into other stocks.

And that's what everyone has to do. Carl, no one wants to go buy Regions Financial or Zions, but when you get a percentage move in these regional banks I'm talking about, when you get a percentage move in these things, I mean, it's much bigger than what you'll get from my dog Nvidia.

Carl Quintanilla (3:22)

It reminds me of Bill Gross's tweet yesterday, said that your bond strategy should now be looking at a positive curve, a stronger curve, says REITs, the KRE, is like the 49ers trashing the Eagles. Did you see that?

Jim Cramer (3:39)

No, I didn't see it dead enough, most of Dallas, I was there, looked at that big scoreboard, screaming at my wife, she didn't deserve it.

David Faber (3:49)

So what, wait, what is this about?

Carl Quintanilla (3:52)

Focus on return to positive yield curve, great day for the curve, regional banks, mortgage REITs up four to five, kicking butt.

Jim Cramer (4:00)

Well, Chantin and Orion said, are you gonna come to the Niners-Eagles game? At least he, even though the stock was down huge, at least he showed some respect.

David Faber (4:07)