By Kevin Stankiewicz,Jeff Marks
Publication Date: 2026-08-19 18:55:00
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 are on pace to break a three-session losing streak. One of the big stories of the day is the Treasury Department’s announcement that it will more than double the size of its buyback operation. The news caused long-dated bonds to rally and pushed yields lower, though some of those gains were tempered as oil prices continued to climb. Of course, that purchase will need to be funded somehow, explaining why yields on short-dated Treasuries like the 1-year and 2-year moved higher. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, released this afternoon, showed that several participants argued that policy tightening would be necessary if inflation did not decline. AI stocks were hit hard on Wednesday as volatility in the group continued. Some headlines that may be hurting the trade were The Wall Street…