My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, August 20 1. Wall Street is tracking for a quiet open Tuesday as the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite look for their ninth positive day in a row. The indexes are both riding their longest win streaks since late 2023. After Monday’s moves, the S & P Short Range Oscillator , my trusted momentum indicator, moved into overbought territory. 2. Eli Lilly ‘s obesity drug Zepbound cut the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 90% in obese or overweight people who had pre-diabetes, the company said. The results of the trial, which lasted roughly three years, are the latest data showing Zepbound has health benefits beyond shedding pounds. That helps build the case that health insurers should cover Zepbound. Shares of Club name Lilly were up more than 1% Tuesday. 3. Club holding Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results and is now poised to take share from other cybersecurity providers. Finally, analysts are following management’s guidance and placing greater emphasis on remaining performance obligation (RPO) instead of billings. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora told me Monday night that bundling cyber solutions, which he dubs “platformization,” is the industry’s future. Palo Alto’s platformization pivot has caused a couple rough quarters, but things seem back on track. 4. Shares of Lowe’s were slightly higher despite the home-improvement retailer lowering its full-year forecast for revenue, comparable sales growth and earnings. In the reported quarter, Lowe’s said its 5.1% drop in comparable sales came as people completed fewer optional home projects and weather impacted seasonal purchases. Lowe’s and peer Home Depot both would benefit from a more robust U.S. housing market, which a Fed rate cut could deliver. 5. Citigroup upped its price target on Foot Locker to $33 a share from $27 and kept its neutral rating on the shoe retailer. Analysts see a balanced risk/reward into Foot Locker’s earnings report next week, but noted that the performance of brands such as New Balance, Hoka and On have been performing well, helping to offset weakness in Nike . How long can the underperformance at Nike continue? 6. Club name TJX Companies reports earnings Wednesday. The off-price retail stock has been a reliable performer in recent years, but can be a little volatile around its quarterly releases. Elsewhere in the sector, JPMorgan upped its price target on Burlington Stores to $346 a share from $288, saying the company has the most potential in the group to beat same-store sales estimates by a wide margin. 7. A round of price-target cuts for Estee Lauder after the cosmetics maker’s disappointing fiscal 2025 guidance Monday showed it was still not out of the woods. Estee Lauder is just a disastrous stock, and its longtime CEO’s planned departure isn’t happening soon enough. Chaos continues. We bailed on the name Monday. 8. Edward Jones started coverage of Club name Advanced Micro Devices with a buy rating. Analysts argued the chipmaker is primed to deliver outsized growth for multiple reasons including its data-center business for both AI chips and traditional processors. Additionally, the firm touted AMD’s opportunity to do more with its Xilinx acquisition, which closed in 2022, and benefit from the rollout of AI PCs. We’re bullish on its AI chip business and the AI PC thesis, too. 9. Citigroup opened a positive catalyst watch on Abercrombie & Fitch ahead of the retailer’s earnings report Aug. 28. The firm said another strong earnings beat, with margin expansion, should be in order. This one has not missed. Shares are up more than 280% over the past 12 months. 10. Boeing paused test flights of its 777X plane after identifying damage in one of the jet’s structures. Boeing was supposed to start deliveries of the wide-body aircraft next year, though it’s unclear whether the pause of test flights will impact that timeline. Shares were down more than 1% Tuesday. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at 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.
My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, August 20
1. Wall Street is tracking for a quiet open Tuesday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite look for their ninth positive day in a row. The indexes are both riding their longest win streaks since late 2023. After Monday’s moves, the S&P Short Range Oscillator, my trusted momentum indicator, moved into overbought territory.
2. Eli Lilly‘s obesity drug Zepbound cut the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 90% in obese or overweight people who had pre-diabetes, the company said. The results of the trial, which lasted roughly three years, are the latest data showing Zepbound has health benefits beyond shedding pounds. That helps build the case that health insurers should cover Zepbound. Shares of Club name Lilly were up more than 1% Tuesday.
3. Club holding Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results and is now poised to take share from other cybersecurity providers. Finally, analysts are following management’s guidance and placing greater emphasis on remaining performance obligation (RPO) instead of billings. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora told me Monday night that bundling cyber solutions, which he dubs “platformization,” is the industry’s future. Palo Alto’s platformization pivot has caused a couple rough quarters, but things seem back on track.
