Is Palo Alto joining the M&A party? Plus, the S&P 500 hits a bump
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. Market update: Stocks are slightly weaker, with the S & P 500 on track for its first negative session since July 18. Earnings could be the culprit, with negative reactions outweighing the positives. The bigger test comes later in the week when we get the quarters and commentary from several megacap tech stocks including Microsoft , Meta Platforms , Amazon , and Apple . More deals : Several multi-billion-dollar deals have been announced over the past week, spanning industries from banking and railroads to energy. Now it appears cybersecurity may be joining the party. Shares of Palo Alto Networks dipped after The Wall Street Journal reported the cybersecurity company was in talks to acquire identity management company CyberArk Software in a deal that could value it at more than $20 billion. Representatives from both companies declined to comment when reached by CNBC.com on Tuesday. It’s not the first talk of a deal this month involving Palo Alto: The company was previously reported to be interested in buying SentinelOne , although that story was quickly denied by Palo Alto. We’ll have to see where this one goes, but strategically the deal makes sense since it would boost Palo Alto’s presence in the increasingly important identity and access management market. Palo Alto shares fell on the news as investors braced for this hefty price target and risks associated with large scale M & A. But one could argue that this deregulatory administration makes it a good time to make a big deal. Up next: Starbucks reports its latest earnings after the closing bell, along with Visa , Booking Holdings , PPG , Republic Services , and Seagate . Before the bell on Wednesday, Vertiv , GE Healthcare , Altria , Kraft Heinz , Generac , Humana , Hershey , and VF Corp deliver results. Data releases include mortgage applications, ADP employment, and the advanced read on second quarter GDP. Wednesday is also Fed day, with the FOMC rate announcement set for 2 p.m. ET. With interest rates expected to stay unchanged, investors will listen closely to Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks for clues to the central bank’s next move in September. (See here for a full list of the stocks in 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.
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