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Plus, Elon Musk remarks pull GE Vernova lower Published Mon, Aug 31 2026 2:27 PM EDT Jeff Marks @jeffmarkscnbc 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. Stocks are broadly lower to start the week. Within the S & P 500's 11 sectors, energy is the clear winner Monday after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend. The escalation sent U.S. oil benchmark WTI crude back above $85 a barrel and international standard Brent crude above $90. The rise in oil, along with Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's hawkish speech Friday in Jackson Hole, is pressuring bonds, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing to 4.75%. The only other S & P sector in the green was technology, which creeped into positive territory in afternoon trading. Communication services is leading to the downside. Eli Lilly made yet another biotech deal, acquiring Merida Biosciences for up to $2.875 billion in cash. Merida is working on a new class of therapeutics for serious autoimmune and allergic diseases. Unlike traditional medications that suppress the immune system, Merida is developing biologics that degrade pathogenic autoantibodies that cause immune-mediated conditions. Merida's lead program is in early stage development for Graves' disease and thyroid eye disease, so it will be quite some time before we learn if this approach delivers differential results. Still, this acquisition fits Lilly's long-term strategy of "investing in technologies that can really change other diseases like we've changed obesity," CEO David Ricks told CNBC's Sara Eisen on Monday morning. Ricks noted that Lilly has been highly acquisitive in 2026, as the Indianapolis-based drugmaker puts its obesity windfall to work . "We've done more deals this year than we did all of last year," Ricks said. Another notable comment from Ricks was his opinion of PepsiCo dropping GLP-1 coverage for its employees, with Bloomberg News reporting last week that the decision came in response to escalating costs for the drugs. "Right now it's about neutral. Although the press picks up on the drops, there are adds as well. It's about flat," Rick said. "I think what I'd say to PepsiCo or anybody else, you're already paying for obesity whether you cover the drugs or not. Obesity is the biggest driver of employer health costs, through heart attacks, diabetes, other untoward consequences of obesity. So treating it is a smarter play." GE Vernova shares are trading 2% lower after Elon Musk said on social media that SpaceX is developing in-house casting for natural gas turbine blades and vanes to accelerate production of the power-generating equipment by up to 18 months. Musk's post —made over the weekend on X — is also sending down shares of Howmet Aerospace , which makes turbine blades. Analysts at Jefferies said in a note to clients that it could take at least four years before SpaceX could come to market with blades, noting the lengthy time it takes to negotiate with customers, industrialize the facility, ramp production, and improve manufacturing yields. Based on this analysis, we don't think the turbine bottleneck will resolve itself anytime soon, allowing GE Vernova to enjoy strong pricing power over the next few years. But in the interim, we are monitoring how political pushbacks could delay some data center projects ahead of the midterm elections. This concern is why we downgraded our rating on GEV last Monday. There are no major earnings after the close on Monday. Medtronic reports earnings before the opening bell on Tuesday. On the economic data side, we'll see S & P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI, the Institute for Supply Management's Manufacturing PMI, the Census Bureau's look at construction spending, and the so-called JOLTS report, which shows job openings and the quits rate for July. (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. More In Homestretch What we learned from Warsh's Jackson Hole speech, and GE Vernova's CFO to retire Jeff Marks What's expected at Apple's September event — plus, an uneven rally in AI stocks Jeff Marks Micron elevates two executives. Plus, what the Meta settlement means for its top line Jeff Marks Read More
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