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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: Stocks are choppy Tuesday, with all three major indexes struggling to maintain their early gains. The S & P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq are all trying for their third consecutive positive session. At the sector level, it’s a mixed day for the S & P 500. Financials are outperforming after Bank of America and Citigroup capped off a positive round of big bank earnings. Technology also is on pace for a positive day despite weakness in several “Magnificent Seven” stocks, including Amazon, which we bought more of earlier Tuesday. Consumer discretionary, health care and communication services led to the downside. Cyber strength: Cybersecurity stocks were among the top performers in the market on Tuesday. Club holding CrowdStrike stood out as one of the biggest gainers in the S & P 500, adding more than 4% and edging close to the $400-per-share mark once again. Shares of fellow portfolio name Palo Alto Networks also saw strong gains, climbing over 2%. The group’s strength followed another high-profile cybersecurity incident over the weekend: DaVita, a major kidney dialysis services provider, disclosed a ransomware attack that disrupted parts of its operations. Adding to the spotlight on cybersecurity, China has accused the U.S. National Security Agency of carrying out cyberattacks against its Asian Winter Games earlier this year in February. As we pointed out last week , we consider the cybersecurity theme as an indispensable part of an investment portfolio given today’s heightened threat environment. While no area of technology is entirely immune to economic downturns, cybersecurity spending is likely to prove among the most resilient. For company leadership, cutting back in this area — and potentially exposing the organization to a serious breach —is typically one of the last options they would consider. The financial and reputational risks are significant. We added to our position in CrowdStrike twice after the stock broke down in early March in response to a solid quarter that was poorly received and general tariff uncertainty . We have a long-term view on CrowdStrike, but we are debating selling some of those shares back on the next leg up to capitalize on the stock’s strong rebound this month. A potential CrowdStrike trim follows the same line of thinking as our TJX Companies sale earlier Tuesday. These stocks have had great runs — and we think there is more upside in their future — but we can reallocate some of that cash to buy other high-quality companies that have been excessively punished in the recent market downturn. At the same time, we don’t want to sell too many winners in the portfolio without balancing a sale of a loser. Only selling winners in a portfolio and not scrutinizing the losers is not a wise strategy over the long run. Up next: United Airlines , JB Hunt and Interactive Brokers are scheduled to report after Tuesday’s market close. Before the opening bell on Wednesday, earnings are expected from Club name Abbott Labs , ASML , US Bancorp , Prologis , Progressive , and Travelers . On the data front, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to release the March retail sales report on Wednesday. According to FactSet consensus estimates, retail sales are projected to have risen by 1.3% from the previous month. A possible factor behind the increase could be consumers making purchases in anticipation of price hikes driven by tariffs. (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.
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.
