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: The S & P 500 sold off from its record high on Friday, and the Nasdaq and 30-stock Dow were also lower. The AI trade led to the downside after earnings from server maker Dell and custom-chip provider Marvell Technology disappointed, while Club name Nvidia continued it post-earnings volatility with a more than 3% decline. Softer than expected consumer sentiment data at 10 a.m. ET added to the market’s losses, although one-year inflation expectations came down too. Deals: Dupont announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with Arclin — owned by the private-equity firm TJC — to sell its Aramids business in a deal that valued at $1.8 billion. The Aramids business is home to the synthetic fiber brands Kevlar and Nomex that specialize in fields like heat resistance and personal protection. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, at which DuPont will receive pretax cash proceeds of $1.2 billion, a note receivable of $300 million, and a non-controlling common equity interest in the future Arclin company, currently valued at $325 million. DuPont has been rumored to sell this business for months and at a reported valuation of $2 billion. DuPont CEO Lori Koch said in the transaction press release that the cash proceeds “will be re-deployed to further drive value creation.” We take that to believe DuPont will use this extra cash from selling a slow-growing, low-margin unit to acquire water and healthcare-related assets to boost the secular growth prospects and attractiveness of the remaining Dupont following the Nov. 1 spinoff of its electronics business, now called Qnity. Analysts at Mizuho raised their price target on DuPont to $90 from $85 after the news to reflect what they said was an updated sum-of-the-parts valuation. GMS green light: Club name Home Depot moved one step closer to finalizing its $4.3 billion acquisition of the specialty building products distributor GMS Inc. On Friday, Home Depot announced the Canadian Competition Bureau cleared the takeover. This was the last antitrust regulator that needed to sign off on the transaction. This deal was previously announced on June 30 and will increase Home Depot’s share of wallet with professional contractors (also known as Pro customer.) GMS distributes specialty building products like drywall, ceilings, and steel framing. GMS would become part of Home Depot’s SRS Distribution division, which was purchased in an over $18 billion deal that closed in June 2024. SRS is also a supplier of building products. In a piece earlier Friday, we spotlighted Home Depot as one of seven portfolio stocks that stand to benefit most from Federal Reserve rate cuts. Next week: It’s a holiday-shortened week, with the U.S. stock market closed on Monday in observance of Labor Day. Five companies in the S & P 500 are scheduled to report, including two in the portfolio: Salesforce and Broadcom . They report Wednesday and Thursday after the closing bell, respectively. On the data side, its job week, meaning the nonfarm payroll report for August is scheduled for Friday. With the Fed’s heightened focus on labor market weakness, the upcoming jobs report will likely play a major role in shaping expectations for rate cuts at the final three Fed policy meetings of the year. (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.
