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: Wall Street is under pressure Thursday, led to the downside by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite , which dropped greater than 2%. The S & P 500 is down greater than 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 260 points, or 0.6%. Selling in Microsoft and Meta Platforms following their Wednesday evening earnings results weighed on the Nasdaq and S & P 500. Also adding to the weakness: The yield on the closely watched 10-year Treasury note continued its climb higher, topping 4.3% at one point within the session. Investors are gearing up for Friday morning’s nonfarm payrolls report, which is predicted to indicate the U.S. economy added 100,000 jobs in October while the unemployment rate remain unchanged at 4.1%. But many expect noise within the numbers as a result of the impact of the recent hurricanes and Boeing strike. The info will help shape Wall Street’s expectations across the path of Federal Reserve policy. Currently, traders are pricing in a roughly 95% probability of a quarter-point rate of interest cut on the central bank’s meeting next week. Earlier Thursday, the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, the PCE price index, matched expectations, rising 2.1% in September . Cyber deal: Morgan Stanley put out a note Thursday morning on Club holding Palo Alto Networks that caught our eye, discussing reports of the cybersecurity leader landing a five-year, roughly $1 billion software licensing agreement with the Department of Defense. An executive at Palo Alto Networks also posted about it on LinkedIn , without mentioning the dollar amount and duration. “While timing of bookings or revenue recognition is not clear yet, we expect this might provide multi-year tailwinds,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote to clients. These headlines may very well be helping support shares of Palo Alto in Thursday’s down market. The stock rotated between slight gains and losses, holding up significantly better than an exchange-traded fund that tracks the cybersecurity industry , which dropped greater than 1% within the session. Shares of our other cyber holding, CrowdStrike , were down nearly 4% Thursday. To make sure, Morgan Stanley sought to temper expectations on the reported Palo Alto deal. The firm noted, for instance, that the contract was awarded through software reseller Carahsoft, which implies it “likely includes ~15% reseller margin for Carahsoft.” Nevertheless, analysts said they “think this contract award … suggests the massive but elusive DoD opportunity could finally be coming into fruition.” Palo Alto didn’t reply to CNBC’s request for comment on the licensing agreement. The corporate experienced some softness in its federal government business earlier this yr and likewise tamped down expectations concerning the next few quarters, which added to the messiness in its February earnings report. More recently, on an August earnings call, Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora said the corporate continued to have “a muted set of expectations” around its federal government business as a result of the election. Trial decision looms: We’re bracing ourselves for a verdict soon in Abbott Labs ‘ latest trial over allegations that its specialized premature infant formula causes an intestinal illness commonly abbreviated as NEC. The corporate has strongly denied the claims, and recently received the backing of major U.S. health agencies, which in an announcement earlier this month got here out in support of using the formulas like Abbott’s to treat premature infants. “There is no such thing as a conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC,” the agencies wrote. Nonetheless, the judge in Abbott’s trial — held within the twenty second Judicial Circuit of Missouri — didn’t allow that statement to be shown to jurors within the case . For that reason, we’re not expecting the Club holding to receive a positive verdict. A loss within the case could ding the stock, but that would represent a buying opportunity, in response to Director of Portfolio Evaluation Jeff Marks. The rationale is that while Abbott faces additional lawsuits over its formula, we expect the statement from U.S. health agencies shall be allowed as evidence in future cases. Up next: Apple , Amazon and Coterra Energy are set to report quarterly results after the closing bell Thursday. Outside the portfolio, we’ll also hear from Intel , U.S. Steel and Juniper Networks . As mentioned, the large event Friday is the October nonfarm payrolls report. Chevron , Exxon Mobil and chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries are among the many notable earnings reports Friday. (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’ll 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 a few stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. 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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.
