Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, a helpful afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. The market rally gained momentum on Tuesday with signs of a possible reduction in tension in the conflict with Iran. The S&P 500 rose more than 2%, taking advantage of unconfirmed reports that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to ending the war on the condition of certain guarantees. We hesitate to call this a sign that everything is clear, but it takes two sides to end a war. Between this news and a Monday night report from the Wall Street Journal that President Donald Trump is willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the market is responding to the first sign of mutual interest in de-escalating tensions. WTI crude, the US oil benchmark, fell about 1% on Tuesday, although it was still above $100 a barrel. Eli Lilly made a splash on the M&A front, announcing Tuesday that it would buy Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth up to $7.8 billion. Centessa Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company working on new medications for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness, such as narcolepsy. The company's key asset is cleminorexton (formerly known as ORX750), which seeks to mimic a molecule in the brain, known as orexin, that helps regulate wakefulness. It has shown promising results in Phase 2a clinical studies in narcolepsy type 1 and type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia, which is another form of excessive daytime sleepiness. Analysts at Wolfe Research are currently forecasting more than $3 billion in peak sales for cleminorexton if it meets those three specific indications. Several analysts are positive about the deal, noting that it expands Lilly's presence in neuroscience, an area of growing focus beyond obesity and diabetes. Let Lilly try to trace the code in difficult conditions like these sleep disorders. In an interview with our CNBC colleague Angelica Peebles last year, Lilly's chief scientific officer Dan Skovronsky said the company would invest to solve “big problems hiding in plain sight.” Elsewhere, Lilly is fighting incumbents from Novo Nordisk, which announced Tuesday that it will launch a subscription program with lower monthly prices on its oral and injectable versions of Wegovy. It's another bid to try to regain market share from Eli Lilly, a leader in the GLP-1 category due to its superior drugs and supply chain. Catching up with calls from other Wall Street analysts, Truist began covering the Corning Club name with a hold rating and a $125 price target. Analysts were positive about the momentum in Corning's optical business, noting that its solar segment represents another growth driver in the coming years. Valuation was their main concern, however, as the stock is trading at a large premium to the S&P 500. It appears that Truist wants to be positive on Corning, but they are waiting for a pullback to be more constructive on the stock. Corning historically wasn't cheap when we started buying it last October, but a premium is the price to pay for the accelerated growth the company is developing, especially if it strikes up more multi-billion dollar partnerships like it did earlier this year with Meta Platforms. We also view Nvidia's strategic partnership with Marvell and collaboration on silicon photonics technology as a vote of confidence in the future of fiber optics in data centers. Nike reports after the closing bell on Tuesday and we're looking for signs that change under CEO Elliott Hill is back on track. Nike's North American business should see positive sales, while China and Converse will likely remain a major drag. The impact of tariffs is always a wild card. Before the opening bell rings on Wednesday we'll look at earnings from Lamb Weston and Conagra. On the data front, we'll look at ADP's March private payrolls update, the government's February retail sales report, and the Institute for Supply Management's March manufacturing index. (See here for a complete list of Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust holdings.) 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 fund'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 INVESTMENT 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 THE RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN RELATION TO THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULTS OR BENEFITS ARE GUARANTEED.
