S&P 500 struggles to make it two wins in row — plus, a portfolio name leads the M&A race
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S&P 500 struggles to make it two wins in row — plus, a portfolio name leads the M&A race

Why This Matters

Every weekday, the Investing Club releases the Homestretch; an actionable afternoon update just in time for the last hour of trading.

August 5, 2025
06:36 PM
6 min read
AI Enhanced

Every weekday, the CNBC with Jim Cramer releases the stretch — an actionable afternoon , time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.

Market moves : Wall Street on Tuesday was having a hard time keeping Monday's rally going. The S & P 500 spent much of the afternoon in the red, one day after making back much of Friday's 1.6% drop.

Weak jobs data was the reason for Friday's decline, but also the reason behind the near 90% market odds of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.

During Tuesday morning's CNBC interview, President Donald Trump was asked the jobs numbers, and he stood by his assertion that the jobs numbers were rigged to make him look bad.

Trump also said pharma tariffs could go up to 250% and that semiconductor levies could come as soon as next week . The president also said four people are being considered for Fed chair.

He said, "Both Kevins are very good," referring to speculation former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett, the current National Economic Council director and a key Trump advisor.

"There are other people that are very good, too," Trump said, adding, however, that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent does not want the Fed job. M & A ranking : Goldman Sachs was No.

1 in mergers and acquisitions (M & A) so far in 2025, according to new LSEG data.

For the first seven months of the year, the holding was the top global M & A financial advisor by both number and value of deals. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan ed.

Combined M & A value for Goldman jumped 54% year to date over the same time frame in 2024. The Wall Street powerhouse grabbed 32% of market , according to LSEG.

There were significant imvements for fellow name Wells Fargo , too. The bank jumped to seventh place in this year's M & A rankings, up from 16th last year.

The influx of deals for Goldman and Wells is a part of a broader M & A pickup.

Global M & A reached $2.36 trillion during the first seven months of the year, a 35% increase from the year prior, according to LSEG.

While the overall price tag of the deals went up, the number of actual deals announced over the seven-month period hit a five-year low. So, fewer deals but much bigger swings.

There have been five high-file M & A transactions, worth at least $10 billion or more, announced in July alone.

They include last week's announcement of Union Pacific 's posed merger with rival Norfolk Southern for $85 billion. Wells Fargo is an advisor on the deal.

Goldman was tapped to help Baker Hughes buy Chart Industries for $13.6 billion, according to a July 29 company announcement.

Overall, the rebound in Wall Street dealmaking is great news for Goldman Sachs because investment banking is a crucial for the firm.

It's also a key reason why the first started a position earlier this year.

Additionally, Wells Fargo moving up in the M & A ranks is a sign that management's expansion into investment banking is paying off.

Although Wells is known as a Main Street lender, we that the firm is diversifying its revenue s to not rely so heavily on interest-based income s.

Now that the 2018 Federal Reserve-imposed $1.95 trillion asset cap has been removed, Wells Fargo can grow its nascent IB and others, even further.

Tariff : Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur told CNBC Tuesday that the impact of the next wave of tariffs remains unknown.

But roughly five weeks into the third quarter, Kapur said he has not seen any tariff impact that would change the earnings-per- (EPS) outlook that the company issued nearly two weeks ago as part of its second quarter financials.

Management raised Honeywell's full-year outlook for revenue , organic sales growth, and adjusted EPS during earnings on July 24.

Since then, however, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that d import duties between 10% to 41% for dozens of countries, which are set to go into effect in two days.

Kapur said trade policy are "a new factor that's coming in," but that "so far we haven't seen any impact" beyond the scope mentioned on the post-earnings call.

"That's why we remain confident of the earnings guide that we gave," he added.

Kapur's remarks come ahead of Honeywell's spinoff into three standalone entities — a cess expected to be by the end of 2026.

Automation will stay with the current Honeywell, and aerospace and advanced materials will be split off. The CEO said the "spinoffs are gressing on time" as well.

This is reassuring news for investors us. That's because for over a year, Jim has insisted that Honeywell needs to dramatically reshape its portfolio of far-flung es.

Not only did Honeywell's organic revenue growth continue to disappoint Wall Street in recent years, but its s have lagged compared to peers as well.

We think this will change once Honeywell's break-up is , as the Street starts to see the quality fundamentals in each standalone company.

That being said, don't expect many more significant portfolio moves from Honeywell. "We have majorly our portfolio transformation work," Kapur said.

Up next : After covering Coterra , Eaton , and DuPont earnings Tuesday (we also bought some more DuPont), name Disney reports its quarter before Wednesday's open.

Parks and ing are two keys items to watch, especially ing the Athletic report that the NFL will vide ESPN with many of the league's media assets in exchange for equity in the sports network.

Eli Lilly and Texas Roadhouse , also positions in the portfolio, are out with earnings before Thursday's open and after the close, respectively.

(See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a r to the CNBC 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.

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FinancialBooklet Analysis

AI-powered insights based on this specific article

Key Insights

  • The Federal Reserve's actions could influence market sentiment across sectors
  • Earnings performance can signal broader sector health and future investment opportunities
  • Merger activity often signals industry consolidation and potential valuation re-rating for similar companies

Questions to Consider

  • How might the Fed's policy stance affect borrowing costs and economic growth?
  • Could this earnings performance indicate broader sector trends or company-specific factors?
  • Does this M&A activity signal industry consolidation or strategic repositioning?

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