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 was roughly unchanged on Thursday, but there’s a significant market rotation happening underneath the surface. Many technology winners and other artificial intelligence beneficiaries that powered 2025’s market rally were selling off, and money was flowing into other sectors and stocks that trailed last year. Case in point: GE Vernova shares were down nearly 6% in afternoon trading. The company, which makes natural gas turbines used to power data centers, was the portfolio’s top performer in 2025, securing a gain of nearly 99%. Cybersecurity : CrowdStrike said Thursday that it is buying identity management startup SGNL in a $740 million deal. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the spring, will help CrowdStrike’s Falcon cloud security platform better manage human and AI identity access requests. In a CNBC interview , CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the purchase presents a “massive opportunity for us to disrupt the identity market.” Overall, it’s a wise move on management’s part, given that identity security is one of the fastest-growing segments in the entire sector. That’s because identity security has become increasingly crucial in the age of artificial intelligence, where cyberattacks are becoming even more advanced. In fact, the acquisition press release points to research firm IDC data, which shows that the identity security market is projected to grow to $56 billion by 2029, nearly doubling from about $29 billion last year. CrowdStrike isn’t the only cyber name racing to strengthen its foothold in one of the most targeted entry points for hackers. Palo Alto Networks , another Club holding, announced a $25 billion acquisition of Israeli identity security platform CyberArk last June. Shares of CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks declined Thursday, breaking their three-session winning streaks. We view the moves as a function of the market rotation rather than any indication that the SGNL was a bad idea. Up next : There are no major earnings after Thursday’s close or before Friday’s open. On the data side, Friday is jobs day. The non-farm payroll report is expected to show a 70,000 increase during December. Also, watch the unemployment rate, which economists expect to have edged down to 4.5% from 4.6% in November. In other potential market-moving news, the Supreme Court may rule as soon as Friday on the legality of President Donald Trump ‘s so-called liberation day tariffs. A move against tariffs could be a tailwind for companies that import goods from overseas. Amazon, Apple , Nike , Home Depot , Procter & Gamble are among the portfolio stocks that first come to mind as would-be beneficiaries. What happens next could be more complicated . (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.
CrowdStrike stock breaks its win streak. But the reason is not what you may think
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