Here's why Eli Lilly bounced back, plus mega-caps lag while staples stocks rise

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 briefly touched 6,000 as the rally to record highs continued. It's the fourth positive session in a row for the broad-based index, which is up nearly 4% since the presidential election. Interestingly, the yield on the 10-Year Treasury is pacing to finish the week lower despite a huge swing higher in reaction to the election outcome. Donald Trump's victory has caused bank and industrial stocks to surge on the expectations of less regulation and a pro-business environment. Companies at risk of tariffs on goods made in China have sat out the rally. Adding insult to injury, China-related stocks felt additional pain Friday on yet another disappointing stimulus update. What the market wants to see is the Chinese government put cash directly in the hands of people to boost consumption. Tech lags, staples shine : Technology stocks are a notable underperformer Friday, with all the Magnificent 7 in the red except for Tesla . Disappointing 2025 guidance from Arista Networks could be one culprit, but there's probably some conservatism there. All the major cloud hyperscalers increased their capex expectations this past earnings season, supporting a rosy growth outlook for tech spending in 2025. The staples stocks are making a curious move high for reasons that aren't immediately clear. Costco is the second-best performer in the sector, ripping more than 4% to another new all-time high. The only piece of news this week on Costco was Wednesday evening after it reported another strong set of monthly sales. Eli Lilly: Shares of Eli Lilly are finally putting together back-to-back sessions of gains. Thursday was the stock's first positive session since its very disappointing quarter and outlook cut on Oct. 30. Eli Lilly shares traded at $903 before the quarterly report, putting the post-earnings pullback at about 7%. What could be helping the stock Friday is a positive research note from analysts at Wells Fargo. The analysts, who have an overweight rating on Lilly with a $1,000 price target, met with the company's management team including CEO David Ricks for a two-day roadshow. The big takeaway from the note was that the third-quarter sales miss was not based on fundamentals or underlying demand, which was characterized as strong. Instead, it was due to the destocking dynamics we wrote about in the quarter. Wells added that management is "confident" about the fourth quarter, with benefits from stocking not a key part of guidance. As for 2025, a few tailwinds Wells Fargo pointed to are employer opt-ins for Zepbound, indication expansion, and outside the United States launches. We've been troubled by Eli Lilly's messaging after the quarter and all confusion it caused, but we know have more assurance that there wasn't a demand problem – and the Street recognizes that. Up Next: It's a quieter week of earnings with only 9 companies in the S & P 500 scheduled to report. Within the portfolio, Home Depot reports before the opening bell Tuesday and Disney before the opening bell Wednesday. Other notable companies reporting are Shopify , Tyson Foods , AstraZeneca , Spotify , Occidental , Cisco , Advance Auto Parts , Applied Materials , and Alibaba . Earnings may be on the lighter side, but it's a heavy week of economic data for inflation and consumer spending. On Wednesday there is the consumer price index (CPI) report and the next day we'll see producer price index (PPI) report. The October retail sales report is 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 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.

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.