My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, August 20
1. Wall Street is tracking for a quiet open Tuesday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite look for their ninth positive day in a row. The indexes are both riding their longest win streaks since late 2023. After Monday’s moves, the S&P Short Range Oscillator, my trusted momentum indicator, moved into overbought territory.
2. Eli Lilly‘s obesity drug Zepbound cut the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 90% in obese or overweight people who had pre-diabetes, the company said. The results of the trial, which lasted roughly three years, are the latest data showing Zepbound has health benefits beyond shedding pounds. That helps build the case that health insurers should cover Zepbound. Shares of Club name Lilly were up more than 1% Tuesday.
3. Club holding Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results and is now poised to take share from other cybersecurity providers. Finally, analysts are following management’s guidance and placing greater emphasis on remaining performance obligation (RPO) instead of billings. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora told me Monday night that bundling cyber solutions, which he dubs “platformization,” is the industry’s future. Palo Alto’s platformization pivot has caused a couple rough quarters, but things seem back on track.
