We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Highlighted 12 Stocks and Tariff Panic. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer highlighted.
On Monday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, discussed the current market and he identified opportunities for investors amid the volatility.
“Alright, there’s always a bull market somewhere. I end the show with that tagline every night. I say it because it’s true. Look at today, the market looked hideous this morning, right on the heels of some horrific overnight futures action. But after the S&P 500 reached a level where it was down 10% from its highs. where it held last time, we started snapping back.”
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Cramer suggested that the market’s swift recovery might be a result of an overly negative sentiment among investors. He theorized that the S&P 500’s brief drop to the 10% mark could have triggered some buying activity as traders took advantage of the lower prices, possibly fueled by end-of-quarter retirement contributions. The selling pressure, he pointed out, seemed to dissipate, which could have allowed for a bounce in the market. However, Cramer cautioned that the movement was not just coincidental. It appeared to challenge the narrative that the economy was heading toward a stagflation scenario due to tariff-induced inflation.
Cramer suggested that investor exhaustion over the current administration’s unpredictability is a significant factor in the market’s volatility. Cramer remarked that many investors are uncertain about what actions the president might take next, which has created a climate of fear and hesitation in the market. He noted that the bears had dominated the quarter, with a gloomy outlook prevailing throughout, which leaves little room for optimism. Yet, Cramer hinted that it might be shifting. He wondered if the negativity had simply reached a tipping point, which resulted in a shift in market dynamics.
Cramer highlighted the mixed economic signals contributing to the market’s turbulence. While inflation was on the decline, the president’s tariffs were adding inflationary pressure. Unemployment was at historically low levels, yet certain policies from the administration had caused uncertainty and disruption. Cramer noted how the market had been performing well last year before political instability introduced a level of uncertainty that he had not seen since the Carter administration.
“Bottom line: Maybe Wednesday is the liberation day. It’s just the day when American investors may be finally liberated from the president’s not-so-pro-business attitude once he gets the tariffs out of the way.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 31. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
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Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 89
Recently talked about how the financial sector is doing well, Cramer mentioned Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) and pointed out that banks could benefit from the current administration, as there may be no new tariffs on them and possibly fewer regulations. He mentioned that it could make things easier for banks and help them grow. He added:
“Okay, continuing with this theme of financial deregulation, we’re hearing that the very contentious deal where Capital One slated to buy Discover Financial, it looks like it might close. It’s been taking forever. There’s supposed to be some regulatory resistance by the Department of Justice, but the risk of the deal not closing seems now greatly diminished. All of that will be used for Capital One, which I think could easily go up 25 points once the acquisition closes. That’s what we’ve been telling people who subscribe to the CNBC Investing Club. Now we believe Capital One, no matter what goes, it does fine, and again, the positive action here says the tariffs aside, there’s a lot Trump could do that could allow entire segments of the market to zoom higher. The Walmart White House where we get everyday lower prices for stocks, maybe it’s going to spare the financials.”
Capital One (NYSE:COF) is a financial services company that offers a variety of products, including credit cards, loans, banking services, and solutions for advisory and capital markets.
Overall, COF ranks 2nd on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer highlighted. While we acknowledge the potential of COF, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COF but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.