Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, provided important guidance to investors last Friday, emphasizing the difficult market conditions ahead. He highlighted the instability caused by President Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies. Cramer warned that this uncertainty could lead to further losses for investors. Looking ahead to the coming week, Cramer pointed out a significant event on Wednesday when the consumer price index (CPI) data will be released. He added:
“I’ll tell you this, If we get a soft CPI and a soft PPI on Thursday, the drumbeat of a rate cut will grow so loud, so loud, it might even overshadow the pained forecast for the White House. With cool inflation meetings, the Fed has no reason not to cut.”
READ ALSO Jim Cramer Commented On These 6 Stocks Recently and Jim Cramer and Analysts Like These 10 Stocks
Cramer turned his attention to Friday when the Michigan consumer sentiment number will be reported, acknowledging that this indicator was not something he paid much attention to during President Biden’s administration.
“I didn’t focus on this number much at all under President Biden because Biden was very predictable so it was easy to make plans. Sure, Wall Street’s hated many of Biden’s policies, especially on interest, but he rarely took us by surprise. Trump surprises us every day.”
Cramer pointed out the importance of consumer sentiment, stating, “We’re a consumer-driven economy, people.” He explained that if optimism prevails, some stocks that might seem risky could actually be good buys.
On the other hand, if pessimism takes hold, many fund managers may sell off stocks tied to the economy, only to see those same stocks rebound once the selling pressure subsides. Cramer also highlighted an important point: while markets can absorb negativity, they cannot handle uncertainty.
“The bottom line: Look, it’s one of the toughest markets I’ve seen in years… So if you wanna buy a stock, make sure not to buy it all once. Buy slowly because the stock you purchase might be down five points by the time you get your report.”
Jim Cramer Discussed These 8 Stocks Recently
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 8 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 7. 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).
Jim Cramer Discussed These 8 Stocks Recently
8. Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Cramer stated that Ulta Beauty, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ULTA) new CEO is responsible for clarifying what makes the company different from its competitors.
“After the close, we hear from Ulta Beauty, and the new CEO, Kecia Steelman has to explain how Ulta remains the most relevant, reasonably priced cosmetics chain. Prices have to be kept down to beat all the discounters… who are trying to get a bigger slice of the makeup pie. Cosmetics have become the biggest battleground in the entire store and Ulta’s got to win them back from Amazon.”
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) is a specialty beauty retailer offering a variety of branded and private-label beauty products, as well as beauty services, through its stores, website, and mobile apps. In January, while Cramer acknowledged that the cosmetic industry has been underperforming, he praised the company’s new and old CEO.
“Ms. Steelman is just fantastic. This has been a terrific time, Mr. Kimball did a good job, in an area, and I want to point this out cause people they say well I have a chart, I don’t know. This area has been so under fire, the cosmetics area has been terrible… So what I’m seeing here is a smooth transition from Kimball, to Steelman, and a better-than-expected holiday season. So this is a natural to buy.
The fact that it is only up eighteen, I know that, that seems like a lot, but not when it comes to a raised forecast and a new CEO. Dave did a great job 11 years ago, fantastic, he spent a lot of time with me, he’s a great manager. Before that was Mary Dillon. And she did a great job. . . .But I like Ulta here, I like the new CEO, I like the old CEO, and I love upsides and positives for the holidays.”
7. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
Cramer’s game plan included Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and he said:
“One stock I am a buyer of though is Costco, which reported excellent numbers last night and still got obliterated. Wait until Tuesday and then buy some. All the sellers will probably be done. It’s a longstanding position for my Charitable Trust. I actually wanna buy more. I haven’t wanted to do that in a very long time… And by the way, it did not miss earnings. That’s just wrong. Those are people who don’t know how to read Costco’s report. I do.”
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) operates a membership-driven warehouse model, offering a variety of branded and private-label products in bulk at reduced prices, appealing to customers looking for value on larger purchases. Earlier in February, Cramer remarked:
“I even see this with Costco and Walmart, the two best retailers in America. When Costco reports, people tend to be repelled by the quarter. It could lose a hundred points only to start the trek higher again as there was no reason to sell the stock in the first place.”
