In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer commented on investor worries about lower economic growth and rising inflation. The phenomenon is called stagflation, and Cramer believes that the fears are unwarranted. According to him:
“Well look, when you go over how many times you mention inflation. When you go over how many time you mentioned economic weakness, you could easily craft a story which just says this is the worst possible economy. I come back and say look, we have created a level of negativity in this country that is extraordinary. I don’t think anyone’s really hiding that.”
Another key player in the economy and the stock market has been the Federal Reserve. Interest rates are still high after a record hiking cycle in 2022. For Cramer though, one concern is that President Trump might take aim at Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as the central bank is not lowering rates despite the President’s insistence:
[When asked what he would like the Federal Reserve to do] “Look, uh, there is a. . .theme here. You fired two Democrats. In the FTC. No one knows what to do. If he can fire two, if he can fire two from the FTC, he can fire Powell. Now doesn’t matter whether it’s legal or not. I thought Peggy Newton had a great piece today, talking about President Jackson. Now we’re really going back, even before McKinley, which is somehow the North Star for this administration. And I think people are just worried that Powell will be fired cause he’s not cutting rates. And I think that all of that we just heard is irrelevant. What matters that as long as there’s a belief that despite Fed chief Powell saying twice that he’s not going anywhere, as long as there is a belief that President Trump may actually have this . . where he can fire anyone, no one’s safe. And I think again, that’s what at stake. I mean if you want to know what’s at stake with the Federal Reserve in terms of what they’re saying, sure you could say they’ve got some stagflation. I think the most important thing Steve said was, in the end that he thinks that’s 11% of the economy, it’s important, I’m just getting 12 to 15. But I think that Powell’s in play. And he shouldn’t be. But what is it, the Justice Department, some people say on the left, is owned by the President. So I mean, how many divisions does the Supreme Court have.”
In fact, Cramer believes that Trump’s potential actions against Powell might also be priced into the markets. He added:
“I’m not saying that he will do this. I am saying that since the FTC. . .look if he took it off the table you would see the futures positive right now. I just think that nothing we’re hearing from the Fed is at all unusual. No one’s saying that listen once tariffs go on, then it’s going to be permanent inflation. By the way, there is some growth to the economy. I understand that the new theory is no growth. I understand that the new theory is fear. I want to take the other side of fear. I want to take value. Now I know that I came back from a conference that involved about 20% of the S&P. Which is Jensen Huang’s. . . conference. And everything was positive.”
Amidst a sea of negativity that hasn’t translated well for markets, Cramer also stressed the need to be positive. Mentioning stock futures, he commented:
“But you know I wanna accentuate the positive because it actually is the empirical quality of being right. But right now, if you look at the futures, do you always have to say you know, those. . .future are right. The Dow should be down 386 on implied open. Or should we say, is that wrong? Which makes you more money? Is that wrong? And I’m willing to say it might be wrong.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on March 21st.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
10. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 36
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is an American restaurant chain that operates several brands such as Olive Garden, Seasons 52, and Chuy’s. Its shares are up by 28.9% over the past year and 12.5% year-to-date. The 2025 gains have primarily come on the back of a 15.9% jump in March. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock jumped despite the firm’s fiscal third-quarter earnings missing analyst estimates. The shares rose as Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s management painted an optimistic picture of the future. Here is what Cramer said:
“But I liked very much what I hear from Darden. I mean why didn’t Darden get mentioned? Why isn’t Olive Garden mentioned in the equation? I mean that’s the consumer. But you know what again, we can focus on the negative. I can have more fun doing the negative than anyone because I read four conference calls that were negative. I read ten that were positive.”
9. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 45
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has been one of the most commonly discussed stocks on Jim Cramer’s morning show. Some of the reasons that he’s talked about the stock include the firm’s share price weakness stemming from sizable warranty expenses and the potential impact of tariffs on the business. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s shares have gained a modest 5.7% year-to-date, but the recent selloff in tech led Cramer to comment that Elon Musk’s Tesla might be better off trading as a car company:
“So I don’t want to, I look at it in a positive way, I like the idea that it’s [Tesla] going toward tech. But right now tech is so hated, I think I’d rather have it go toward GM and Ford.”