In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer suggested the recent tariffs might not simply be about economic leverage. He hinted at a deeper agenda within parts of the administration that goes beyond trade policy:
“There’s plenty of sense that something’s going to happen that’s going to take this away. In fact, just because of what we saw the other day with it going to 10 percent, I don’t see that at all. I think these are very different kinds of tariffs. I mean, this is a tariff where I think there’s some people with the administration who actually ultimately have a goal of regime change.“
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Discussing the likelihood of a negotiated settlement between Washington and Beijing, Cramer expressed deep skepticism that China would retreat under pressure. Instead, he described a Chinese leadership that had long prepared for confrontation:
“When do the Chinese back down? Right now they’re not, but I don’t know. I think the Chinese have been ready for this since first Trump. I think that they are ready for tariffs. I think they’re going to build coalitions worldwide. I do not think they’re paper tigers. I think that they’re a strong country and they’re ready. They’re ready for the fight. And I’m afraid that we have many divisions that were behind enemy lines before this war started, including Apple.”
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 April 11th.
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).
7. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
Cramer brought up Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) while discussing the divergence between Wall Street pessimism and Main Street resilience. He referenced conversations with multiple bank CEOs and praised Wells Fargo’s CEO Charlie Scharf. Here’s what he said:
“When you listen to Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, he’ll tell you that Main Street’s doing quite well. He’s actually seeing loan growth for the first time. […] I’m positive and constructive, and I think Charlie Scharf did a great job, and that stock should be higher. […] By the way, Michelle Bowman, I think, is going to be very positive for Wells Fargo, a deregulated Federal Reserve.”
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 123
Cramer’s take on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) came during a conversation about a potential recession and the pressure companies face to issue or retract forecasts. He noted that JPMorgan remains a best-in-class bank, and any temporary weakness could be a long-term buying opportunity. Here are his thoughts:
“I think in a recession you pull your forecast. And when people here pulled forecast, you just sell the stock. Now is that right? I don’t think so. I think that I joke I wish actually this was the quarter where people said you know what we’re not going to give guidance anymore. We’re gonna be like Warren Buffett. […]
Well, look, these companies are great. And if we’re going to say there could be a deal and the deal’s going to be tough and- With China, you mean? Yes. Then you’re going to be saying, why didn’t I pay $224 because now I’m paying $290.”
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