We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Recently Shed Light on These 9 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed.
Last Wednesday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, questioned whether the market was still following a clear and predictable business cycle, suggesting there were “huge conflicting currents” that made the economy difficult to navigate. Reflecting on his early days in the industry, Cramer explained that back then, understanding the business cycle was important.
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“If business was too strong, the Fed might raise rates, pull things off. If business was too weak, you might have some rate cuts. You always had to pay attention to these things, right, because you didn’t wanna fight the Fed.”
But on that particular day, with the Dow gaining 71 points, the S&P advancing by 0.24% to reach a new all-time record, and the Nasdaq edging up by 0.07%, Cramer began to reconsider whether the traditional concept of the business cycle had become outdated.
Cramer went on to highlight the puzzling movements in specific sectors, especially food and beverage and drug stocks, which showed some unexpected gains. These industries, often seen as immune to economic cycles, seemed to defy the typical patterns.
He pointed out that in light of the current administration’s stance on food policy, especially with a health and human services secretary who has expressed disdain for processed foods and vaccinations, it was not just a cycle affecting these sectors anymore, it felt more like a targeted attack on the industries themselves. Cramer wondered, “What if RFK Jr. wakes up tomorrow and says, ‘I’m banning Fruit Loops’ or stopping weight loss shots?”
“I mean, everyone in this administration seems to think that the federal government could do whatever it wants. That’s not, that’s not how our system works or at least it’s not how the Constitution says it works, but the blight’s very much with us, even with today’s reprieve.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on February 19. 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).
A bird’s eye view of a long freight train rumbling along the tracks.
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
Making note of the bearish trends in transports, Cramer mentioned Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) and stated:
“On the other hand, you got groups like the transports. They’re just getting clocked. At a conference call today, Norfolk Southern, one of the big East Coast railroads, traced out a soft picture.”
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) provides rail transportation, handling a diverse range of materials such as agricultural products, chemicals, metals, and automotive goods. Before the company posted its earnings result in October 2024, Cramer said:
“Now, we have so many winners reporting, but there’s one lagger that I figure could break out here, Norfolk Southern. It’s got a new CEO, Mark George, who I think will bring some financial discipline to this great railroad. Norfolk Southern could put up some excellent numbers. Previous CEO should get some credit for that, by the way.”
Overall, NSC ranks 5th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of NSC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NSC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
