On Monday, Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, took a closer look at how the S&P 500 performed in January, highlighting both the successes and the setbacks, and commented on the ongoing tariffs activity. Reflecting on the market’s early response to President Trump’s policies in 2025, Cramer noted that while January was generally a good month for stocks, some of the biggest gainers have since experienced significant pullbacks. According to Cramer, it is important to evaluate both the winners and losers as the year progresses.
Furthermore, Cramer mentioned that his family, with substantial business dealings in Mexico, took Trump’s campaign promise of imposing tariffs on the country seriously, while others did not. While the implementation of a 25% tariff has been delayed by a month, Cramer pointed out that its impact remains real. If enacted, the tariff could become a serious barrier to profitability for businesses on both sides of the border.
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What Cramer did not expect, however, was the response from Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Sheinbaum took a bold step by deploying 10,000 National Guard troops to address illegal immigration and combat the influx of fentanyl into the country. In exchange, she secured a temporary one-month pause on the tariff.
“I think this opens the door for a change in trade policy, the one that’s much more targeted, now, that’s much smarter than the tit-for-tat approach that China adopted, one that could possibly preserve a lot of commerce we have with Mexico, our biggest trading partner.”
Cramer believes that this approach could help preserve the vital trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, a relationship worth $807 billion in 2023. Cramer also cautioned that while this adjustment may help avoid an immediate economic downturn, there’s a risk of unintended consequences. If Mexico’s economy does slip into recession due to the tariffs, Cramer warned, the resulting economic strain could trigger a surge in illegal immigration.
“Bottom line, pretty disparate group of winners and losers if you ask me. Very different from 2024. So why don’t we see how things play out for the rest of the year?”
Jim Cramer Recently Talked About These 11 S&P 500 Stocks
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 11 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on February 3. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Recently Talked About These 11 S&P 500 Stocks
11. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46
Cramer noted that Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) was among the worst performers of the S&P 500 and does not foresee the company reporting good news.
“Finally, the fifth worst stock in the S&P 500 in January was Electronic Arts, EA, the video game publisher, with a stock down 16% last month. Now, a simple story. Last month, EA pre-announced shockingly light numbers for its latest quarter thanks primarily to significant underperformance for some of the company’s biggest titles. Their soccer business now looks to be a shambles. Couple of years ago, EA took a gamble by forging forward with its previously lucrative franchise, despite losing the license to use the name of soccer’s top global governing body. That gamble has not paid off… It is tough to see how EA tells a better story.”
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) creates, markets, and distributes games and related content across multiple platforms, offering a range of genres, including sports, racing, action, and role-playing, through both owned and licensed brands. In 2023, Cramer was bullish on the stock as he included it among stocks that one could buy during “any bout of weakness.” It is worth noting that since then, the stock has only gained a modest 2.6%.
10. ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) was mentioned during the recent episode. Here is what Mad Money’s host had to say about the company:
“The fourth worst performer in the S&P last month was ON Semiconductor, that’s down 17%. This chipmaker is a leading supplier for the auto industry and though it doesn’t report until next week, the stock got hit after Texas Instruments reported last Monday and gave a dour outlook for the automotive and industrial end markets. The semiconductor cohort is all over the place. The ones selling into the AI team are still doing pretty well, but anything cyclical like Texas Instruments or ON Semi has, it had a real tough go.”
ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ON) offers power and sensing solutions, including semiconductor products for electric vehicles, fast-charging, and sustainable energy, with a focus on various industries such as automotive, industrial, and mobile markets. Over the past 12 months, ON stock has witnessed a decline of over 35% while TXN stock has gained over 13%.