On Friday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, shared his thoughts on the events of the week, especially reflecting on how fear can be easily spread by discussions about potential tariffs. He pointed out that much of the day was filled with fear-mongering over the possibility of tariffs impacting anyone who buys or sells imported goods.
“You saw it all morning, although fortunately at least on our hour, we decried the negativity and suggested that perhaps we should take a glass-half-full approach. I’m in the minority.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Recently Talked About These 12 Companies and Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 9 Stocks in Focus
He noted, “The market can’t get to where it might have to go, which is conceivably lower because there are many people who still believe that the tariffs will mean nothing.” Cramer mentioned that while it will be worse than that he does not believe the situation is as catastrophic as some might fear.
“Then there are other people, chiefly I think traders, who decided that the administration’s slapdash approach to these tariffs has created so much confusion that we could be headed for a stagflation economy and nobody hates stagflation more than Wall Street.”
In such an environment, Cramer noted, only short sellers would stand to profit. That said, Cramer mentioned that he does not think the direct consequences of the tariffs will be as severe as some expect. He believes that most people won’t feel much of a difference and that it won’t trigger another round of price hikes like those seen during the pandemic.
“In the end, what I saw here is bigger than a head and shoulders pattern…. The charts can’t stop it. The bears can’t stop it. But the palpable sense of dread that analysts and some of my compadres in the media can keep you out of it, they can. What can I say? Journalists’ fear mongering has done more to keep you out of big, long-term winners than any other force.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 7 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 21. 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 Talked About 7 Stocks & Stagflation Fears
7. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
Cramer mentioned Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) during the episode, and here’s what Mad Money’s host had to say:
“We saw that Arm Holdings is desperately trying to meet demand. Tariffs won’t stop this kind of technology.”
Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) designs and licenses central processing units and related technologies, offering microprocessors, graphics processors, software, and system IP products for developing a variety of devices and applications. Earlier in February, Cramer, discussing ARM, said:
“They have the same problem when we speak to Rene Haas at Arm. I mean, people are asking for too much at these companies. They just are. People seem to think, well wait a second, you’re gonna claim that DeepSeek is good for you? Well if you’re claiming then shouldn’t you be raising in the out years and no one’s doing that because it’s not really the way that you look at things. They’re playing defense, not offense.”
6. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
Cramer mentioned Dell Technologies Inc.’s (NYSE:DELL) CEO’s bullishness as he said:
“What else? I mean, I have never in my 40 years of knowing Michael Dell ever heard him be this bullish and that includes the 90s when things were going great.”
Dell (NYSE:DELL) designs, develops, and sells a wide range of integrated solutions, products, and services, including storage, servers, networking, desktops, workstations, and cybersecurity solutions, while also providing customer financing, support, and consulting services. On Thursday, Cramer discussed what might happen to the company if tariffs are implemented as he remarked:
“Now Dell is selling at nine times earnings. Now if they decide to tariff everything that Dell brings in our shores. Then it’s not selling at nine times earnings. Because it’s not gonna have those kinds of earnings. It’s gonna turn out to be much more expensive. So people don’t know what to do. I look at Dell’s cash flow, it is just huge. I look at what Michael Dell is saying about the second half of the year. And these data centers which are just chock-full and the spending is incredible. And I say, you can override whatever people are thinking. But that means you have to buy it in the teeth of a selloff. And people are much more comfortable buying up than they are buying down. And that is a major mistake that we have to break people off. . .”
5. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was commented on during the episode as he said:
“Still, to circle back to what we saw this week, it would be easy to say that we saw Home Depot doing great.”
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is a retailer specializing in home improvement, offering products such as building materials, home décor, lawn and garden supplies, and maintenance items. The company also provides installation services for different home features and rents out tools and equipment. Cramer has been a fan of the company for a while and in February, he said:
“We had good pro numbers from Home Depot, good pro numbers from Lowe’s, something could be on here David. It is not as bad as feared. These two companies are excellent.
…. and their [Home Depot] numbers were good, in this environment. Now you gotta look, if you looked at Home Depot, or this, I mean, look everyone was, there was a lot of short money betting against these. I think that when you have a stock that goes down like this you should rethink. But I liked, I liked them. And the Home Depot team, Ted Decker, look these teams, remember these guys take a lot of share too from the mom’s . . .there’s still mom and pop hardware stores that they take. And remember, you’re betting against now they’re Christmas Season, which is going to be, the garden season. Appliances still bad every where.”
4. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
While Cramer highlighted that companies are likely to face adverse effects because of tariffs, he mentioned that Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) carries U.S. goods in its grocery section.
“Hey, you know what? Even Walmart could get it, although they carry a preponderance of US goods, mostly in the grocery section.”
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is a retailer and eCommerce giant, providing a wide array of products, including groceries, health and wellness items, home goods, electronics, clothing, and store-brand products. On March 14, Cramer expressed a little uncertainty about the company as he stated:
“Burlington’s had a really, really good quarter. TJX had a great quarter. Walmart, I’m not sure. I’m not sure how good they’re doing. I’m just not sure.”
3. Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 26
Discussing the created fear of stagflation in the market, Cramer mentioned Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and stated:
“I have to imagine that Macy’s or a Kohl’s could get hung up on these things too… Of course, these stocks are part of the S&P 500. Right now, they’re considered heavy. There are so-called death crosses all over the place, a chartist term that means the stock’s gonna really roll over and hurt you.
And yes, it is hard to stick your neck out because the president’s people haven’t been able to quell fear so the hunker down is going to hurt retail even if you believe that the White House has very good reasons to get tough on our trading partners, and they really do although the administration’s bad at articulating them and if the president makes some exceptions, then things are all part of one big no exclusions policy, well, that’s pretty positive. Me? I don’t know.”
Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) is a retail company that offers a wide selection of branded clothing, footwear, accessories, beauty products, and home goods, available through both its brick-and-mortar locations and online store, showcasing a variety of brands. Last week on Squawk on the Street, Cramer commented:
“And plus I mean, it’s just been a relentless, you know, . . .Remember, Kohl’s and Sephora, the only thing that’s keeping Kohl’s around is Sephora. That was a great deal that they made. But I want to stay away from cosmetics nine ways to Sunday. Anything cosmetics is just no place to be.”
2. Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Discussing how tariffs will impact companies that import from overseas, Cramer mentioned Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) and said:
“I have to imagine that Macy’s or a Kohl’s could get hung up on these things too… Of course, these stocks are part of the S&P 500. Right now, they’re considered heavy. There are so-called death crosses all over the place, a chartist term that means the stock’s gonna really roll over and hurt you.
And yes, it is hard to stick your neck out because the president’s people haven’t been able to quell fear so the hunker down is going to hurt retail even if you believe that the White House has very good reasons to get tough on our trading partners, and they really do although the administration’s bad at articulating them and if the president makes some exceptions, then things are all part of one big no exclusions policy, well, that’s pretty positive. Me? I don’t know.”
Macy’s (NYSE:M) is a retail company that provides a wide range of products, such as clothing, accessories, beauty items, home decor, and more, across its Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and bluemercury brands.
1. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) was mentioned during the episode, and here’s what Cramer had to say:
“Of course, I want to be empirical here. Some industries will be hurt badly because they have a huge concentration of products from overseas. We sold our Best Buy for the Charitable Trust because of the tariffs.”
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is a retail company that offers a selection of technology products, such as computers, smartphones, electronics, home appliances, entertainment products, and various other items. Carillon Tower Advisers stated the following regarding Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) pulled back after its second-quarter earnings release exceeded expectations. Investor sentiment grew tepid over concerns that election outcomes could impact the company’s business. Sales also may have been hindered by a compressed holiday season and a lack of innovative new products.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BBY but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires
Disclosure: None. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.
