Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, recently shared some investment wisdom drawn from his four decades of experience. One of the key lessons he emphasized during the show was the importance of discipline in investing. Cramer was firm on this principle, saying that no matter how much someone may love a stock or be captivated by its story, if the rules dictate that it’s time to sell, then it’s time to sell. He reminded his audience that discipline is more important than sheer conviction when it comes to managing investments.

“We’re gonna start with the first one, which is bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs, well, they get slaughtered. Look, I say this all the time… because so often in my business, I’ve seen moments where stocks went up and up and up so much that people were intoxicated with their gains… However, it’s precisely at that point of intoxication that you need to remind yourself that you don’t want to act like a pig.”

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Cramer also stressed that one of the toughest aspects of investing is simply enduring the ups and downs of the market.

“You know that’s the hardest part of investing. It’s holding on through the difficult periods, taking short-term pains so you can have long-term gains, which is what’s happened in the stock market for a century.”

The next rule Cramer shared revolves around the fear of paying taxes on stock market gains. He pointed out that many investors develop a near-obsessive aversion to paying taxes and often avoid taking profits because they don’t want to incur tax liabilities. However, Cramer argued that it’s perfectly okay to pay taxes if it means securing gains.

Lastly, Cramer advised against buying or selling a stock all at once. He recommended spreading purchases over time in stages, as this approach accounts for the potential fallibility of judgment and helps secure the best price.

“… My next commandment and this is a really important one. Never buy all at once. I can’t stress it enough. Do not, under any circumstances, buy your whole position at once… and you should never sell all at once. Instead, I need you to stage your buys, work your orders, try to get the best price over time.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 8 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episodes of Mad Money. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the third quarter, 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 Talked About These 8 Stocks

8. Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 15

When a caller asked about Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA), Cramer noted that the auto industry is the wrong place to be these days.

“Oh, I gotta tell you, the autos are the worst place to be. I mean, there are two economies. There’s the auto and housing economy, then there’s everything else and you’re in the heart of the bad part. I don’t want, I don’t, I would not want to own that stock is the way I would look at. I just would not want to own it. I’m seeing terrible things going on in the auto industry.”

Magna (NYSE:MGA) designs, engineers, and manufactures a wide range of components, assemblies, and systems for vehicle and light truck manufacturers. In the third quarter, the company experienced a 4% decline in global vehicle production, which had an impact on its sales. As a result, its revenue decreased by $408 million, totaling $10.28 billion compared to $10.69 billion in the same period the previous year.

This decline was primarily attributed to reduced global light vehicle production, lower complete vehicle assembly volumes, and other contributing factors. The company has adjusted its expectations for the remainder of 2024, reducing its sales forecast to account for lower production volumes in key markets like North America and Europe.

Alongside this, Magna (NYSE:MGA) revised its projected adjusted EBIT margin to a range of 5.4% to 5.5%. The company’s adjusted net income forecast has also been lowered, with expectations now ranging from $1.45 billion to $1.55 billion, down from a previous estimate of $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion.

7. M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 30

Discussing M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB), Cramer said he would buy it and expressed a liking for banks.

“MTB is a very, very good company. I would be buying it here, I don’t have a problem with that. I actually like the banks. I’m going against the grain.”

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) is a bank holding company that provides a wide range of retail and commercial banking products and services. According to Polaris Capital Management, third quarter 2024 investor letter, the company showed strong performance amidst a backdrop of interest rate cuts, with financials generally benefiting from expectations of increased loan demand and a lower cost of capital.

The bank reported higher net interest margins, driven by solid investment yields and stable deposit and borrowing costs. It also saw growth in commercial and industrial loans, surpassing its competitors, while strategically reducing its commercial real estate exposure. Since the fourth quarter of 2023, the bank has grown its average loan portfolio by nearly $2 billion, while decreasing its commercial real estate (CRE) holdings by over $4 billion, focusing instead on expanding its commercial and industrial (C&I) and consumer loans.

For the fourth quarter, M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) anticipates taxable equivalent net interest income (NII) of at least $1.73 billion, bringing the full-year NII close to the upper end of its previously provided range. Net interest margin is expected to remain in the low 3.60s. The bank also expects continued loan growth, with average total loans reaching around $136 billion, supported by increases in C&I and consumer loans and a reduction in CRE balances.