In this article, we will look at everything Jim Cramer said regarding his latest game plan as the oil-shock-driven sell-off continues. The host of Mad Money laid out his expectations for the coming week on Friday as he said:
We gotta go to the game plan for next week to figure this one out. Now, these days, Mondays revolve entirely around the war and ratcheting up in tension. We know that our president said there would be an extension of a bombing pause, but there’s still hostilities, which to me means that oil goes higher, and when oil goes higher, we know that the stock market goes lower. I keep repeating that because I want people to be really understanding of what’s driving the market down.
READ ALSO Jim Cramer Broke Down 16 Stocks Including Pharma Plays for Rising Oil and Jim Cramer Said to Sit on Your Hands Amid Trump and Iran Confusion While Highlighting 9 Stocks
Cramer pointed to various economic reports being released during the week that could influence the Federal Reserve’s next moves. He highlighted the upcoming JOLTS report, which tracks job openings and labor turnover, along with retail sales data due later in the week, calling both important indicators.
We’ve seen interest rates creeping up late in sync with the inflation caused by the war. The incoming Fed chief, Kevin Warsh, wants to cut rates, but he needs to see more job losses to have something in his quiver besides bad housing numbers. JOLTS could show us some layoffs. He also needs to see retail sales get weaker. They’ve been way too strong to justify cuts.
Cramer mentioned that while no one is rooting for weaker economic data, lower rates are badly needed, especially to support housing, and added that a rate cut would give bullish investors something positive to work with.
The bottom line: I have to say, these declines aren’t just about tech. They’re about what you get when you have both inflation and higher interest rates, and the inflation’s coming from oil. I think the market could continue to go down until the war’s over, and commodities can decline to where they were before it started, and probably not before then, which is why it is such a tough time.
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 March 27. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them.
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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
Iran Conflict Rattles Stocks — Jim Cramer’s Game Plan and 9 Stock Calls
9. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was among the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted, along with his latest game plan as the oil-shock-driven sell-off continues. Cramer mentioned the stock during the episode and said:
Now, what I suggest you do is look at Johnson & Johnson. Until it became clear that the impact wouldn’t be as bad, the stock was in free fall, and then when it was clear, it went from $140 to $230 almost in the blink of an eye. I think the same thing will happen here.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) develops and sells healthcare products, including pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, with treatments in immunology, oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular care, and infectious diseases. Cramer called it a “textbook slowdown stock” during the March 19 episode, as he commented:
Yesterday, we got some terrific news from Johnson & Johnson, but because the tape was so ugly, the stock did nothing. Actually finished the session down 0.35%. Oh, it was a brutal session… Sometimes, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the averages creates buying opportunities for you, and I think we’re getting one right now in Johnson & Johnson. Why? Because yesterday morning, we learned that they got FDA approval for ICOTYDE. Now, that is their oral treatment for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis…
Right now, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson both have injectable drugs in the same category, but nobody wants to use a needle if they can use a pill instead. AbbVie’s plaque psoriasis drug, Skyrizi, did over $17.5 billion in sales this year. Now, J&J has a pill version that I think could conceivably eat that drug alive. We’re talking about an enormous total addressable market year, and yet the stock actually went lower in response. That’s silly… We’ve been trying to own this one. I think that right now it’s just trying to catch its breath, but it is such a winner… I’ve been pushing JNJ hard since last September… Management thinks the new drug can ultimately do $5 billion in peak sales. I think that’s a very low-ball number. Some of Wall Street is even more bullish…
Here’s the bottom line: The market-wide sell-off yesterday masked some very good news for JNJ with their novel plaque psoriasis pill gaining FDA approval. I think you’re getting a great buying opportunity here because this was a genuine positive development that absolutely, it did nothing for the share price because of what’s happening in Iran. Long story short, JNJ’s story keeps getting better and better and better, and it is still not too late to buy the stock. Plus, this company’s more or less immune to the price of oil. It’s a textbook slowdown stock.
8. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was among the stocks Jim Cramer highlighted, along with his latest game plan as the oil-shock-driven sell-off continues. Cramer highlighted the company’s legal battles, as he remarked:
I did it again with Meta. I made a real study of what happens to companies and their stocks when they lose court cases, especially when a jury decides they’ve done something pernicious… negative, sometimes deadly impact. I think that, as tragic as these cases are that they lost, they ultimately won’t impact Meta’s earnings per share or the way they operate. The operative word in the sentence is ultimately, though, because in the interim, this stock has lost tens of billions of dollars for that one court case. I misjudged the impact of people saying that social media is the new tobacco, a point that I think will be addressed at the appellate level and then turned around. But that takes a long time. In the interim, you lose money.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) develops technologies and applications that connect people through social networking and messaging. The company’s portfolio includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Threads, and virtual and augmented reality products. We recently discussed the company while covering Abrams Capital Management’s portfolio. You can read more about it here.
