Jim Cramer Broke Down 13 Stocks Amid Rising Inflation and a Recalcitrant Federal Reserve

In this article, we will look at everything Jim Cramer said about the market amid rising inflation and a recalcitrant Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the host of Mad Money discussed how a sudden geopolitical shock, paired with discouraging inflation data, rattled the market.

Oil had been stable for a few days. Things looked good for the market. But today, a huge natural gas field in Iran was bombed. Iran immediately retaliated with a missile attack on one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas complexes, and this was in Qatar. It caused extensive damage. The price of natural gas worldwide could spike because of that, except for the U.S., because we have so much of the stuff. That, more than anything else, sent the market dramatically lower. We didn’t get any help from the U.S. economy’s numbers. This morning, we got a PPI number that showed a big uptick in inflation. It seemed to be a wake-up call that even when Kevin Warsh replaces Jay Powell as Fed chief, if he does, it’d be very difficult for him to cut rates.

READ ALSO Jim Cramer’s Latest 6 Stock Calls As Oil Drops and the U.S. Market Rises and Jim Cramer’s Bullish AI Investment Thesis Amid Iran Conflict: 6 Stocks in Focus

Cramer noted that the housing sector would benefit from lower rates, but said that consumers could face pressure if inflation continues to climb. He mentioned that he would not term the current situation “stagflation”, as he said that the term is used too loosely whenever economic growth slows while prices rise. He said he has lived through multiple periods of stagflation and does not believe the present conditions qualify, even if there are elements reminiscent of a 1970s-style oil shock.

Now Fed Chief Powell said the same thing in today’s presser, and I gotta tell you, I felt, I did feel somewhat comforted. I didn’t feel alone. Now, I still say this is a temporary and artificial increase. It’s because… look, it’s the cost of doing business under this president, whether because of tariffs or because of this war. If this conflict drags on and we can’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz for months and months and months, then eventually, you’re going to have to worry about it, but we’re not there yet.

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 13 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 18. 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).

Jim Cramer Broke Down 13 Stocks Amid Rising Inflation and a Recalcitrant Federal Reserve

13. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. Cramer explained why the stock is not moving, as he stated:

Now, there was a lot of news about NVIDIA at the GTC festival, but none of it managed to move the stock. One reason was confusion. Jensen talked about how he has $1 trillion worth of business for his highest-end chips, up from $500 billion just a few short months ago. The numbers included 2025 figures, though, and the new figure is through 2027, while the previous target was only for 2025 to 2026. So candidly, it did sound bigger than it was, even though it was gigantic. The stock blew up a quick five points during the speech as retail investors used market orders, spiking the share price and then getting clobbered all the way down when people realized the $1 trillion number was less significant than they thought, even though it was significant. Second reason NVIDIA can’t seem to catch a break… Unlike a few years ago, institutional money managers own the stock in gigantic amounts. There’s not a lot of accounts that don’t own it already.

That means only new money coming into the S&P 500 can really move the stock higher, at least for now. Third reason: option activity. Home gamers remember the NVIDIA of old with its wild moves and the great swings higher. They buy calls every day in record numbers because they think they can capture the next move. They’re too eager. They overpay. Professionals see this, so they sell the call options, they short to them, putting selling pressure on the common stock, as the call selling always transfers into common stock selling. This happens so often that it puts a lid on the common stock. That’s what occurred today… What could move up NVIDIA again? Numbers? They didn’t move it last quarter. How about new customers? They get new customers all the time, hasn’t made any difference.

Everyone’s afraid that the hyperscalers will somehow decide, you know what, we have enough, or we’ll design our own chips. No. What’s going to get NVIDIA moving again is NemoClaw and the endless proliferation of agents through Anthropic and OpenAI, which will cause a wave of traffic again for the hyperscalers, for the cloud business, which in turn will need more NVIDIA hardware to keep all this stuff running. I know it sounds complicated, even fanciful, but so did ChatGPT when I first heard about it. Call it the hidden reason to buy NVIDIA stock here and possibly the best reason other than a gigantic move in the stock market itself, which will pull NVIDIA stock up. But that’s not the way we want it to go higher, is it?

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) develops accelerated computing and AI platforms, GPUs for gaming and professional use, cloud services, robotics and embedded systems, and automotive technologies.

12. BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI)

BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. Responding to a caller’s query regarding the stock, Cramer commented:

No, I’m familiar, but I have to tell you, it’s losing a lot of money, and we are out of the year of magical investing. We don’t have it anymore. This is a tougher tape. We do not want to go there.

BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) provides AI-powered decision intelligence and cybersecurity solutions for national security, supply chain, and digital identity markets. A caller mentioned that they started a position in the stock and inquired about it during the July 1, 2025, episode. The Mad Money host replied:

Wow, you went right for the speculative. Okay, that’s good. That’s, but that’s only going to be your one speculation. We are not going to do other speculations because that will have to be, we gotta fill it out with some very good growth companies. But that one’s, you know, losing a… bit of money. By the way, Palantir would’ve been a better one to buy there because Palantir’s coming in. But let’s limit our speculation to one stock…

It is worth noting that since the above comment was aired, the company’s stock has declined by nearly 43%.

11. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. During the lightning round, a caller inquired about the stock, and here’s what Cramer had to say in response:

Well, look, I mean, why take the risk?… It’s good, Oracle’s good, but I think there are others that are better. And the one that is better that I think is worth doing right now is NVIDIA. It’s down huge from its top, huge.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) provides cloud and on-premise software, databases, and IT infrastructure to help businesses manage operations. Cramer discussed the company’s latest quarter during the March 11 episode and said:

So last night we got this tremendous quarter from Oracle that allowed the stock to pop 9% today, even as the market rolled over, and that was a very pleasant surprise… Oracle shot the lights out. Not only did they deliver a sizable top-line beat with 22% revenue growth, but every division posted better than expected sales except for hardware, which is their smallest unit… For at least the next 10 months, we won’t have to worry about the company piling one more debt to pay for its AI data center buildout. That’s a very big win… Hey, speaking of the backlog, Oracle mentioned that most of the increase in their remaining forms of obligation, their bookings, was “related to large scale AI contracts where Oracle does not expect to have to raise any incremental funds to support these contracts as most of the equipment needed is either funded upfront via customer prepayments so Oracle can purchase the GPUs, or the customer buys the GPUs and supplies them to Oracle”… I really like the flexibility of it…

Now, there was one more thing to this quarter that I’d love to cover if I have more time. Management came out with a great rebuttal to all this talk of a software-as-a-service apocalypse… Remember, while Oracle’s got a huge business building data centers, this used to be a pure play on an enterprise software company, and they still do a ton of software business, so they have a very good read on what’s happening here. Of course, there are still some lingering concerns that they could hurt the stock, especially the $20 billion at the market equity offering that might do some damage to the share price.

That said, the stock only ran up more than 9% today despite the spectrum of that offering. So, it might not make the dent you think. Let me give you the bottom line here: A win is a win, and this latest quarter was a big win for Oracle, a stock that’s been synonymous with AI data center worries since last fall. In a crazy, unpredictable environment… this is one theme that’s just holding on fine. Oh, and those myriad hedge funds who bet against it, they have felt the wrath of Founder, Chairman, and Chief Technical Officer Larry Ellison, which, trust me, is a lot worse than even the Wrath of Khan.

We recently discussed Guggenheim’s coverage of the stock. You can read about it here.

10. Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL)

Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. A caller asked for Cramer’s opinion on the stock, and he replied:

Okay, Blue Owl, if you want to own in that world, that private equity, private credit world, I have to suggest you to buy Blackstone. It yields 5%. It’s better run. I think you just go with Blackstone and you’ll do better.

Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) provides alternative asset management and private financing solutions, including direct lending, credit products, and real estate investments. Cramer mentioned the stock during the February 23 episode and said:

… Starting last year, one of Blue Owl’s oldest BDCs, a private one called Blue Owl Capital Corp II, ran into trouble. These things typically have gating rules about how much of the fund can be withdrawn in any given quarter. For Blue Owl Capital II, it’s a 5% limit on redemptions, and they hit that limit in both the second and third quarter. Now that is worrisome. Then, in November, Blue Owl came up with a solution for the redemption problem. They plan to merge Blue Owl Capital II with one of their publicly traded BDCs, Blue Owl Capital Corp, so investors who wanted out could simply sell their shares in the open market. But, and this is a big but, enough for this Sir Mix-a-Lot seal of approval, they also are going to ban redemptions from Blue Owl Capital II until the merger’s closed. Worse, the publicly traded BDC, Blue Owl Capital Corp was already trading at roughly 20% discount to its net asset value, what the company says the investments are worth.

So shareholders who are trapped in Blue Owl Capital II, they’ll have to take a 20% haircut if they want their money back as soon as possible. Oh man. That went over like a lead balloon. And Blue Owl scrapped the whole plan a couple of weeks later, saying that they’d circled back with a new plan. Last week, we finally saw that new plan, and once again, it raised some eyebrows. Blue Owl announced that it sold $1.4 billion worth of assets from three different BDCs at 99.7% at par value, meaning nearly full price. At the same time, though, they changed the way they’re handling redemptions. Blue Owl Capital II, the BDC where many investors want out, it’s returning 30% of its capital to all investors, even the ones who want to stick with it, and suspending all other redemptions.

… The really worrisome thing here is that Blue Owl got nearly full price for the assets it sold, even though many of these assets came from publicly traded BDCs that are selling for huge discounts to their net asset value. There were some accusations of cherry-picking, dumping their highest quality holdings to raise cash, and leaving shareholders stuck with the worst stuff. Management denies this, okay, unequivocally denies it. Wall Street’s not buying it, though… Now, on Friday morning, Blue Owl’s co-president Craig Packer came on Squawk on the Street. You know what? I thought he did an admirable job explaining the point of view. Shareholders clearly disagreed. Blue Owl, the parent company stock dropped nearly 7% on Friday and another 3.4% today. The stocks say something’s wrong here… Wall Street simply doesn’t believe their holdings are worth what Blue Owl says they’re worth. It’s just a kind of a mismatch here. Now, I’m not trying to pick on Blue Owl. I went through all this because we keep hearing that it might be the canary in the private equity and private credit coal mine.

I don’t like that hackneyed phrase, but I see why people are concerned… The bottom line is that things just seem to be getting worse here, not better. And if any of these BDCs start blowing up, there’s going to be a lot of negative pin action, and that will not be good. Blue Owl’s a case study because it seems like the most vulnerable. It really is the canary in the coal mine. But for the moment, the canary is still breathing, even if it’s not exactly healthy. The situation seems fraught, and Mad Money viewers know I am a seller, not a buyer of fraught situations.

9. NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO)

NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. A caller asked about the company, and noted that it posted its “first ever profitable quarter last week with record deliveries month over month.” Cramer commented:

Actually, I think, I gotta tell you, I think it’s right. I think you’re absolutely right. It did have a good quarter. I’m going to go with it. Five bucks. Let’s do it. It’s a spec. That’s okay. You allowed one spec.

NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) designs, manufactures, and sells smart electric SUVs and sedans. It also provides battery-swapping solutions, energy services, and develops electric powertrains and related components. It is worth noting that during the October 20, 2025, episode, a caller mentioned that they have a position in the stock, and Cramer responded, “I don’t know. NIO is a, look, it probably goes to $10. Then you have to sell it, okay?”

8. The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. When a caller asked about the stock during the lightning round, Cramer said:

No, we cannot buy Wendy’s. No, it is just, it is just the wrong stock. Meanwhile, McDonald’s is down a quick 10 bucks today. I think you start buying some McDonald’s. That had a fantastic quarter.

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) operates and franchises quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburgers. Cramer similarly suggested avoiding the stock during his game plan presented on October 31, 2025. He commented:

Finally, Friday, we got a lagging fast food chain, Wendy’s… I think these two bookends are most appropriate… and unfortunately, losers keep losing, so you gotta avoid Wendy’s.

7. HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. Inquiring about the stock, a caller pointed out that the company is the “largest hospital operator,” benefits from an aging population, and has accelerating EPS. Cramer replied:

We have liked HCA for a long time now. This is a stock that can go down quickly. I want you to buy it only in big clumps. So in other words, $500, then $475, then $450. That would be the way I would do it. Big spaces between.

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) runs hospitals that provide inpatient, emergency, surgical, diagnostic, and intensive care services. In addition, the company operates outpatient and behavioral health facilities, as well as physician practices. Cramer was bullish on the stock during the episode aired on December 17, 2025, as he remarked:

Ninth, there’s HCA Healthcare. I’ve said I’ve liked this many times. It operates a network of 190 hospitals along with roughly 2,400 ambulatory care sites, and that’s not even counting the British business. HCA has shrunk its share count by 44% since the end of 2015. I’ve pushed the stock hard in recent years, and it just keeps climbing higher. HCA hit new all-time highs last month, but since then, it’s pulled back nearly 50 bucks on really no particular reason. I think it’s a terrific one to buy.

6. Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY)

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is one of the stocks mentioned during the show, as we cover everything Jim Cramer said about the market. Expressing their bullish stance, a caller inquired about the company, and Cramer replied:

Okay, I am not as big a fan as you are. I think it’s incredibly speculative, and I’m in that era of no more magical investing. They’re losing too much money, and when companies are losing too much money, even if they have a very exciting idea, I’ve got to pull in my horns here because we have a very, very tough market, and we can’t deal with companies that are losing a lot of money.

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) designs and makes electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in aerial ridesharing. The company is also developing a related app. During the episode aired on November 11, 2025, a caller inquired about the stock, and Cramer responded:

No, they’re losing too much money, buddy. I absolutely love the idea, but they’re losing too much money. We already got a thing called helicopters, and that does us just fine.

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