Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, recently discussed this week’s events on Wall Street, which included President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and several companies’ earnings reports. Cramer touched on the broader theme of business operations, reflecting on how companies generally want the freedom to operate with minimal interference and lower taxes. He posed the question of whether that’s unreasonable, noting that it really depends on one’s perspective.

“Very unreasonable if you think big business is inherently nefarious and all these companies are run by greedy oligarchs, but if you believe in free market capitalism, letting businesses do what they want within certain limits, well that is the name of the game.”

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When discussing Trump’s inauguration, Cramer highlighted that Trump seems intent on rolling back many of the regulations put in place by the Biden administration, including closing borders and taking aggressive steps against undocumented immigration. While acknowledging that not all of Trump’s plans might be realized, Cramer remarked that some of his policy changes could be enacted quickly, while others might never reach the Supreme Court. Regardless, he noted that it appears Trump is preparing for a strong push to support business interests.

“That’s the only thing that can justify this market’s recent rally. Now, my interactions with soon-to-be President Trump tended to revolve around the stock market, which he thinks of as the true barometer of his job performance. It’s funny because Biden never cared about the stock market even though stocks did great during his administration.”

According to Cramer, Biden approached his presidency with a focus on labor and class, whereas Trump has made it clear that he intends to prioritize business and capital. He expressed little expectation that this would change in Trump’s second term, suggesting that there will be plenty of executive orders to analyze moving forward.

“Here’s the bottom line: As you wrap up the Biden administration, even though I’ve been very critical of his approach to the business, stocks have done well. The Dow is up 41%, the S&P is up 58%, and the Nasdaq recorded 49%. Any other president would be proud of that track record. The fact that Biden seems to not be, maybe it says pretty much everything.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 9 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on January 17. 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 Discussed 9 Stocks for This Week’s Game Plan

9. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62

Talking about American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), a financial services provider, Cramer remarked:

“Also, on Friday, we hear from American Express. It seems like every time Amex reports it gets hit on that day. And what do I do? I come on here and tell you to buy it. After its juggernaut run these last few years, you’d think that when CEO Stephen Squeri talks, people would want to wanna buy not sell. I say, so what? We’ll catch it when the fools say goodbye.”

Over the past 5 years, the company’s stock shot up over 134%. While commenting on his favorite American Express (NYSE:AXP) in October 2024 before the company reported its Q3 2024 earnings, Cramer said:

“The last two times it got hit, I told you to buy it. That was right. Maybe the third time’s the charm, and it won’t even go down. The Amex conference call is a great affair because the company gives you so much information about who’s spending, what people are doing. Gen X, Gen Z, they got it all. If you monitor this one, if it gets hit, I’m going to tell you, it’ll probably be a buy. It’s been right and I’m not going to change my view.”

8. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57

Cramer called Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) a “chronic underperformer” and declared his lack of faith in the company.

“Finally, on Friday, chronic underperformer, Verizon gets a chance to chronically underperform again. Now, I know a lot of traders think that this 7% yield can act like a trampoline… I don’t have much faith in Verizon. How about that?”

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) offers a range of communications, technology, and entertainment services to consumers, businesses, and government entities worldwide. It provides wireless, broadband, and wireline services.

For 2024, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) expects wireless service revenue growth of 2.0% to 3.5% and adjusted EBITDA growth between 1.0% and 3.0%. The company forecasts adjusted earnings per share between $4.50 and $4.70, capital expenditures ranging from $17.0 billion to $17.5 billion, and an adjusted effective income tax rate of 22.5% to 24.0%.