On Friday, Mad Money host Jim Cramer addressed growing concerns in the market as tensions between the United States and China push closer to what he described as a full-scale trade war. He noted that the overall sentiment is clouded by uncertainty. Cramer emphasized:
“At the end of the day, China is the low-cost producer. We need other countries to stand up and make the goods for us, or we need to build automated factories at home to do the same thing because wages in America are simply just too expensive to compete.”
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According to Cramer, both alternatives will take time to implement. In the meantime, he warned that Americans should prepare to either pay significantly more for goods or deal with widespread shortages, or likely both. He also warned that companies exposed to economic cycles could be especially vulnerable.
As inflationary pressures mount, Cramer argued that the broader economy is in jeopardy. He emphasized that unless another country with a labor force comparable in size and cost to China’s emerges unexpectedly, the Federal Reserve will have little ability to intervene meaningfully.
Cramer also pointed to an important reason China controls such a large portion of the American retail market. He explained that Chinese goods are not only cheaper but often just good enough in quality that few American companies are willing to challenge them. He went on to say that Chinese manufacturers have long known how to price their products in a way that discourages American entrepreneurs.
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on April 11. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment 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 Discussed These 12 Stocks Recently
12. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29
A caller inquired about The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE), and Cramer remarked:
“Excellent. I think Cheesecake Factory is darn cheap. I know that the restaurants are out of favor right now. I want to give you Cheesecake Factory and then see that with Texas Roadhouse, which I think, it just goes down and down. Look, Texas Roadhouse, I have no illusions. This stock is going down another five.”
Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) runs restaurants and bakeries that make cheesecakes and other desserts. The goods are sent to the company’s locations, international partners, third-party clients, and retailers. On March 4, Cramer stated:
“You got a winner in Cheesecake Factory and you’re absolutely right. And by the way, they do have a menu that doesn’t have a lot, you know, they’ve got stuff that is not incredibly fattening too. I think that you’ve got a good stock to buy in Cheesecake.”
11. Realty Income Corporation (NYSE:O)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
A caller asked if Cramer would recommend Realty Income Corporation (NYSE:O), and he replied:
“Oh, Realty Income is absolutely right. Now, I know the last quarter, there were a couple of releases that people didn’t like. I looked into them, I felt very confident about it. You do get a monthly dividend there, and I think that letter O should be bought into this weakness.”
Realty Income (NYSE:O) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that offers monthly dividends. It invests in net lease properties across a range of industries. On April 14, BofA increased its price target on O stock to $62 from $61 and maintained a Neutral rating on the stock. After recent property tours and updates for the quarter, the firm expects “mostly beats and meets” for 1Q results and expects a strong earnings season for REITs, as per the analyst.
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