In this piece, we will look at the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer commented on President Trump’s latest set of tariffs. This time around, Trump targeted champagne in a bid to get European countries to reduce their restrictions on American whiskey brands such as Jack Daniel’s. Cramer started out by explaining the effect of the tariffs on the consumer and the general trend in the alcoholic beverage market:
“It depends on what do you really want to do if you’re the President and these, and expensive wine. And expensive champagne. Or make them expensive. Well I mean you basically want them to say will you stop it with the Jack Daniel’s? I mean, come on. Come on. If you try to make Jack Daniel’s expensive, everything you sell us is just gonna be too expensive and we’re all gonna be drinking Kim Crawford. . .But I do think that this is a very, very high tariff and I think it would cause a lot of attention in France.”
Cramer’s show, which aired on Thursday, came after Monday’s massive stock market bloodbath which saw the flagship S&P index shed $4 trillion in value from its post-election peak. The move, coupled with market worries about a recessionary impact from tariffs, led several analysts to cut their targets for the index. Commenting on the cuts, Cramer outlined:
“Yeah and I thought that was a great. . .look we kind of thought the President was transactional. Now we’ve realized the President is in transit. Now I am less concerned about the President than I was before because when I look at the different, I’ve been trying to get them to clarify what they’re doing. But other than autos, you know look we’re gonna have us a period where we’re gonna go from two-and-a-half percent autos to 25% and that’s gonna hurt Japan, it’s gonna hurt Germany. It’s gonna hurt Korea. And that’s the real tariff. And when we do that, that’s the day that the market’s gonna go down big enough to buy. Because then they’re kind of done. Remember, well here’s the problem Carl, nobody buys anything that we make so it’s really hard. . .President’s not explained that well. At all. That there’s like, they don’t buy any of our stuff. So what are they gonna do? Like put, even higher tariff on Kentucky Gentleman?”
Cramer’s recent programs have also focused on the impact of the President’s tariffs on the car industry. He has urged caution when considering buying American car stocks, and this time around, he discussed the impact of higher car prices due to the tariffs on the broader economy:
“Used car market unfortunately very much involved in the CPI. It’s gonna be a convoluted sense of world trade. And I think that what people recognize is that there has been a big disadvantage, we’ve been at a big disadvantage in our country. But the President has explained it so poorly, that you actually think that well wow, what’s he doing to us. But it’s been a big joke for a very long time. But no one’s taking any action because everyone wants cheap goods for the American people. He’s reversing it. He’s reversing it.”
The underlying theme of his latest appearances has been that while the President is right in pushing for tariffs, he could take a softer approach. According to Cramer, Trump’s “gonna make it so the goods aren’t cheap. But our trading partners have to pay the price. With the idea that maybe if they start buying some of the stuff or put more plants here . . .then maybe the tariffs will come down.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down all the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on March 13th.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
12. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 66
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is a logistics and shipping company. The firm’s shares depend on the broader economic health as it influences the demand for its products. Additionally, FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) has struggled lately on the consumer end as high inflation has driven consumers away from its pricey fast shipping services. The firm’s shares have lost 5.5% over the past year due to these worries. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)’s shares are also down by 11% year-to-date due to multiple catalysts such as a weak outlook by peer firm UPS. Cramer is a believer though:
“I mean I like FedEx, I think they’re doing well. But I recognize that everybody is kind of stunned.”
11. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 68
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has been a frequent feature of Cramer’s morning show lately. The CNBC TV show host has discussed the stock in relation to President Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The actions have created uncertainty for General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and peer Ford’s operations due to supply chain complexities. Cramer has advised viewers against buying the stocks as he sees few alternatives for General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) to avoid raising prices if the measures go through. This time, he commented on the firm in relation to Trump’s aluminum tariffs:
“The answer is that the President is making a point. Which is that, uh, it’s time that you understand that we do wanna favor Ford and GM. Cause you don’t take any Ford and GM. And that’s good because Ford and GM are gonna get hurt really badly by the aluminum tariff. And it’s gonna move people to be buying used cars.”
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