Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, pointed out on Friday that the markets just experienced their worst week since early April and highlighted a mix of pressures affecting investors, from the President’s actions to upcoming earnings reports.
Cramer discussed how President Trump announced that the U.S. would impose a 50% tariff on European goods starting June 1 unless a trade agreement is reached. He noted that alongside that, Trump also targeted Apple as he threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones manufactured in India, as he insisted that those devices should be produced in the United States instead. Cramer commented that, in reality, the company would find it more cost-effective to simply absorb the 25% tariff than to relocate its manufacturing.
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 12 Stocks in Focus and Jim Cramer Talked About These 13 Stocks.
“That unfriendly government intervention is why the Dow declined 256 points, the S&P lost 0.67%, and the NASDAQ dropped 1%.”
Cramer emphasized how difficult it has become for everyday investors, and even for him, as someone who holds stocks through his Charitable Trust, to confidently own shares. He pointed out that, after the market bottomed out on April 7, there was a widespread sense of relief. Investors had begun to assume that Trump might back off from the kinds of erratic decisions that had previously caused a 19% drop from the February highs to the April lows following Liberation Day. Cramer admitted that the belief was mistaken. He added:
“I was heartened to see that the market could recover some of its losses ahead of a three-day weekend…. The early morning futures have been down for days on end, and you know, I don’t like to sleep, and I see them, and they just make me sick. 3:30, 4:00 AM, the market’s already drenched in red ink.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 21 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on May 23. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the first quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 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 Had These 21 Stocks on His Radar
21. DeFi Development Corp. (NASDAQ:DFDV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A
During the lightning round, a caller asked about DeFi Development Corp. (NASDAQ:DFDV), and Cramer stated:
“Another Ben Stoto name. This time it’s a crypto. Now here’s where I am on crypto, okay? I am an owner of Bitcoin. I am not going to deviate. I like Bitcoin. Even up here, I would be a buyer of Bitcoin….”
DeFi Development (NASDAQ:DFDV) runs a digital platform offering data and software tools for the commercial real estate sector, including services for loan matchmaking, investor access, equity market solutions, and AI-driven technology.
20. Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 11
A caller inquired if they should take a modest profit or buy more Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTS). This is what Cramer had to say in response:
“No, that one’s done. That one’s done. I mean, look, it’s terrific what happened, but you just had a gigantic gain. It’s almost like a takeover. I say take your money out that you put in, and then you can let the rest ride. Play with the house’s money.”
Navitas Semiconductor (NASDAQ:NVTS) designs and sells power semiconductors, including gallium nitride and silicon carbide devices, system controllers, and digital isolators used in power conversion and charging. In December 2024, Cramer was similarly bearish on the company as he remarked:
“… I’ve gotta tell you, that company’s losing a lot of money. I think you can take a flyer at three bucks but understand, it’s losing a lot of money and it’s a flyer.”
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