On Friday, Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, discussed how recently, the market’s movements are largely influenced by the White House, with the Federal Reserve playing a somewhat smaller role. He pointed out that this places investors in a tough spot, especially since the Fed can only adjust interest rates, but the White House can have a much more immediate impact through its posts and announcements. Cramer humorously noted that for one day, the market was free from presidential posts, and it seemed to thrive.

“I want to remind you that at any moment, the president can wreak havoc on anything, I have to say with a gratuitous post, reminding people that there’s more pain ahead.”

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Cramer emphasized that he has been critical of what he sees as unnecessary and provocative posts from the president. He noted that these remarks often add to the sense of unease among investors, especially when they hint at more economic pain ahead.

While many are aware of the ongoing trade war, Cramer emphasized that it does not help to repeatedly be reminded of the looming challenges. Right now, he said, people are feeling particularly anxious. He pointed to the alarming drop in the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey and highlighted:

“People fear inflation and worry about their savings, which happens to be in many cases, the stock market.”

According to Cramer, many people do not fully understand the implications of tariffs, and since they haven’t been adequately explained, they simply assume tariffs will lead to higher prices at the grocery store, which, unfortunately, is likely true.

Cramer acknowledged that the president and his team have deliberately chosen not to focus on the stock market, likely because they do not want it to become a direct reflection of their performance. While he agrees with this approach, Cramer believes it is still important to recognize that the market is ultimately a gauge of public sentiment.

“Think of the market as a gauge of hope versus despair. The results lately demonstrate despair even if today we finally got a solid session. The cause and effect are so palpable that you don’t need me to tell you how these gains came about.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 14. 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 Put These 10 Stocks Under the Spotlight

10. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 17

A caller asked if it is time to start looking to other countries for investments and this is what Cramer had to say about Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN):

“Look, I blew it… Remember how many times I said Santander, Santander, Santander and I didn’t do it. Now those stocks will run… I was worried about the dividend and… and how people would say, Jim, you can’t use the traditional tax rules for dividends. I was Lilliputian. Next time I’ll be bigger.”

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) provides a range of financial services, such as banking, loans, mortgages, asset management, insurance, and digital payment solutions, in addition to corporate and investment banking services and online financial products. In February, when Cramer was asked about the company, he said:

“No, Banco Santander is very inexpensive still. Ana Botín is doing a great job…. I know I just, endlessly pounded the table. But at $5, I still think it’s a great situation.”

9. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35

Mentioning that they have a position in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF), a caller asked if there was any hope of a comeback. In response, Cramer said:

“I was very disappointed in how the stock acted last time. I felt that it left something to be desired and I truly now have come to dislike the cosmetics category. I didn’t even like the Ulta call this morning. I think that you’re gonna get a chance, I think, to actually sell it. And I’m saying that not because I don’t like e.l.f., but I don’t like Estee Lauder, I don’t like e.l.f., I don’t like Sephora, which is in Kohl’s, doesn’t trade as an individual company and I just think the group’s gotten too hard. So when we have a lift like we’re having here, let it go up a little bit, and then you have to go. There’s no harm in recognizing that right now, that is the most challenged category I know in the entire economy.”

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) offers a wide variety of beauty and skincare products under multiple brands, such as e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, Naturium, and Keys Soulcare.