On Thursday’s episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer discussed the role of speculative stocks in a personal investment portfolio, noting that there is indeed room for speculation.
“How many speculative stocks can you own? This year, we’ve seen fortunes made in speculative stocks, and by speculative, I mean companies that don’t turn a profit, or maybe they have some earnings, but you’re paying a ridiculous multiple for them. I’ve wrestled mightily with this particular question for my Charitable Trust… I am actually all in favor of speculation, but it’s gotta be done wisely. In fact, if you’re younger, I actually insist that you speculate.”
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Cramer emphasized that building a diversified portfolio of individual stocks should include a mix, recommending at least five holdings, with one or possibly two being speculative if the investor is young. But he stressed repeatedly that such investing needs to be approached with caution and strategy.
Cramer explained his method for managing risk when it comes to speculative names: if one of these high-risk stocks performs exceptionally well, he advises gradually selling parts of the position until only profits, what he calls “playing with the house’s money”, remain in the trade. At that point, he said that he has no issue with letting the rest of the position continue to run.
“If you buy the high-risk stocks I just mentioned, you need to understand that they’ve all already had remarkable runs, but you could have said the same thing six months ago, and you would’ve missed a great rally. I know that most people in the business look down on these kinds of stocks, and by extension, look down on me, but my job is to help you try to make as much money as possible legally. Owning a speculative name or two is perfectly fine as long as you understand that you can lose a great deal of money when you’re wrong. But if you speculate wisely, my exhaustive research shows that the good ones should more than make up for the losses.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 13 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on September 18. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the second quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Was Focused on These 13 Stocks
13. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 17
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer was focused on. Cramer noted that a few speculative stocks should be included in a portfolio and said:
“What [are] examples of what speculation means?… IONQ just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Energy, an MoU with the DoE, to develop quantum technologies in space. When you see deals like this, they ignite D-Wave. We had them on, D-Wave Quantum, pretty interesting. Rigetti Computing, huge money losers, but… their stocks can really rally on any positive quantum news, and there’s plenty of news because theoretically, quantum computing is the fastest kind of computing. It’s specifically endorsed by Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA. Less than a year ago, he was very skeptical. Now he’s a believer. So is IBM.”
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) develops quantum computing systems, software, and cloud services, including its Advantage computers, Ocean tools, and Leap platform. The company’s hybrid quantum solutions are applied in areas such as logistics, drug discovery, portfolio optimization, and industrial design.
12. Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46
Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer was focused on. Cramer said it is the “most visible” one among rocket ship companies. He commented:
“What [are] examples of what speculation means?… There are many others that fit the pattern, and they’re all rocket ships. Oh, then there are the literal rocket ship companies. Rocket Lab, RKLB, is the most visible.”
Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) provides launch services, spacecraft manufacturing, and satellite management solutions, including its Electron small launch vehicle and developing Neutron for larger missions. The company also supplies spacecraft components and subsystems. During the September 9 episode, Cramer mentioned the stock and commented:
“The stock ran out of steam in July, and since then, it’s gradually come off its highs, mostly trading sideways for the past two months. This… consolidation… I know that Bob likes very much. Of course, Lang (chartist Bob Lang) points out the Rocket Lab’s still up roughly 220% from its April lows. It’s a rally that’s mainly occurred on heavy volume. This is one of those stocks that’s beloved by younger retail investors, although Lang thinks it’s starting to attract interest from big institutional money managers too.
He sees the stock’s recent pullback to the 50-day moving average… as another chance to buy the dip. And I know many of you probably think dip? But in this… speculative world, that is a dip. When you look at the action over the summer, Rocket Lab pulled back hard, then rebounded dramatically on high volume a few weeks ago before cooling off again.
When you look at the on-balance volume, again… and also the moving average convergence divergence… You get some really good buy interest. It is due. This is a $47 stock that could move above $60 in short order. I like that move. And you know what? If the Fed gets aggressive cutting interest rates, all these speculative names are just going to roar higher. So… let’s think about Rocket Lab. That one looks very right.”
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