Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, said on Monday that the idea of a financially exhausted consumer is being pushed far harder than the facts support.
“… Right now, we’re getting a ton of stories about how the consumer’s in bad shape, as you can see from recent… weakness or stressed balance sheets, credit card defaults, whatever metrics they pick. The portrait of the consumer is pitiful, has grave, ominous implications. We obviously need a rate cut, yet the Fed’s on the fence about lowering rates. Many companies could be impacted negatively by this top-down analysis.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Discussed 7 Stocks and the Need for Diversification and Jim Cramer’s Recent Responses to Questions About 12 Stocks.
Cramer argued that the entire premise may simply be wrong. He called it “thesis reporting,” meaning a writer begins with a conclusion, “the hobbled consumer”, and then hunts for data to support it, even if the facts have to be stretched to fit. He explained that it happens because negative stories attract attention. He then pointed to actual spending data, noting MasterCard’s report showing Black Friday sales climbing more than 4%, which he described as a perfectly reasonable gain considering broader conditions.
“So what are we to make of all this? First, that hobbled consumer thesis, you know what, it’s wrong even if you consider the spike in buy now, pay later use. Second, let’s flip it on its head. Despite tariffs, despite the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey showing negativity, things are actually pretty darn positive. Third, it stands to reason that the consumer’s fine given that jobs are still available and confidence in being employed means more than a survey response. It’s very tough to think straight when thesis reporting dominates your head as well as the nation’s trading desk. Think you must, though, because if you base your investments on bad information, you’re probably going to lose money. When in doubt, trust the facts, not the theory.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 8 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on December 1. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 978 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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Was Recently Asked About These 8 Stocks
8. Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer was recently asked about. A caller asked if the stock is a buy, given that analysts are raising price targets. Cramer commented, “I like Newmont. Now, I do like Agnico better, but Newmont is real, real good.”
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) is a mining company that produces and explores gold, while also seeking copper, silver, zinc, lead, and other metals. Cramer mentioned the stock during the October 24 episode of Squawk on the Street. He said:
“Now people are saying, listen, Newmont’s down bad. Well Newmont’s all in sustained, costs, is much higher than Agnico. And in this quarter was even worse. Now I like the Newmont guys in general, but their free cash flow was down 8% primarily due to a decrease in net cash provided by operating activities as a result of unfavorable working capital impact. Meaning, in other words, we screwed up. Okay so forget them. I think that you wanna go with Agnico. They are really on fire. What a great company.”
7. Klarna Group plc (NYSE:KLAR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 50
Klarna Group plc (NYSE:KLAR) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer was recently asked about. A caller inquired if they should continue investing in KLAR or pull out. In response, Cramer said, “I saw the guy on TV today, he made a lot of sense. Sell it and buy Affirm.”
Klarna Group plc (NYSE:KLAR) is a technology-driven payments company that provides payment, advertising, and digital banking solutions. It is worth noting that during the September 10 episode, Cramer said that he prefers Affirm over the company’s stock, as he remarked:
“So, how does Klarna’s valuation look now? Well, when the Klarna deal priced above the range of $40 per share last night, the company was being valued at just over 15 billion. With the stock opening in the 50s today, that was closer to 20 billion. After the pullback, it’s now valued at over 17 billion, slightly higher than what the venture capitalists were paying earlier this year. I gotta tell you, I kinda like Klarna at this price. I really do.
Using some back-of-the-envelope… let me give you these numbers: I’m expecting Klarna to put up $3.23 billion in sales this year, up 15% from last year. That was its growth rate in the first half, and I’m just kind of projecting it forward. I think that’s reasonable. Using that assumption, stock’s now selling for roughly 5.4 times this year’s sales. Okay, remember this… This is sales. The nice thing is that we have some good publicly traded analogs. Affirm, the best-known buy now, pay later outfit, trades at just under seven times sales. Sezzle, which is more of a second-rate player if you don’t mind, is right around the same level at 6.9 times sales.
Unlike Klarna, those two are profitable though, but Klarna is heading in the right direction. The bottom line: While Klarna roared right out of the gate, the stock hasn’t gone to an insane valuation yet. I think the numbers look good. So I think it can be bought at these levels, even as I make no secret about it, I’ve liked competitor Affirm and its creative CEO Max Levchin for ages. And even up here, I prefer Affirm to Klarna.”
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