Transcript
Jim Cramer (0:00)
Meet Venu on the NYSE American Symbol Venu Disrupting a multi billion dollar live music industry. Venu owns and operates upscale music venues, outdoor amphitheaters with seven revenue sources $166 million in assets Luxury suite sales of $77 million in 2024 $200 million expected in 2025 56% year over year Growth venue on the NYSE American Venu what if your limited inventory had unlimited potential?
Greg (0:35)
What if your biggest risk was not taking one? What if you could make every move matter?
Jim Cramer (0:41)
Bank of America's business solutions can help bring your biggest what ifs within reach.
Jason Liberty (0:45)
Find out how our digital tools, cutting.
Greg (0:47)
Edge insights and trusted expertise can work for your business. What would you like the power to do? Visit bankofamerica.com bankingforbusiness to learn more.
Jason Liberty (0:56)
Bank of America is proud to be the official bank sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2026.
Jim Cramer (1:03)
My mission is simple to make you money. I'm here to level the playing field for all investors. There's always a bull market somewhere and I promise to help you find it. Mad Money starts now. Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Cramerica. I'll be with my friends. I'm just trying to save you a little money. My job is not just entertainment, but also to educate, put everything in context that I can. So call me 107.3 CNBC tweet me Jim Cramer. The Wal Mart White House seems determined to bring every day lower prices to the stock market. And that means we're just going to have to live with the pain. As this administration sees it. Investors want to suffer because the mold must be broken, the status quo interrupted. We can't worry about the stock market, for heaven's sake. It'll take care of itself. Including that vicious thrust and very weak parry is a notion that you don't need to invest, you don't need to own stocks. Every asset class is caveat empty at this point. So you just take your chances and do your best to accept the inevitable pain. It can be difficult, it can be almost nonsensical, it can be almost whimsical. And it can lead to days like today where The Dow plunged 670 points, S&P tumbled 1.2%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.35%. Hey, by the way, that was a nice comeback. We're down 1300 Dow points in two days and the President just can't focus on it and work on the trade issues at the same time. Trade amounts is illegal. Immigration, Fentanyl they all take precedence over the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Now, I've been off for a couple of days. Just give me actual clarity into how the situation will shake out. I make no judgments about whether the Trump administration's worldview is good or bad or even right or wrong. I just want to put it out there so you know what you're getting into. If you decide to stay in stocks during what's becoming a tumultuous phase in our country's history, all this could change. But let me give you the state of play right now. First, what matters to the White House is not whether a country is an ally, it's whether that country pays its freight. Its approach is very uneven, which makes it very difficult to fathom. For example, as they see it, Mexico and Canada unfairly take our jobs and even have the gall to have a trade deficit with us. Oh, and they let Fentanyl slip through the border, which kills our young people, so they have to pay the price, 25% tariff. Now, I want to be clear. I'm not endorsing this view. It's what's happening. Second, it doesn't matter if there's a preexisting trade agreement among France. Doesn't matter if Trump himself negotiated that deal in his first term. As the White House sees it, we didn't sign these trade agreements thinking they'd steal our jobs, even if it meant that we get cheaper products in exchange and our companies get access to the markets. Our trade agreements with Mexico were meant to keep us in business by exploiting the possibilities of cheap Mexican labor, which allow our manufacturers to escape from the clutches of expensive American labor unions. None of that matters now. Third, the changes are inconsistent. But so what? American companies that use Mexican and Canadian labor will have to pay a big but. South Korea, South Korean, Japanese and European companies, they ship millions of cars here with de minimis tariffs. Nobody said things had to be fair. Will tariffs on our trading partners, these next ones, are they going to come? There's no sign that they will. No sign that they won't. So you have to stay on your toes with these. These tariffs. We are subsidizing South Korea, Japan and Europe at the expense of Jim Ford. Ironically, the only country seems to be immune to tariffs right now is Russia. Again, that's not a pejorative. The Russians run a relative, relatively small trade deficit with us, so the White House doesn't seem to care. Fourth, Taiwan may or may not be relevant. It could help its cause if it started paying more for its defense. It doesn't matter. The Taiwan semis located there and is the most single most important strategic asset in the world for both our industry and our military. Perhaps it will cause Taiwan. It will help Taiwan's cause. The Taiwan Semi has pledged to put $165 billion to work here despite the seeming impossibility of finding the construction workers or the engineers. They're basically paying us tribute. And that could do the trick in the absence of heavy weapons purchases, as between the Chinese and the Taiwanese. The Chinese can't buy weapons from us, but the Taiwanese can. So why don't they open their darn checkbook? That's how the administration sees it. Fifth, there's no knowledge of how and when the tariff out of Mexico will be paid. Will you get a bill? Will the truckers get a bill? Will the whole thing be run on the honor system? Will it apply to every company? Will there be special pleadings? We don't know. Technically, tariffs should be enforced by the Customs and Border Protection. They got their hands full with Trump's deportation plan, so who knows? 6 if an American company commits to a giant policy of job and factory expansion in this country, will it be eligible for some sort of rebate against punitive countries that would otherwise hold them hostage? Think Apple. Or are they paying up no matter what? Seventh, it does not matter at all that tariffs have historically been considered bad for business or that they hurt our economy, something that President Ronald Reagan laid out most eloquently when he had to put targeted tariffs in the Japanese semiconductor industry. Want to see a more conventional way to talk about trade and the need for fairness without causing great havoc? I suggest this Listening to Reagan's brilliant radio address from April 25th of 1987 on the eve of a visit by the Japanese prime minister, Trump has repudiated Reagan's views on free trade. In the context of today, Reagan seems soft line and simple. He was never soft line and simple, never will be. As the White House sees it, that approach doesn't work anymore because our allies are no longer useful. In fact, they're all free riders except the Russians, as we know after Friday's press briefing with the jumpsuit attired head of Ukraine. Did you expect Brioni? Eighth, it makes no difference what our allies say or do. Their assurances mean nothing if you're upset and sell stocks because of them, or if you bought stocks while Biden was president, or even few months ago when you could convince yourself that Trump wouldn't go crazy with the tariffs. Well, that doesn't matter. As the White House sees it. This isn't about you, it's about American hegemony. Ninth, Canada is a total abstraction, not a true trade dispute. Their way out of the jam is just to say, listen, we really would prefer to be the 51st state if you'd let us. The White House sees their sovereignty as an insult. 10. This administration thinks it's simply unbelievable that investors are complaining. The CEOs aren't complaining, right? Have you heard anyone complain? They aren't saying anything. Why can't investors just go buy all sorts of crypto currencies? Go on for a darn ride. They got the call about the strategic crypto reserve ahead of time. Can't they just run ahead of it? What's the big deal? Oh, and the groundswell about how in videos weighed down from its highs as the greatest TV character of our time, Jeff Probst from Survivor likes to say, when you vote off the island ain't got nothing for you. Now, before you say that this is an unfair characterization, let me say to you, do you want to make money or not? You now know the parameters. You can figure out the crevasses navigate. Sometimes it will mean buying the Mag 7 when they're really oversold, as it was the case today. Sometimes the health care and consumer products, even ones that are being hectored by GOP just once. Terrible afternoon reversal those stocks, by the way, from a crazy rambunctious opening. Look out below. One more wild card tonight. Commerce Secretary Howard London said that in the last of his myriad interviews of the day that maybe the Canadian and Mexican tariffs could be partially rolled back perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Yes, it is all that capricious and you better get used to it if you're going to own stocks. But the bottom line, now you know the 10 most important things about this environment. Put them on your wall. They could really come in handy pretty soon or even tomorrow. Oh, by the way, good luck. You just might need it. Hey, why don't we go to Greg in New Jersey? Please, Greg.