
Listen to Jim Cramer’s personal guide through the confusing jungle of Wall Street investing, navigating through opportunities and pitfalls with one goal in mind - to help you make money. Mad Money Disclaimer
Loading summary
Fidelity Representative
Don't just ride the index, seek to outperform it with Felc, the Fidelity Enhanced Large CAP Core ETF. Unlike passive ETFs, FELC is run by a team of experts to adapt to market conditions and pursue upside potential wherever it's hiding. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms just like any other ETF. Discover FELC, the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF part of Fidelity's suite of active ETFs. Learn more at fidelity.com felc before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus and offering circular or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC.
CNBC Anchor
Amid tariff uncertainty and downgrades to growth, will the labor market remain steady? What the March jobs report could indicate for the economy and possible future rate cuts. Numbers and analysis squawk box tomorrow 8:30am Eastern CNBC.
Jim Cramer
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. Man Money Start now. Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Cramerica. Other than my friends now, I'm just trying to save a little money here. My job is not just entertain but to teach you explain things like what happened today. So call me at 1-800-7-3 CNBC tweet Mitchell Kramer on a real tough day for you and your portfolio and me and my Chapel Trust. You know I'm going to do I take a different approach. I've asked you to try to come out here constructive. I know what you're wondering. You're saying how do you handle this new Trump tariff regime? Get out now. Sell everything. Sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. No no, no. You just have to buy some different stocks and maybe trim some of the new found riskier ones. You buy stocks that have a couple of important characteristics encapsulated by this one sense. You want stocks of domestic companies with pricing power and with no slackening in demand or credit risks that do well to slowdown and that's it. That's what works. That's what we buy. That's what will get a higher price earnings multiple in the market and it's already started happening today. Oh, horror show session where the Dow tumbled 1679 S&P plunged 4.84% and the Nasdaq plummeted 5.97. It's painful to lose so many great stocks. Classics. The tax the enterprise saw for the sickles, consumer discretionaries. But you have to pare them back because they don't work in this new world. Maybe when they get that much lower, but not yet. And maybe the president changes his mind. He seemed to give a little wiggle room this evening, but we don't know. Okay, only with phenomenal opportunities maybe. All right, now we saw exactly what we're seeing today in April of 2000 when we recognize that the dot com year was over. So you had to sell Qualcomm and Cisco and WorldCom to say nothing of the newly minted dot coms, most of which went under. In return, what did you have to do? You had to go buy Bristol Myers, Procter Gamble, Coca Cola. Textbook slowdown stocks. It was painful because it was too simple and it happened over a week. Too ridiculous. But it worked as the dotcom implosion spared none of the old favorites. I was so bummed I'd feast it off of Intel, Microsoft for years, but also off of tech junk like Infospace, Copper Mountain next, you know, I'm discovering the wonders of the drug middleman like McKesson. What a nightmare. But it worked. After dumping tech and bulking up on the slowdown, stocks by hedge fund finished up bad year up 36%. We pulled it off because we recognized that the world had changed. Tech valuations had gotten too high while the fundamentals were falling apart. That good news is that's not happening in tech times Tech this time tech is good now we're just trying to find a price now because of these brutal tariffs. We're facing a similar moment though about a dozen groups worked in 2000. So I'm going to dust off that 2000 playbook that I have. Okay. I know it's 25 years ago, but I still have it with stocks that investors will be willing to pay up for because their earnings won't disappoint even in a bad economy. Right? The first, the drug middleman. These three cardinal health, McKesson and Sanquora, which is the artist formerly known as Amara Sourcebergen. They like to call themselves solution companies. And cardinal really is you can't kill these drug middlemen. And believe me, many politicians would love to get rid of them, but nobody's ever laid a glove on Them, they are the original rope with overs. Second, pharma never. I think this you need to own at least one stock like Bristol Myers or Abbott Labs or Abbvie. They are sedate and steady growers with Abbvie and Bristol offering real good dividend protection which is a lot more valuable now that rates are coming down. I like Eli Lilly too, but it might be too flashy and aggressive at this moment. Right now we want slow and steady, not revolutionary. That looks like tech. Third, health insurers. These hated companies are perfect for this new market. Again, do not mess with what's going to work. Just go buy the best. And that is UnitedHealth. It has great systems and tremendous tech. I also like Cigna, but not as much as you would. H got my permission to dislike these companies as much as you want as long as you own. Fourth, you want financial technology companies with no credit risk. Here I go with our landlord. Yes, the Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of what people call the nice the New York Stock Exchange among a host of other stock exchanges. At this stage in the cycle, you never want to own a stock that needs people to do well because fewer people will do well in this country. And the Fed won't help as it'll be too worried about inflation from the tariffs. You buy the Fintech names that have zero credit risk because people will soon be defaulting on their debts. MasterCard and Visa, by the way, they work too. They don't have credit risk. Fifth, you know what's really in the driver's seat here? Telco. The price wars are over, people. Verizon and ATT have good deals. They both work. They've been working at suddenly out executing everybody else in the space. It also has the best chart in the entire book. Six low priced retailers that offer great value are so great here. And that means TJX and Costco. Right now all sorts of retailers are ordering stuff as fast as they can to beat the tariffs. Right? We heard that they're ordering too much though. They won't be able to sell it all. So what do they do? They dump their excess inventory, which is good inventory to TJX like they always do. Costco subscription market with a club motif. Fighting for low prices, fighting for you. Costco is where you go when you want to hoard ahead of the government mandated price inflation from the tariffs. You won't regret going. You won't regret buying. I'll see you Saturday. Seventh, say you're a foreign government and you want to get on the President's good side. Historically what you did was you place big orders with Boeing or Lockheed Martin. These stocks are down today because it takes a bit of thinking before you realize that that countries can probably get Trump to lower the tariffs they're paying by ordering big ticket defense items from these heavy hitters. And it's a smart plan. Maybe that's what President Trump was talking about tonight on Air Force One when he said it was offered phenomenal deals. Maybe you'll see some of these countries buy a lot of our planes, a lot of our defense stuff. 8. What's a list of stocks that we're going to slow down which is what we're getting without the consumer package. Good stocks don't you have to have them. They can't be challenged. Your pocket, Coca Cola, Kimberly Clark. They all have pricing power. They worked in 2000. The work again. They were able to raise price. Nobody bought Nice. You're never going to go wrong buying the utilities here even if lower rates have already spurred a decent move. I go with Duke or American Electric Power. Don't look over. They went to. They're so up you think it's over. But it's not. Con it if you're chicken. Energy if you're aggressive. These stocks will run a slowdown even though most of them had very nice moves today. They'll surprise you. But how far they can go. 10th, you need some real estate investment trust that don't have any credit risk. I know I'm going to go with Ventas, which is senior assisted living and that's run by Asteb Cafo. It's her time to shine. I really like that realty income to let her row. Got some retailers though. Eleventh, the insurance companies about to clean up here as they did before this. They'll do well when interest rates go lower which is what's happening. They're raising prices with no real resistance. You know I like Chubb, which is the most careful of underwriters. And I had Hartford on recently. I really liked them. Yet be impressed. Finally, I want to give you one more name that is a little cyclicality and helps when a new housing development is going up among other reasons. And that's the old waste management debm. Now it's a little out there because it does depend on building something which depends on interest rates going down. But I do think rates will come down even though it wasn't part of the 2000 playbook. Now there will always be some anomalies. Today the Justice Department granted Capital One the right to buy Discover Financial. This deal was in limbo. It's now happening. I really like it. But the merger approval was totally obscured by today's horrific tape. We're buying more for the CNBC investing club because I just want to have a bigger position. This one now discovery deals going through. It does have credit risk, but there's a transformation going on and it's a special situation. And then there's in video. Okay, now listen to me for a second. Listen to me. Is down another 7% today. It's horrendous. I've been saying that. Right? Is that if I hit that from you, why in video? Because the White House blessed its goods that are made in Taiwan with no tariff too important, yet few noticed. I know there's a widespread belief that we're seeing a slackening in demand for AI infrastructure. All I can tell you is that I monitor this thing like a hawk. And there hasn't been a slackening. It's been in total acceleration. But nobody cares. And I know it's headed lower, but at least you know why I'm not selling all others don't get interesting as they go still lower because their fundamentals are good, but you can't buy them yet their stocks are too high because people won't pay up for those. Earnings trump gaff companies and their investors. But good. Today in retrospect, we were all fish in a barrel and now we're being filleted, beheaded and fried. It's tough to even think about taking a chance with the old guard. Just like 2000 every time you stuck your neck out back then, the stocks went lower still. Bottom line, I know that there's nothing more exciting to invest in than tech and tech will have its chance again in the future. But right now, in the April 2000 playbook, well in charge that book is. And that severely limits what you can own here. You now know what worked back then. And I bet the same groups will work once again. How about Joel in Ohio, please. Joe.
Caller
Thanks for taking my call.
Jim Cramer
Jim.
Caller
I can Phillips for a long time CLP and like everything else was down over 10 points today.
Jim Cramer
What do you think of it? I like it here. I would buy it. It sells. It's inexpensive, yields three and a quarter. It's one of the best run oils. You never really see this thing down like this. Let it be down. When you see stock down 10, probably going to go down three or four more points. And then I would buy some. That's exactly where you want to be. And it's a great call. Michael. New Jersey Michael I. Mr. Kramer, how are you? I am good. Booyah. Michael, thank you for calling. What's up?
Caller
I was on the comics since 1991.
Jim Cramer
I was a member there on the X on FCX.
Caller
What's your opinion on that?
Jim Cramer
Should I hold it? I've been buying it since, you know, I want you to hold it. I mean, it was really a shame what happened to fcx. FCX has been going up because we need it for data centers and the Chinese were ordering some. Suddenly we dec decided that the Chinese aren't going to order any and the stock has given up so much of its gain. I would actually you look, you're from the Comeback, so you know more than I do. But I think that this is a very good level to buy some. But if you want to really hedge it, why not buy Barrick? Because Barrick Symbol Gold has gold and copper. That might be the best way to go. Hey, let's speak to Robert New York. Robert.
Caller
Jim, first of all, I want to just say this again, okay? If you recall weeks ago you said this was going to happen. You know, either I'm living in a fog and every, every analyst on tv, we can't believe this. Oh, this is, this is unbelievable. But if you listen to Jim Cramer, you would have had this called weeks ago. The money now, Jim.
Jim Cramer
Well, but to be fair, I thought that they were going to give real tariffs, not the kind of nonsense they did. And when I talk with them every day, and I was actually kind of saying, listen, this is the way if you want to explain it to people, because they knew that I was a fair trader and they've done that for very many years and they didn't do a good job. But how can I help you now?
Caller
But you did. But Jim, you called this weeks ago when you said it to me on the air. You were the one who called it that this was going to happen.
Jim Cramer
Well, thank you.
Caller
This is not a shock. Okay?
Jim Cramer
And okay, thank you. Very kind. Thank you, Jimmy. I really mean it. Thank you. That is very kind.
Caller
But it's true. Jim, I was with my friends the other day at a great steakhouse, having a steak at Brian and Cooper's and they were all worried about the stock market and one of them suggested this next company. And I said, we must go to Jim and ask him because I don't do anything without talking to you, Jim. That's the bottom line.
Jim Cramer
Thank you.
Caller
Company this company that manufactures and markets a wide range of food and beverages. In 2024, the company struggled to regain momentum with the stock declining 23% throughout the year. Their products aren't really seen as a healthy option. But what makes this company right now safe is the dividend yield of 5.18%, the annual dividend yield. There's a potential of a turnaround and the dividend yield is.
Jim Cramer
And what stock is that? Robert?
Caller
It's graph times.
Jim Cramer
I mean that's just a really poorly run company. I'm sorry, Robert. I mean, look, conagra is better on companies got better yield. I can't buy a company that has such that's just badly run. Anyway, look, right now we're back in the April 2000 playbook. Trust me, because I lived it and I did it. You know what worked then now, and there's no reason it can't work again. Tech will work again because it's not breaking down. But not yet. I may have money tonight if today's sell off response to the latest Trump tariffs. I'm telling you where I stand on the news and its impact then could stocks like Carvana and Carmax shift into high gear despite the tough market? I'm looking at the road ahead for the used car cohort. Plus as the price of gold sits near new highs. As I mentioned, we have Barrick Gold CEO. Let's see what he has to say. So stay with Kramer.
CNBC Anchor
Don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow imkramer on X. Have a question? Tweet Kramer Madmentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneynbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC missed something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.
Fidelity Representative
Don'T just ride the index, seek to outperform it with FELC, the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF. Unlike passive ETFs, FELC is run by a team of experts to adapt to market conditions and pursue upside potential wherever it's hiding. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms just like any other ETF. Discover FELC, the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF part of Fidelity's suite of active ETFs. Learn more at fidelity.com felc before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus and offering circular or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member NYSE SIPC Member.
CNBC Anchor
How will you shape the future of industrials with confidence? Whether you need to define your strategy, optimize your supply chain or keep pace with data driven manufacturing, EY professionals understand industrials and the sectors they supply, bringing the insights that deliver real outcomes. With a full spectrum of services, EY helps strengthen your business from factory floor to product development and beyond, so when the global market shifts, your business is agile enough to adapt. EY shape the future with confidence Amid tariff uncertainty and downgrades to growth, will the labor market remain steady? What the March jobs report could indicate for the economy and possible future rate cuts Numbers and Analysis squawk box tomorrow, 8:30am Eastern, CNBC.
Jim Cramer
What'S the deal with these heavy handed tariffs? Look, I've never been a dogmatic free trader. I believe in fair trade. Pretty fierce belief, just so you know. And we can only get that by lowering the boom on our trading partners who rip us off as a matter of policy. That's why, unlike most people in this business, I've never had a problem with tariffs. In theory. I think they can be a very effective tool when they're deployed strategically with a specific goal of mine. Unfortunately, that is not what we got yesterday. I'm honestly astounded by how poorly this new trade regime is being implemented. Last night's so called reciprocal tariffs being the best example. Come on, if we had reciprocal tariffs, that'd be one thing. As President Trump has said on many occasions, quote, they charge us, we charge them. Listen, whatever they charge us, we're charging them. So it works out very well. We're going to be doing reciprocal tariffs, so whatever they charge us, we're charging them. Nobody can complain about that reciprocal tariff of 34%, I think. In other words, they charge us, we charge them, we charge them less. So how can anybody be upset? Boy was I a believer in that. They charge us, we charge them. I thought that was so terrific. I thought it was an ideal so that anyone could understand. And I wanted reciprocal tariffs for certain. If Europe charges a 10% duty on our cars from the U.S. we should charge them 10% on their cars too, not two and a half percent. That's what we've been charging. Initially I actually thought that was what Trump was doing last night. He brought out a big beautiful color chart that announced the custom tariff rates that were slapping almost every country on earth, including, including a couple of uninhabited islands near Antarctica, but not including Russia, Cuba, North Korea or Belarus. The charts look simple. They had the country name on the left. Then a column entitled Tariffs charged the usa with a subheader that said including currency manipulation, trade barriers, so far so good. And then a final column with a USA discounted reciprocal tariffs, which is the new tariff rate that Trump slapping on their goods with a 10% minimum tariff across the board. Still, the chart made it look like we were cutting these countries a break, charging them just half the tariff rate that they're supposedly charging us. But pretty quickly, people started to realize that something was very wrong with these numbers. And you saw it with the stock futures going down, the figures for tariffs charged to the USA were not in fact tariffs charged the USA. Vietnam doesn't hit us with a 90% tariff on our exports, even when you include currency manipulation and non tariff barriers to trade. So we were all wondering where the heck they got these numbers. And not long after the speech, we found out. According to James Sorwicki, the author of the Wisdom of Crowds, a fabulous book, and also a former financial writer for the New Yorker, who my trust follow on Twitter, you can go, follow me. Is pretty terrific. The White House simply took out, took our trade deficit with each country and then divided it by that country's exports to America. Then they cut that number in half to determine the tariff rate we'd be slapping on the country in question. Now, within a couple of hours, the administration more or less confirmed that was how they come up with the numbers, with an unnamed official explaining that our trade deficits with these countries are, quote, the sum of all unfair trade practices, the sum of all cheating. Hmm, that's ill advised. Now, this evening, President Trump says he's open to tariff cuts if he gets some phenomenal offers. But who the heck knows what those are? I don't even know what, man, I studied this all my life. I don't even know what he's talking about. There's a lot of room for improvement here. I hope that Trump knows that. For example, let's make up a country, America. Okay, great. America. If the U.S. imports $100 billion, okay, $100 billion of goods from Creamerica and Cramerica takes in $10 billion in goods from the U.S. then the U.S. would have a $90 billion trade deficit with Creamerica. That means Creamerica would have been on President Trump's list with a 90% tariff rate in the middle column, and we'd be hit with a 40% tariff in response. But none of this has anything to do with tariffs. Neither tariffs or non tariff barriers factor into this calculus at all. Whether Craig, America had a 0% tariff on US goods or 100% tariff on US goods, it wouldn't have mattered because Trump's only looking at the size of the trade deficit relative to total imports, not the tariffs. So why does this matter? Because if Trump's tariffs aren't based on what other countries are actually doing to us, then there's nothing reciprocal about them. We should never use that word. He's just punishing any country that we have a trade deficit with. Let's consider a real example this time. Let's go to the southern African nation of Lesotho, which had the misfortune of being one of the two most highly tariff nations on Trump's list. They're being hit with a 50% duty on their exports to America. That happened because lesotho only imported $2.8 million worth of US goods last year, whereas we imported roughly 240 million worth of stuff from them. Now, the thing is, Lesotho is a really tiny country. Virtually everything we buy from them is either apparel or diamonds. But because it's a very poor country, they can't afford to buy much from us. So what happens now? To start, we're going to have to pay a lot more for any apparel or diamonds from Lesotho. Maybe we can replace the apparel with diamonds. I mean, that's a lot harder. And the only way for Lesotho to get out of this jam is by importing more stuff from America, which it can't do because it doesn't have any money. So the President has likely just made things more expensive for Americans and not really change the behavior of our trading partners. That leads me to my next point. Wasn't the goal of these tariffs to change behavior? Apparently not. Earlier this week, in the run up to yesterday's announcements, Vietnam and Israel either significantly reduced their tariffs on American goods or totally removed them altogether. That was really encouraging. Trump hadn't even announced anything yet, and these countries were already playing ball. Win, win. That's the art of the deal, baby. But then this list of tariffs came out yesterday, and guess what? Vietnam's getting hit with a whopping 46% tariff, which is why Nike Lululemon on holding and Columbia Sportswear stock got crushed today as they do a ton of manufacturing over there. Israel got hit with a 17% tariff. So these countries did what we wanted and they still got punished anyway. I mean, how does that make any sense? Even the countries that we have a trade surplus with, like the United Kingdom, they're being hit by Trump's baseline 10% tariff. Why? Just because. Listen, I have favored tariffs, especially reciprocal tariffs, but there's nothing reciprocal about what Trump announced yesterday. The new tariffs announced yesterday are instead a poorly thought out way to try to correct the trade imbalances that exist between the US and most other countries. Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen because we're the richest country in the world, so we have more money to spend on goods than anybody else. If Trump wants to run a trade surplus with the entire world, the only way to do that is, is by making America much poorer. Nobody, at least I look once that I just wish the administration had been straight with us about what they're trying to accomplish here. Because these tariffs have nothing to do with changing bad behavior from our trading partners. Not at all. Unfortunately. This whole tariff rollout has been chaotic and disjointed from the get go. Frankly, this starts with President Trump, who still to this day simply won't explain how these tariffs actually work. He says that they're paid by the countries we trade with, and that's not true. Here's an example. I'll pay for them on this. My wife owns this company. Plus four Mezcal, right? We import from Mexico, we sell it here. I wish we didn't have to pay, but they don't grow topologies juice here, only in Mexico. So we pay the tariff. That's the brakes. Now we're going to pay a higher tariff. I don't know. Sounds like we pay it, not them. Here's the bottom line. I wish I could get behind this new tariff regime because I've never been a free trader ever. But the White House doesn't seem to understand what it's trying to do. And the not really reciprocal tariffs we got yesterday could do tremendous damage to the US economy, of course, including the stock market, without changing the bad behavior of our trading partners. To me, this has become a lose lose, which is very tough to accept because I wanted tariffs to change things, not direct things. And money's back into the break.
Fidelity Representative
Don't just ride the index. Seek to outperform it with FELC, the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF. Unlike passive ETFs, FELC is run by a team of experts to adapt to market conditions and pursue upside potential wherever it's hiding. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms, just like any other ETF. Discover FELC, the Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF, part of Fidelity's suite of active ETFs learn more at fidelity.com felcing before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus and offering circular or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail in index as compared with passive ETFs. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC.
CNBC Anchor
Amid tariff uncertainty and downgrades to growth, will the labor market remain steady? What the March jobs report could indicate for the economy and possible future rate cuts. Numbers and Analysis squawk box tomorrow 8:30am Eastern, CNBC.
Jim Cramer
Now that we're coping with the aftermath of President Trump's extreme tariff announcements, we got to figure out how to make some money with suddenly become a very, very difficult market. These tariffs are brutal for a whole host of industries, but there are some businesses that are basically immune. Take the used car sales. As of today, there's now a 25% tariff on imported automobiles. And given that half of the cars we sold last year were imports, suddenly half of new cars the United States are likely to cost a lot more. Maybe not the whole 25%, but I'm guessing most of it. Plus there are also tariffs on imported auto parts, which will make domestic cars more expensive too. Long story short, if there's a new car, it's going to cost you a lot more than you thought. Worse, given all the other tariffs announced yesterday, the consumer's budget is already going to be stretched thin even without buying big ticket items. And that's why I bet people will look to save money however they can. Which brings me to the used car salesman, especially Carvana and Carmax. If new cars are too expensive, why don't you just go buy used cars? It really is that simple. Carvine is interesting because it's been taking share like crazy for years. They make it easy to buy your car online. You know we like this, we we profile these guys so many times you can either deliver to you, they'll do that right your house or let you pick up from one of their car vending machines. Basically gigantic automated garage looks it looks like a soda machine. If you don't like it, they got a seven day money back guarantee. I've bought and returned a car once I didn't like how it looked, they took it back. Carvanas also made some very smart acquisitions along the way, like a vehicle auction business that gave them access to a lot more inventory as well as the infrastructure to repair and refresh old cars on their own. Cheap and well, this stock wore during the pandemic. But like every other fast growing speculative operation, Carvanas collapsed as the world went back to normal. During the worst times in late 2022 and 2023, there was open speculation that the company may not even make it. But Carvana, with a very smart management, defied all of its critics and pulled through by raising capital. Now, I'm not sure exactly where the fierce critics gave up, but at some point over the past couple of years, they threw in the towels. The Stock rallied from $3 in September 2022 to a high of $292 and change in this February. I am glad we got on board in the low teens. Since setting that high in February, Carvana has come down hard with the rest of the market. Okay, but after quickly catching up on the story, you know what? I don't think that much has changed here fundamentally. Their fourth quarter earnings report looks solid with the top and bottom line beat on top of higher than expected gross profit per unit, which is one of the key metrics for the used car business. Theirs is terrific. Carvana's full year outlook, while a bit vague, but who can blame them with all this craziness, but still pretty optimistic. They're, they're talking about significant growth in retail units sold for 2025. And in terms of the current quarter, management expects, quote, a sequential increase in both retail units sold and adjusted ebitda, assuming the environment remains stable, end quote. Now that last qualifier might give Carvine a little wiggle room to disown this quarterly guidance. But you know, as the environment's been anything but stable. But the point remains that management was very optimistic when it last reported. Just six weeks though. When I look at these tariffs though, I think the environment has changed in Carvana's favor. Suddenly used cars represent ridiculous value versus heavily tariff new cars. So this one should be a winner. Until they start running out of merchandise, which, I don't know, take a long time, they're pretty well prepared. Still, Carvana remains a high multiple stock selling for about 50 times this year's earnings estimates. And it remains a pretty volatile trader as we saw today. So if you're looking for a safer way to play this used car thesis, all right, you got my blessing to buy CarMax, which is lower risk but also lower reward. Well, Carvana claims to be the nation's fastest growing used car dealer. CarMax remains the largest dealer of used cars. Last year they sold 770,000 of these things along with another 550,000 used vehicles sold at its auctions. While the company certainly not a digital first operation like Carvana, CarMax should get credit for seriously improving their omnichannel infrastructure over the past few years. I'd argue that they have a very competitive online model at this point. They have showed it to me. It is really, really smart. Of course, CarMax hasn't been having particularly great results as of late, with persistently high interest rates biting into the business that you would expect during the first nine months of the company's fiscal 2025, the 12 month period that ended in February, CarMax sales and earnings per share were both down about 3%. Unit sales held up okay, but average selling prices have taken a hit. FYI, CarMax reports again next away from today and I don't have a good read on what how that's going to be. So you might want to wait to see what they have to say before you pull the trigger. I'm not trying to make a call about the quarter. That's really important that you know that. I'm telling you the entire used car industry wins as long as the White House maintains these tariffs on new cars. Now that's a good transition to another disclaimer that we want to give, which is that there's going to be a temporary boost to new car sales here as customers rush to buy cars that got here before the tariffs started being imposed today. In fact, they appear that's already started. You know we're hearing that March cars sales ended up pretty good. Philip Bow said that to me this morning walking the street. We both expect that April will be good, May could be good. Most dealerships have about 60, 90 days of inventory, so we could see this dynamic last for another two or three months. But don't be fooled. Any boom in car sales over these next couple of months is essentially a pulling forward demand from the summer and it will evaporate once people need to start paying tariff adjusted prices. There will be some real sticker shock. So why bring up the used cars today? Because these stocks are getting crushed today and I think it will be turned out to be amazing buying opportunity in a market that doesn't have a lot of them. Carvana plunged almost 20% today. CarMax was down nearly 8%. I think these prices are wrong. I think we could see more weakness first though as we hear about a short term pop in new auto sales. But that only makes me like Carvine and CarMax even more. These are stocks that get cheaper as they get lower blowing to companies that should be rare beneficiaries from Trump's new tariff regime. Of course, if this period of tariff related turmoil morphs into a full blown recession, all best or what. Sure, used cars will be in much better shape than new cars. But nobody wants to buy any kind of car when the economy falls off a cliff. And you know that not even Carmax or Carvana can withstand an outright recession. So if you want to own these, you're betting that the tariff turmoil will be bad enough to wreck new car sales, but not so bad that it causes a truly economic slight economic slowdown and nobody buys cars. Bottom line here. Now that we know the details of President Trump's draconian new tariff regime, not reciprocal draconian, we have to try to pick from a much narrower group of winners because these import duties are devastating for a whole host of former winners. It's slim pickers out there, people, as you can probably tell from today's market wide beat down. But winners will eventually emerge from the new tariff regiment. And I think the auto tariffs represent a huge gift for used car dealers like Carvana and Carmax. I do like them both. Let's go to Gallimar in California. Gallimar.
Caller
Hi Joe.
Jim Cramer
Hey man, what's up? I appreciate everything you're doing just recently. Thank you. We're trying so hard. It's so hard. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Caller
All right, so I'm a value investor with a five year budget plan in mind. How should someone like me approach to Stellantis as a long term investment?
Jim Cramer
I think it's very hard. I think that they've changed the, the rules have changed so much that for all I know if things don't pick up, they need capital because it sells at 4 times earnings. I'm going to ask you not to do that one. I'm going to ask you to be if you're going to go there. I think, I think that in the autos I like GM more but I don't really care for the autos. It's a bad house in a bad neighborhood. I don't want you in there. I really don't. Let's go to Stafford in California. Hey Stafford. Hey Jim.
Caller
How are you?
Jim Cramer
I'm good. How are you doing, buddy? I'm okay, thanks. I want to get your thoughts on Goodyear Tire. Value trap, my friend. Value trap. So many people have tried to make this thing work in my career so many times and every time that's happened it just doesn't pay off. I Do not, I do not want Stanford in there. Let's talk to another longtime caller. Why don't we go to Trey in Texas? Trey.
Caller
Jim. Wish me luck. I'm interviewing with Harvard Business School tomorrow.
Jim Cramer
Are you really? What are you gonna be? The gene?
Caller
Well, they're actually seeking an experienced janitorial professional. You know, I consider myself an expert in the custodial arts and I'm ready to seriously enhance their restroom and other common area facilities.
Jim Cramer
What can I say? You're jack of all trades, master of none.
Caller
I appreciate that. I'm calling today about another titan of housekeeping industry. What do you think of ABM here?
Jim Cramer
I like that stock, you know. What do you know, Trey, that no one in the 20 years of the show has ever asked me about a stock that I just like, plain and simple. You've got a good one. It's a janitorial, as you alluded to. Lighting, parking, security. This is the kind of company that Trump cannot hurt. He can wake up and say, how do I destroy abm? And he can. It's Trump proof, all right. Finding winners in this tape has got tough, but winners will start to emerge. And I'm betting used car dealers like Carvana and Carmax are among them. Much more money, including my check in with Canada based metal producer Barrick Gold. I love gold here, I really do. And then how are the new tariff announcements affecting the tech titans? You know, miss, my take is, man, am I ever on this. Like white on, right? And all your calls, rapid fire. Tonight's edition of the Lightning round. So stay with Kramer during this multi month market wide sell off. The only people are smiling are the ones who own gold. Now, you know, I've long shaping keep some money, the precious metals kind of insurance against economic chaos. And now that's paying off. Gold prices briefly hitting an all time high last night in the wake of Trump's liberation day tariff announcements. But while the price of gold has roared, some of the gold miners still have a lot of room to play catch up. Take Barrick Gold, the Canadian producer of gold and copper with mines all over the world. These guys reported terrific quarter mid February, but the stocks only up a couple of bucks from these levels even though the price of gold has soared. So could this be a terrific buying opportunity in the kind of stock that works when the world's going insane? Well, let's check in with Dr. Mark Bristow. He's the President CEO of Barrick Gold to find out. Dr. Bristow, welcome back to Money.
Dr. Mark Bristow
Nice to see you again.
Jim Cramer
Yes, same. Now why don't you tell me in your words why it is such a terrific place, time for gold. Because this is a rather remarkable move after many years where you and I thought this would happen.
Dr. Mark Bristow
Absolutely. This is what we're seeing. And it's not just about tariffs, Jim. This is about excesses across the world. You know, high debt in the developing economies, reckless management of taxpayers money and, and, and, and a decline in the value of the paper money that we know. And that's what gold has always been. You and I have always spoken about the fact you can't print gold.
Jim Cramer
No. And that's why we have been since the day I met you. You know, I feel, I feel just like you do now. One of the things that's been vindicated also is that ever since the most recent kind of nuttiness, bitcoin has stopped going up. It had a big move. Perhaps people are realizing that. Right. But I mean that's definitely had a moment, right? It had its moment. Now do you think that the moment has come and gone or does it even matter?
Dr. Mark Bristow
Well, it doesn't matter. As you see. Do you recall those early days back in 1999 where people said that gold was finished, it was done, it'll never really be a value asset. And you look back to 1972 all the way, gold is outperformed all the other asset classes right now.
Jim Cramer
Mark, one of the things that I think people don't understand and you're going to help us, people think there's just an unlimited amount of gold. How much gold do we replace each year in the world versus what we had?
Dr. Mark Bristow
We haven't replaced what we've mined. Now since the turn of the century, what's happened is that the rising gold price has allowed gold miners to continue to deliver more gold. But essentially we shrinking our industry's asset base. And by the way, Jim, the same goes for copper miners. And so because why you've seen all the big drive. We want dividends, we want payouts, we want more money from our shareholders, particularly the fund managers. And you know me, I'm always about how to make sure that we keep investing in the future. And so Barrick today, you know, we recognize Barrick had some great assets, poorly run maybe, but great assets. And we've worked hard to develop that. And today we have plus 15 years we've got a number of mines, four out of our six tier mines that are over 30. And that's the Runway that you need to be able to really deliver value over the long Term.
Jim Cramer
Okay. Now, I actually love what you're doing in the United States and Nevada and how you're developing. It's perfect. You know, I always like to question you on the idea of some of these far flung areas. Mali, have they released your workers yet? Because that would be a place where you have done so much business with them. It is outrageous that they have taken your workers.
Dr. Mark Bristow
Absolutely outrageous. They still haven't released our workers and we've still got the mine closed. But we are talking, Jim, because at the end of the day, they are now saying they need us. We have always said that we'll work with them to create value for all our stakeholders, including our host country. As you know, that's what we do. But I've got no doubt at the end of the day we'll fix it and we'll be able to deliver more value out of that asset. That asset has delivered enormous value, number one, for the Mali people and the government and of course, all our stakeholders, including Barrick and before that, Grand Gold Resources.
Jim Cramer
So you're willing to continue to work there and be in other areas where you've also had some problems. We know that you have said that these are things that you can cure and you have. But what point do you say, you know what, it's not worth my time when I have these unbelievable assets in the United States.
Dr. Mark Bristow
Every, every. If you want to be. I've always said if you want to be world class, you need to be global. And mining is a risky business, as you know, and you point to, no matter where you operate. And we've had our challenges in the US We've, you know, depends on, you know, every four years we've got to deal with somebody different. And, and, but the thing that drives me, and it always has, is focus on high quality assets and you can manage the risk. And we certainly have done that and continue to do that.
Jim Cramer
All right, well, let me answer point blank something because I'm looking at what happened today. Is President Trump the best thing that could ever happen to gold?
Dr. Mark Bristow
No, I think he's, I mean, he's doing his job, I believe. And you know, the world needs a reset and whether you use tariffs and trade imbalances and anything else, there's lots, lots that we can debate around that. I think what's helped gold is, as we've just referenced, is the excesses of the past, particularly the developed economies. And all around the world is in a mess. You know, if you go back to 1999, we didn't have any conflict you know gold was low every people used to think that the dollar was the all time, you know asset. It's different today and everyone's in trouble. If you look at the debt the in across the developed world it's unsustainable and that's what why people are buying.
Jim Cramer
Gold because politic print it well you know I think that it's more than just a store holder value and I've always valued exactly what you have taught me sir. You have taught me a great deal. I want to thank Dr. Mark Bristow who's President and CEO of Barrick Gold and it is great to see you again. Thank you Jim. Ned money's back here.
CNBC Anchor
Coming up Cramer takes your calls and the sky's the limit. It's a fast fire lightning round next.
Jim Cramer
It is time. It's time for the light roaches. Remember that's Drive Colson by the way and then the lightning round is over. Are you ready ski daddy? Time for the lightning round. Kramer's day Monday. I want to start with Joe in New Jersey. Joe, hello Mr. Kramer. Thank you for taking my call. Always great to speak to you Joe. How can I help with the carrots going into effect?
Caller
Is Louisiana Pacific Corp a buy off of its highs?
Jim Cramer
It would have been a buy if we banned Canadian lumber and we didn't so the answer is no it is not. Thank you Joe. Let's go to Danny in Florida. Danny, hello Jim.
Caller
What's your current take on ubiquity? They have strong margins.
Jim Cramer
They do but it's expensive stock and what we're going to do is we're not going to pay up for those stocks going forward. That's the problem. Let's go to Tim in Iowa. Tim, hi Jim.
Caller
I've been watching a stock, lowest point in about four years. Is Teradyne a buy or.
Jim Cramer
No, not yet. No Teradyne not yet because we are not going to buy semiconductor test equipment in this experience right now when the semiconductors are lagging so bad that we can't go there. I need to go to Sam, Pennsylvania. Sam.
Caller
Jim, listen. Today was a sea of red but one area that offered a surprising upside with CNE Group stock is up 2% today.
Jim Cramer
Totally terrific stock on the Pro in ice. That's exactly where you have to be. That's fintech without credit risk. And that ladies and gentlemen is the conclusion of the Lightning round.
CNBC Anchor
The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up if we build it, will they come? Cramer is breaking down whether new tariffs can really bring jobs Back to the US Next.
Jim Cramer
This is one of those crazy moments like in the James Bond classic Goldfinger, where James Bond's on a table with Laser about to cut him in two and he asked the fabulous film Goldfinger, do you expect me to talk? And Goldfinger responds, no, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die. The Trump administration put these huge tariffs on last night, not because they want our trading partners to talk, but because they want our trading partners to die, metaphorically speaking. Tonight he opened for a little bit of wiggle room, but I believe it. When I'll see it. As the White House sees it though, these countries have ripped us off for ages. Remember when we were supposed to go to Mexico instead of building cars in Japan, Korea, Europe? Remember when you were supposed to wean yourself off of China by going to Vietnam for apparel? Turns out that was wrong. You weren't safe doing that. The government's new plan is even more simple. Build it here or else. Trump doesn't care if your company's done anything great to help our country. He welcomes everyone with open arms. But if you want access to our markets, you're building here, not talking here. I know that to many of you this sounds a little atavistic. Maybe you think we can't bring those jobs back and even if we did, they'd be low end jobs anyway. But you know what? They aren't. These are good manufacturing jobs of pensions and health care that were sacrificed by politicians of both parties. Jobs in exchange for cheaper goods made overseas. It's true that if these jobs were to flow back here, I know they chiefly be construction jobs, as the factories, when finished, might have more robots and people. The tariffs tend to make it what gamblers would call a push, where it might cost you more to sell things from the host country than it does to simply pay up to do your manufacturing here. But what it does to the stock market is a whole different story other than small, medium sized businesses that operate domestically. And the recession. Recession plays. I mentioned the top of the show. Everyone else is struggling to figure out what to do. Some will think that maybe conversations can be started with the administration to see if they can get something like what in Video got last night, an exception to the Taiwan tariff for national security reasons. Others are trying to figure out how to cut costs and bargain with their customers over who eats the cost of the tariffs. Still others, those without pricing power, are going to eat the tariff themselves. And then there are the hapless companies that will try to pass the tariffs on the consumer, losing business in the process and their stocks are going low. If that's the case, what happens to the stocks? All stocks? Simple. We pay less for the earnings of those that get hurt by the tariffs and much more for those who don't. We're sorting them out right now on the fly. Take Apple, I think the world of this company. But we can afford their phones only because they're made in China, not America. So time to pay less for the stock. And that's what happened today. Then again, there's Amazon, which got clubbed, but that's because people don't want to pay as much as they did before. Now that the prospect of recession is on the table, honestly I think there's a good chance recession happens because these tariffs will keep prices high, making very hard for the Federal Reserve to bail us out with rate cuts because we worried about inflation. And because of that, we can't pay as much for companies that might have got gotten a break if the Fed were able to cut. We can't pay as much for companies related to mortgages and cars. So today, right in front of us, we're witnessing what's known as multiple compression, the market's process of paying less, maybe much less for the earnings of companies that are directly or indirectly impacted by the tariffs. As much as these companies were caught off guard and there were investors were caught off too, and now we're scrambling. But unfortunately, this is not about our portfolios, is it? The President on a mission to reverse our trade deficits. And whether you like it or not, he's committed. That mission means the stock market will have to trade lower. Stocks are less worth less today than they were yesterday unless the whole business is domestic, lock, stock and barrel. In the movie, Bond intrigues Goldfinger enough that he gets released to go find out something Goldfinger wants. In this non movie, Trump doesn't have any curiosity. Instead, bond gets split in half and you can't put them back together again. I like to say there's always a bull market somewhere and I promise to try to find it just for you right here on Mid Money. I'm Jim Cramer and I'll see you tomorrow.
Fidelity Representative
All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal or their parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com madmoneydisclaimer trading@schwab is now powered by Ameritrade.
CNBC Anchor
Unlocking the power of thinkorswim. The award winning trading platforms loaded with features that let you dive deeper into the market. Visualize your trades in a new light on thinkorswim desktop with robust charting and analysis tools all while you uncover new opportunities with up to the minute market news and insights. ThinkOrSwim is available on desktop, web and mobile to meet you where you are. It's built by the trading obsessed to help you trade brilliantly. Learn more@schwab.com trading.
Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – Episode Summary (April 3, 2025)
Host: CNBC’s Jim Cramer
Episode Title: Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer
Release Date: April 3, 2025
In the April 3, 2025 episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer delves deep into the tumultuous effects of President Trump’s recent tariff announcements on the U.S. economy and the stock market. With a focus on identifying resilient investment opportunities amidst uncertainty, Cramer provides actionable insights, stock recommendations, and engages with caller inquiries to navigate the complexities of the current financial landscape.
Jim Cramer opens the episode by addressing the recent implementation of President Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, expressing skepticism about their strategic execution and potential effectiveness.
Notable Quote:
“Trump doesn’t have any curiosity. Instead, Bond gets split in half and you can't put them back together again.”
[44:12]
Cramer compares the new tariffs to a misguided attempt to reverse trade deficits without achieving their intended behavioral changes from trading partners. He critiques the administration’s method of calculating tariffs based on trade deficits rather than actual unfair trade practices, leading to unintended economic repercussions.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
“There will always be some anomalies. Today the Justice Department granted Capital One the right to buy Discover Financial. This deal was in limbo. It's now happening.”
[13:19]
Amid the tariff-induced market instability, Cramer shares a meticulously curated list of stocks poised to perform well despite the economic headwinds. He emphasizes focusing on sectors and companies with strong fundamentals, pricing power, and minimal credit risk.
Sector Breakdown and Recommendations:
Drug Middlemen:
Notable Quote:
“You want stocks of domestic companies with pricing power and with no slackening in demand or credit risks that do well to slowdown.”
[06:45]
Pharmaceuticals:
Health Insurers:
Financial Technology (Fintech):
Telecommunications:
Low-Priced Retailers:
Defense and Aerospace:
Utilities:
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs):
Insurance Companies:
Waste Management:
Notable Quote:
“Good stocks don’t you have to have them. They can't be challenged.”
[09:15]
Cramer conducts an insightful interview with Dr. Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick Gold, discussing the bullish outlook on gold amidst global economic uncertainties exacerbated by the new tariffs.
Key Discussion Points:
Notable Quotes:
“Gold has always been. You and I have always spoken about the fact you can't print gold.”
[36:23]
“The same goes for copper miners.”
[37:10]
“The world needs a reset and whether you use tariffs and trade imbalances and anything else, there's lots, lots that we can debate around that.”
[40:39]
Throughout the episode, Cramer engages with callers seeking investment advice, addressing specific stocks and broader market concerns.
Highlighted Calls:
Carolina Investor on LP Corp (Louisiana Pacific Corp):
Michael from New Jersey on FCX (Freeport-McMoRan):
Robert from New York on GraphTimes:
Trey from Texas on ABM Industries:
Lightning Round Insights: Cramer rapidly-fire discusses various stocks, maintaining a focus on sectors resilient to tariff impacts, while discouraging investments in currently overvalued or risky sectors like semiconductors.
Notable Quotes:
“These are stocks that get cheaper as they get lower.”
[25:28]
“Your pocket, Coca Cola, Kimberly Clark. They all have pricing power.”
[09:15]
In his closing remarks, Cramer emphasizes the importance of strategic stock selection in navigating the bearish market influenced by Trump’s tariff policies. He underscores the necessity of focusing on companies with strong fundamentals and pricing power to weather economic uncertainties.
Notable Quote:
“The President on a mission to reverse our trade deficits. And whether you like it or not, he's committed. That mission means the stock market will have to trade lower.”
[44:12]
Cramer reassures viewers that despite the current market challenges, there are still opportunities ("a bull market somewhere") for savvy investors to capitalize on resilient sectors and well-positioned stocks.
Jim Cramer's April 3rd episode of Mad Money serves as a comprehensive guide for investors amidst the disruptive impact of new tariff regimes. By offering a blend of strategic stock picks, expert interviews, and real-time market analysis, Cramer equips viewers with the tools to make informed investment decisions in a volatile economic environment.
This summary captures the essential discussions and insights from the April 3, 2025 episode of Mad Money with Jim Cramer, providing a clear and comprehensive overview for listeners and non-listeners alike.