Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 7/15/26

Summary

Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer — July 15, 2026

Podcast: Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer
Host: Jim Cramer (CNBC)
Episode Date: July 15, 2026
Summary Prepared by an Expert Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

This episode delves deep into the current state of the stock market through Jim Cramer’s signature lens—blending market analysis, metaphoric storytelling (with an art motif throughout), and rapid-fire listener Q&A during the Lightning Round. Cramer discusses the seemingly surreal disconnects in tech and financial stock movements, the ongoing AI investment boom, and deeper interviews with key market players. The show includes an exclusive interview with Robin Vince, CEO of BNY Mellon, and Bing West, defense expert and author, discussing the intersection of U.S. debt, military readiness, and global risk.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. Market Metaphor: The Art of Investing

(01:01–05:19)

• Cramer’s Opening: Sets the tone by comparing the day’s market to an impressionist painting—a bowl of fruit by Cezanne rather than a photorealistic still life.

• Main Point: Today’s market moves are “exaggerated,” with big tech showing outsized gains that may not be reflective of underlying business reality.

  “Sometimes the market can be like an abstract painting … And today we got the latter, with the Dow gaining 150 points… Like a Cezanne bowl of fruit… Oh, it was a beautiful picture, but does it reflect reality?”
  —Jim Cramer [01:01]

• Tech Stock Surge: Alphabet (Google), Apple, Meta, and Amazon lead with strong rallies, but Cramer questions the sustainability and links much of it to a high-profile interview where Warren Buffett endorsed Alphabet personally, causing a 3% rally.

• Buffett’s Endorsement: Signals confidence but is “more of a colored canvas than reality.”

  “That's the endorsement people have been looking for.”
  —Jim Cramer [03:08]

• Market Disconnect: Component makers like Dell & Micron drop sharply—even as data-center and AI themes boost the tech giants.

• Financials: Cramer sees only “paint-by-number” success in banks, highlighting BNY Mellon and BlackRock for outperforming the sector.

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2. Listener Q&A

(08:07–10:11)

• AbbVie (ABBV):

  “AbbVie is doing fabulously. I want you to buy it.”
  —Jim Cramer [08:32]

• Adobe (ADBE):

  “It's down 35%, being eviscerated by Canva and Figment… I don't know how it can sustain that market cap.”
  —Jim Cramer [09:20]

• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) & Blockchain:

  “It could be the future. That doesn’t make me want to get away from Intercontinental… I think it’s a very inexpensive stock right here.”
  —Jim Cramer [10:11]

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3. BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince: Bank Transformation & Social Impact

(13:09–22:59)

Key Themes from Interview:

• Performance Leadership:

  “BMY stock has rallied over 290%, outperforming the six big banks and all of BMY's top peers...”
  —Jim Cramer [13:09]

• Culture & Tech:

  “It's our team, our culture that's driving the outcomes here because we're focused on clients, laser focused, we're driving innovation and we're ultimately delivering for shareholders.”
  —Robin Vince [14:14]

• Transformation Journey:

  “We focused on our operating model, how we actually organize ourselves inside. We focused on our culture… Four years into that. But I still, still think the decade view is the right one.”
  —Robin Vince [14:53]

• Breaking Down Silos:

  “No more silos and islands of isolation… But what we’re proving now is that we are better together…”
  —Robin Vince [15:53]

• FinTech Perspective:

  “You are a fin that uses technology in a way that maybe some of the others either talk at or don’t know how to do.”
  —Jim Cramer [16:32]

• Innovation Highlight:
  “Trump Accounts” — Company-wide project giving every U.S. child a starter investment in the S&P 500, aiming to democratize wealth over generations.

  “Every kid born in America [gets] a slice of each stock in the S&P 500.”
  —Robin Vince [19:32]

• Alexander Hamilton, Legacy, and Modern Challenges:
  Discusses financial inclusion, noting 40% of Americans lack brokerage or retirement accounts. Draws philosophical line from Hamilton's founding vision to the bank's modern mission.

• Risk & History:

  “Was the most dangerous loan your bank’s ever made the $200,000 emergency loan to the federal government?”
  —Jim Cramer [22:21]
  “The nation was an experiment… Our fates were intertwined and it worked out pretty well.”
  —Robin Vince [22:28]

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4. AI Spending: Cramer’s Growing Skepticism

(25:05–28:54)

• Changing Landscape:
  AI investment by “hyperscalers” (tech giants) has pivoted from spending cash flow to borrowing heavily, echoing boom-and-bust cycles like the railroad expansion.

  “When they got this big, this sloppy, it was a sign that many of them would go under because there were way too many of them issuing way too much debt…”
  —Jim Cramer [25:38]

• Lack of AI ROI:
  Despite massive investment, few companies provide evidence AI has improved efficiency or cut costs in a way that moves the earnings needle—exceptions being Block and Cloudflare.

  “We've had the largest banks report… nothing that can raise the numbers, nothing that can move the needle.”
  —Jim Cramer [26:01]

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5. Regional Banking Focus: First Horizon CEO Brian Jordan

(30:43–35:53)

Key Points:

• Strong Loan Growth Without High Defaults:

  “Very positive trends in credit and we don't see very negative trends emerging on the horizon.”
  —Brian Jordan [32:05]

• Business Optimism:

  “A lot of business formation… Very positive outlook for the economy… In our part of the world, the economy is going very, very strong.”
  —Brian Jordan [33:11]

• Data Centers & Economic Boon:

  “I think the south is going to be a focal point for where data centers get built. And we will look to continue to be supportive when we can.”
  —Brian Jordan [34:20]

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6. Lightning Round Highlights

(36:15–40:19)

• Applied Digital: Start small, highly speculative. [36:33]
• Blue Energy: Buy—“Non-combustible way to power data centers… Brookfield loves it, I think you should love it too.” [37:41]
• Lennar (LEN): Avoid—Hard to own as rates may rise. [38:15]
• Enterprise Products (EPD): Buy—“Yield is 6%, you want to own it.” [38:47]
• X Energy: Pure speculation—nuclear is “too expensive, not going to happen.” [39:12]
• Road Auto: Buy, despite declines—“Should be consolidated if it stays down here.” [39:58]

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7. Geopolitics & Debt: Bing West Interview

(40:36–47:51)

Book: "Cat 5: The 2020–2033 War"

Themes & Concerns:

• U.S Debt Crisis & Defense Budget:

  “Between 2030 and 2033… our 10-year treasury is going to rise above 5%. Corporate bonds are going to be 7%… you get into what's called stagflation… Z (Xi Jinping) … now I have a chance to really show them who the boss in the Pacific is.”
  —Bing West [42:19–43:32]

• Taiwan Invasion Risk:

  “The most important piece of intellectual property in the world today is in Taiwan. If they really want it, they can take it.”
  —Jim Cramer [43:32]

• U.S. Defense Readiness:

  “Our Defense Department is unwilling to admit their money is going down… Are we going to invest in legacy systems, or autonomous systems?”
  —Bing West [44:56]

• Historical Pattern (Jupiter Complex):

  “We believed that we were so powerful…that once people understood how powerful we were, they’d quit. Well, that didn’t happen… We have to smarten up.”
  —Bing West [46:16]

• Cramer's Takeaway:

  “I think that this is the single most existential risk that you have, not just to your portfolio but… perhaps to your way of life.”
  —Jim Cramer [47:28]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Like a Cezanne bowl of fruit… does it reflect reality?” —Jim Cramer [01:01]
• “Buffett has historically disliked tech… Today's painting of Google made Buffett seem like someone who really kicked the tires.” —Jim Cramer [03:13–03:39]
• “Was the most dangerous loan your bank’s ever made the $200,000 emergency loan to the federal government?” —Jim Cramer [22:21]
• “It's now like the railroad fiasco of 1873.” —Jim Cramer [27:47]
• “A stagnant growth and you have inflation… You get what's called stagflation. Of course… Well, if you're Z, Chairman Z, and you're looking at this… now I have a chance to show them who the boss in the Pacific is.” —Bing West [42:19–43:32]
• “We have this big problem. Are we going to invest in aircraft carriers and battleships and legacy? Or autonomous systems?” —Bing West [45:01]
• “We have to smarten up.” —Bing West [47:09]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Market Overview & Art Metaphor: 01:01–05:19
• Caller Q&A: 08:07–10:11
• BNY Mellon CEO Interview (Robin Vince): 13:09–22:59
• Cramer on AI Spending: 25:05–28:54
• First Horizon CEO Interview (Brian Jordan): 30:43–35:53
• Lightning Round: 36:15–40:19
• Bing West, Geopolitics Interview: 40:36–47:51

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Conclusion & Takeaways

Cramer wraps with a call for realism in both markets and national policy. He warns listeners to seek hard evidence of value—both in tech investments and in America's military and fiscal strategy—lest we fall victim to stylish illusions or hubristic overconfidence.

“Always a bull market somewhere… I’ll try to find it just for you.” —Jim Cramer [47:50]

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Recommended for listeners who want nuanced market insights, timely sector commentary, and thought-provoking perspectives on how finance, tech, and geopolitics intersect.

Transcript

[Jim Cramer]

The board recommends approving regarding that seat on the committee. We're promoting quarterly earnings.

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[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. Mad Money starts now. Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Kramerica. Other people make friends. I'm just trying to make you a little money. My job is not just to entertain, but to teach you. So call me at 1-800-743- CNBC. Tweet me, Jim Cramer. Sometimes the market can be like an abstract painting, something not meant to look like anything specific. Other times it's a still life capturing every detail, like a photo. And sometimes it's just an impressionist dream, a painting that exaggerates what happens at that moment, throwing off people looking for a photo or a can of paint throwing at the canvas. And today we got the latter, with the Dow gaining 150 points, the S&P climbing 0.38%. Nasdaq jumping 0.62%. Like a Cezanne bowl of fruit. We got exaggerated runs in Meta, Apple, Alphabet, even Amazon. Oh, it was a beautiful picture, but does it reflect reality? I don't know about this brilliant still life because just like an inscrutable impressionist artist would paint, I think it's more of a colored canvas than reality. I analogize the painting because, frankly, nobody I spoke to could figure out what that was happening. Let's look first at the bizarre fruit bowl of success and show you why I think it could be an illusion. All starts with Alphabet. This Morning, our own Becky Quick interviewed Warren Buffett. Close followers of Alpha listen to Buffett explain why it was his decision. He made the decision to be able to buy the stock, not Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO Greg Abel. Buffett initiated, he chose it. No one knew this until Becky's terrific scoop. Now we know that Buffett has historically disliked tech. In fact, as Becky pointed out, the only one that he's ever really embraced was Apple. But that one did produce one of the greatest gains of all time. Becky didn't let the oracle of homo off the hook. She pressed him on all the new stock out but had an issue how the whole industry spending hundreds of billions of dollars it doesn't have more than they have just to be able to succeed in the AI race. Buffett seemed okay with the debt, okay with the extra stock. As I told everyone to listen, we got something like what happened on the day we first learned that Buffett had first bought some Apple. It was the start of a wonderful relationship. He doesn't buy things idly. Today's painting of Google made Buffett seem like someone who really kicked the tires and felt better for it. That's the endorsement people have been looking for. And that's why the stock jumped over 3% and finally starting to clear away from where the giant secondary was offered. The impressionist would paint Apple in a similar color. Buffett again explained how much he liked the stock of Apple even as he sold some. And nobody but Buffett could make some analysts who just put a sell on the stock look silly. Did Buffett know about DRAM pricing? Market share China figures he follows Apple and he approves. We have an investing club meeting tomorrow and I'm most concerned about the stock of Microsoft, which we own for the Chapel Trust. I fear negative news about Copilot, a weaker than expected Azure web services number, and even some software worries as companies that have been clients have been switching to anthropic quad to develop their own software that substitutes for Microsoft's expensive products. But then an abstract artist over at Citi puts out a piece today that says everything I care about is wrong. There's a mindshare strength, there's solid growth in sales and an acceleration of Azure, the web services that's so counter to the realist wisdom of the situation that it caused the stock again to ignite, jumping nearly 3%. Now, I think tomorrow we have some real supports from analysts could be counter to this piece from Citi. But right now I will take the abstract view and let it run instead of kicking out. Stay tuned for the club meeting tomorrow. Mattis should be rotten fruit by now. It's already declared itself merchant of computing power. That was a week ago. How can the stock still be closed on that one? It's another mystery, another reason why we aren't dealing with Rembrandt here or Ansel Adams for that matter. And tomorrow's Investing Club talk. I'm calling Amazon Dead money.

[Caller/Investor]

Why?

[Jim Cramer]

Because it's spending fortunes on AI but still doesn't seem to be able to show any return. To date it's borrowing money and hasn't offered stock. But I can't figure out where the data center money is going to come from going forward. Maybe it has all it needs. Oh, I don't think so. Yet there was a ripe piece of fruit in the bowl with angles and colors, architectonic shapes that distort the situation, makes it look like a beautiful assemblage, allowing the stock to rally 3% today. At the same time, the stocks of the companies that make the best components seem to have come together horrendously today in something like ever munches the scream. We know that all the data center components, especially those involving memory, are coalescing to give us a picture of a portfolio manager who simply can't believe that the component the companies with the best numbers could have stocks with the worst performance. But that's what happened today. The declines are frightening. Dell, a company which may be taking share from IBM, was down nearly 10% today. The horror micron tumbled 8%. We can't have that, can we? Again though, remember, it's a painting. It's not a realist. It's expressionist and maybe more of an exaggeration. Or it could be truly scary going forward. We don't know. Fortunately, Nvidia did nothing. No painting at all. But we did have a real Wernicke on our hands with this Johnson Johnson today to see this premier pharma company get hammered despite a beaten raised quarter. It felt like you were in the charnel house, didn't it? Was it the Tao case? Absolutely not. It was the cardio franchise. A couple hundred million dollars miss out of $100 billion business and the stock just gets carpet bombed. This isn't a painting that looks better upside down, but that's how I think the stock should perform. Finally, there are the financials. A real fruit salad, but one that has no staying power. A paint by number situation is not going into the museum. Not an art anytime soon. These tend to be one day winners. I thought Goldman Sachs was fabulous, but we have BMY tonight. I think its business model allows the old bank of New York Mellon to become more like a finance company that knows tech better than the others. Maybe because of the legacy. The bank was started by arch capitalist Alexander Hamilton. And I sense a multi day move coming from BlackRock as it passes a $15 trillion in assets under management hurdle, pulling away from everyone else with a superb quarter. I won't be talking about pennies tomorrow when I go through the portfolio for the investing club. But I will tell you that I think today's impressionist judgment may not hold up under close scrutiny. Warren Buffett won't be on squat box tomorrow, but the negative analyst will. Here's the bottom line tomorrow. Return to the realist school, the one that says the hyperscalers have spent too much money and paid Nvidia too much. The museum will close, the paintings locked up and then the photography class will be back in action. I want to start with Jim in Florida.

[Caller/Investor]

Jim, Jimmy chill. A big thank you to you and your staff. Booyah. From Naples, Florida.

[Jim Cramer]

There we go. Naples, Florida. How do you like it? I like it more than Italy.

[Caller/Investor]

My, my question on a company that I've owned since a spin off in 2013. It's a pharmaceutical company and it's up quite a bit. This ticker symbol is abbv. Should I take some off the plate or hold it in?

[Jim Cramer]

Abbv? Well, I got to tell you, ABB View, it's Abbott Labs. No, no, it's doing really, really well. ABV. Yeah. AbbVie. It's, it's, it's doing really. What's not. It's not a. It's been over five. It's divided. AbbVie and Avid Labs. AbbVie is doing fabulously. I want you to buy it. Let's go to Rajesh in Connecticut. Rajesh.

[Caller/Investor]

Hey Jim, thank you. Thank you for all your wisdom and analysis. And from. Yeah, I have a question today going about on SAS company which is trading around 12p and which is showing some good traction in the transition from SAS to a company. So we are seeing some have seen some tripling in last quarter and so the question is about Adobe. So what's your take?

[Jim Cramer]

Adobe has no CEO and has no cfo. The stock was up for today. That's a good opportunity to sell. It is down 35% but I think it being eviscerated by both figment and more importantly Canva. It's a, it's an $89 billion company. I don't know how it can sustain that market cap. Let's go to Adam back in Florida.

[Caller/Investor]

Hi, Jim. How are you? Longtime listener.

[Jim Cramer]

Oh, thank you.

[Caller/Investor]

Booyah.

New York Giant.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, okay, listen, okay, I, I got

[Caller/Investor]

a question for you. So regarding Intercontinental Exchange. Do you ever see a day where two traders make a trade without the need for exchange or a clearinghouse, basically where the blockchain evolved to a point where there is no middleman, instant settlement, decentralized trading? I mean, is that coming? Is that in our future?

[Jim Cramer]

It could be the future. That doesn't make me want to get away from Intercontinental. Intercontinental owns everybody, and I think it's a very inexpensive stock right here. Now, I will tell you, I do think that bank BMY is a better buy here and they understand exactly the kind of technology you're talking about. Nobody can figure out what that happened today. To me, it was just like a Cezanne painting of the market. Hopefully tomorrow we get a more realistic, you may say BMY has been keeping up with the big banks for a while now and not enough people are paying attention. Don't miss my conversation with the CEO at the company's New York headquarters. And with earnings season in full swing, there's one theme I haven't heard any execs talk about yet, and it's worry me. I'm explaining and I think you'll be worried, too. And then we got a regional bank that can be just as illuminating as the big bags. I'm sitting down with the CEO of the First Horizon to learn about the latest quarter, so stay with Ramer.

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[Jim Cramer]

We know many of the nation's largest banks are doing very well right now. But you'd be hard pressed to find another bank stock that's done better than bny, the old bank of New York Mellon. Over the past few years. Since August 31, 2022, when current CEO Robin Vince took over, BMY stock has rallied over 290%, outperforming the six big banks and all of BMI's top peers in the trust bank space. That's one reason I pounded the table hard on this one and how to make money in any market. Today these guys reported still another excellent quarter. It sent the stock to a new all time high. Earlier today, I got the chance to speak with Robin Vince, the chairman, President, CEO of BNY at the company's headquarters. Take a look, Robin. There was a chart in your voluminous documents which showed some squiggly lines about who was the best. We all talked about Goldman yesterday. You were by far the best bank when it comes to stock price performance. How is that possible that you're crushing everybody?

[Robin Vince]

Well, it's our people at the end of the day. And thank you for being here at our world headquarters. It's our team, our culture that's driving the outcomes here because we're focused on clients, laser focused, we're driving innovation and we're ultimately delivering for shareholders. And that's been the magic combination for the past four years as we really reinvent the company and we're excited about that.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, when we spoke to you in February, February, you know, this was a kind of a brutal meeting. February 2025, you said many changes still had to be made. I thought you were there because the stock had been like this. How far along are you in what I Regard as you making one bank, which is what we always wanted.

[Robin Vince]

Well, I think the key that we've said right from the beginning is that we had to take a decade view of the opportunity because it's a trick. I think in any public company and particularly in financial services businesses to be able to be long term oriented with short term hustle and the combination of those two things has been essential. But you're right, we've reimagined the company. We've really reimagined our commercial model, how we go to market. We focused on our operating model, how we actually organize ourselves inside. We focused on our culture that's allowed us to deliver for clients. And so we're partway on the journey with four years into that. But I still, still think the decade view is the right one.

[Jim Cramer]

Oh no, definitely. And I think that I know your bank for, well, one of the banks for, for 30 years and there was a part of your bank I didn't even know you owned. And when I didn't like part of it, I was told that I was speaking to the head guy. I understand now that everybody works and reports to your executive team and of course the board. And as strange as it may be to some of our viewers, that wasn't the case.

[Robin Vince]

Well, on our earnings caller earlier I said no more silos and islands of isolation. We had those, we had bits of the company. We kind of operated a bit like a conglomerate. There were bits off to the side. They thought they could be more successful by themselves and maybe at the time they could. But what we're proving now is that we are better together and that when everyone pulls together as a team, we deliver for clients across the range of our businesses, we can actually put new solutions and innovations together as a result of assembling from the entirety of the parts of bny. And that's a new phenomenon for us. But it's one that's got so much room to roam.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, some of it is, I think you're a natural leader, but some of it is because you understand technology. I made a bit of a joke on air, say listen, I'm going to the real fintech. But in truth, you are a fin that uses technology in a way that maybe some of the others either talk at or don't know how to do. Where is this expertise from?

[Robin Vince]

Well, look, it's essential and the premise is exactly right. When we, when we sit back and we think what is it that makes BNY special? Ultimately it's our client franchise, it's our people it's our businesses. And those are really good advantages. If you're a real fintech, starting with nothing, a clean sheet of paper, you literally have nothing. You have no clients, you don't have all of the people, you don't have the established businesses, you don't have the connectivity and all of these mini moats and advantages to go forward. But you do have one advantage which is you think anything's possible, but that's a state of mind. And so our culture is to try to have the best of both worlds. The establishment of everything we have and the can do anything. Self disruptor mindset that, and that requires technology. But it's not only about technology, it's about innovation, self disruption. So yes, AI, yes digital assets, but also new products, new features, new solutions, constantly focused on the client.

[Jim Cramer]

Give me one that has really been a game changer that your team would recognize. Wow, this is something I am glad that I'm a part of.

[Robin Vince]

Well, Trump Accounts is probably a good example and in fact it checks a few boxes for us because, because number one, it's actually an assembly of capabilities from across the company. I don't think we could have done it two years ago. We would have had the pieces, but I don't think without our platform model, without our commercial model that we could have actually pulled it together and truly delivered in a very short period of time as one company. It's also great because it's an important piece of public policy. And so this is back to the reality roots of the company. You know, 242 years ago we helped the US get started as a nation. But today we're investing in what is essentially a bipartisan piece of policy that's been championed by the administration, the leadership of the Treasury Department to create a vehicle for everyone in America to have a stake in the capital markets, a stake in the greatest iconic companies of the country. And that's, that's, that's a great example of something that's an innovation. It's drawing on something that we couldn't probably have done before, but it's also something that as a team, as a company, our people, we can feel very proud of.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, I am very concerned that in like so much of this country, there is an underclass that has never heard of bank of New York, maybe never heard of Hamlin, doesn't know you and is not going to get a piece of this opportunity. What are you doing, especially using perhaps some of the artificial intelligence to find these people and let them know.

[Robin Vince]

Well, I think this is the heart of the Trump account's design. Because if you look at Australia, who've pioneered the superannuation funds and they've essentially created a wealth of stake in the country for everyone in, in Australia, the Trump accounts are designed to do something similar at birth, with the initial funding $1,000 from the Department of Treasury giving every kid born in America a slice of each stock IN S&P 500. Now, there's financial literacy that needs to be wrapped around that. There's understanding of the value of getting started early in investing. You talk about it all the time, the value of compounding. And this is how $1,000, $2,000 can turn into $50,000, $100,000 over a period of time. We've got philanthropists adding to it. We're doing company matching into it. And it's so important that as part of the American dream, there are so many facets to the American dream, but being able to build a stake, build wealth is one aspect of it. And so we're proud to be supporting it.

[Jim Cramer]

There is a person who is involved integrally with the bank, Alexander Hamilton, who felt that this could happen. He was a mercantilist at heart. He understood that commerce could be what this country needed in order to be a major country. He actually fits into this, doesn't he?

[Mad Money Announcer]

He does.

[Robin Vince]

Ultimately he was a capitalist, capitalist society. But it's no great capital system that leaves people behind. And so one of the lessons that I think we should all be quite humble about is that 40% of Americans don't have a brokerage account or a 401k or some type of direct defined contribution plan where they're actually investing. And so this hopefully is the beginning of a longer arc of being able to draw more people into the financial system as owners, not just as working in it.

[Jim Cramer]

You did have the best in class return on common equity. Could you explain to people why that figure actually is a good indicator of how much stronger your bank is than a lot of the others?

[Robin Vince]

Well, at the end of the day, our business is a heavily fee oriented service business. You pointed out technology at its heart. We're a financial platforms company these days. We provide all of these critical things to global financial markets. And so. So as a result of that, our balance sheet is highly liquid and high quality. We don't need to use our balance sheet for a lot of our business. And so as a result, the fees and some of the NII all drops down and creates a good return. So we're focused on being able to maintain that position of a high quality, low risk balance sheet and that drives the rotc. It's a nice formula to have.

[Jim Cramer]

Was the most dangerous loan your bank is ever made. The $200,000 emergency loan to the federal government.

[Robin Vince]

You know it was warrant number one which you're right, $200,000. The first installment of $20,000 the year was 1789. The United States the Constitution had just been ratified. The President's been inaugurated just six months or so before the the nation was an experiment. And so as a bank lending helping the US to get going as a nation at the time it was probably a pretty risky thing to do. But then as now, our fates were intertwined and it worked out pretty well.

[Jim Cramer]

This is a bank that took a flyer on the country. It's the number one bank. Robin Vince, CEO of bmi Coming up.

[Mad Money Announcer]

Warning lights are popping up on Kramer's screen. When it comes to the hyperscalers, he's revealing what they are next.

[Jim Cramer]

I'm honored to make history and to make my community proud. What a brilliant tackle from Naomi Kerma. What would you like the power to do?

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when one journalist reported on DEI.

[Nick Confessori]

I decided to just focus on the University of Michigan. I obtained internal documents that showed that the school had spent a about a quarter of a billion dollars on DEI programs. I spent two weeks in Ann Arbor talking to everybody I could find. The unintended consequences of these programs. They had sort of left everybody dissatisfied and this expensive machinery the school had built just imploded. If you're a journalist, you are not on anyone's team. All you're trying to do is figure out as many of the facts as you can gather. The facts are going to guide you to where the story lands. You're not taking sides. I'm Nick Confessori. I'm an investigations reporter for the New York Times.

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Journalists like Nick follow the facts wherever they lead. They go where news breaks, get answers firsthand and publish what they find. That's fact based reporting. Seek it out. If you don't already.

[Jim Cramer]

Why do we cut to the chase? There are two reasons why people doubt the entire investment into an artificial intelligence. Nicholas didn't mind when these companies spent fortunes on AI especially the hyperscalers, because it came from internal funds. These companies were practically printing money. It was unlike any other industrial revolution revolution like the steam engine, like the rails because it was all being done out of free cash flow. They were making so much money they had it to spend. So we blasted but when these companies started taking down a huge amount of cash to build out the data centers wiping out the free cash flow we had, well I think we should have reevaluated them right then. We should now place this build out in the context of the other giant buildouts of previous industrial revolutions. When they got this big, this sloppy, it was a sign that many of them would go under because there were way too many of them issuing way too much debt, much more than they could ever service. Railroad changed the world. Absolutely. All aboard. But you know what? If you bought their debt or if you bought their equity, it blew up in your face. Right now I'm still excited about I because I believe there'll be a terrific return on all this spending. Which brings me to the second worry. We're still early in the earnings season but already we're not hearing anything material about the use of AI We've had the largest banks reports these are natural businesses to streamline themselves using We've heard nothing crickets. There's a sense that it can help out something that I think is the case at bny. It's valuable for the other banks but nothing that can raise the numbers, nothing that can move the needle. It's not helping the efficiency ratio that we can tell at least that is not allowing him to cut back on hiring. Does that mean is a bust? No, but I don't see it making much of a difference yet you spend $10 trillion the rumor cost the complete build up for now at least expect that you get somebody will get some return, right? Sure. Anthropic is indeed getting return. But it's not even public. It might come public soon. Riding those numbers, the component companies they're doing well but. But shouldn't the ultimate clients who use AI a group like the banks be able to cite at least a couple million bucks in savings? Sure, you could say that without a either headcounts would boom and in the case of Wells Fargo there's been considerable headcount reduction But I can't link it in any way necessarily dollars they're just spending less. The banks are not alone. I haven't heard a single company raise numbers because of an AI push except Block and to a lesser extent Cloudflare. They were adamant about pushing AI to cut costs and eliminate jobs while raising revenues. I thought others would follow, but it hasn't happened yet. The longer we go without hearing how actual clients make money, the longer will take days like today when it seems like the hyperscalers are making money. But you have to take it as an impressionist gallery, not a cold hard cash at the bank. Initially I thought AI clients would be reluctant to talk about how AI has allowed them to save money by firing people. Now I feel that nobody has anything big to say about it. No one's getting fired. And the hyperscalers, well, they're doing okay. They ran today. They haven't said a word about their return either though. And the great data center build out continues without hard numbers showing me why they should do it. Now, if I didn't know any better, if I didn't like these products so much, I'd say that it's making no sense. It's now like the railroad fiasco of the 19 of 1873. Bottom line though, I say let's listen to these companies. It's not enough for Warren Buffett to tell me he likes Google though. I need cold hard return facts or I too will grow more skeptical than I am right now if I don't. I am a history denier. For now, I'm still a believer, but I'd love to have some real evidence. A couple more trillion dollars get raised without any sort of return and we're going to have a real shaky IPO market for the next ones to come down the chute. Let's go to Fred in California. Fred?

[Caller/Investor]

Hi Jim.

I'm a first time caller and investment club member. I appreciate your efforts, your knowledge, passion and commitment and you've truly helped me. I'm focused on helmet aerospace. It's the world's largest producer of single crystal turbine blades used in airplane engines. And also in the data center build out of turbine gas turbine engines.

[Jim Cramer]

There are, there is no this. We call this How I met My Mother. It is a remarkable company. You've got a winner there. Every dip has been a buy and this time will be no different.

[Caller/Investor]

Right.

[Jim Cramer]

Listen, I'm still bullish in the AI bull market, but I'm going to need some hard evidence soon to back it up before we just lose a tunnel. This thing. Much more money including my exclusive with Tennessee based regional First Horizon. Then I'm sitting down with our former Assistant Secretary of Defense to get a sense of how the current state of geopolitics could impact your financial health and the financial of our country. And oil calls rapid fire. Tonight's digital lighting round. So stay. Now we've heard from all the big banks. It's time to focus on the regionals. Take First Horizon, Tennessee based regional with over 400 banks across 12 states. This morning First Rise reported seemingly solid quarter. Okay, not perfect. Net interest margin shrank by three basis points sequentially. Part of the earnings be came from a lower expected tax rate but still, I mean any decline in this stock has been an opportunity the whole way. So what do we do? What do we make of this? Let's take a closer look at Brian Jordan. He's the chairman, president, CEO of First Horizon. To learn more. Mr. Jordan, welcome back to Mad Money.

[Brian Jordan]

Jim, thank you for having me.

[Jim Cramer]

All right, so I'm going to start Brian, a little bit more of a broader picture question they usually do with you got a new Fed sheep on the Hill. He's talking the one thing I wish he had said and when I always feel this way when I listen to you is what's the matter with having good solid loan growth, good spend, very productive people, nice amount of jobs, created a good economy. Why is that always meant time to start raising rates?

[Brian Jordan]

I don't know. I think in this case it may not mean that we've, we've got very good employment trends, the economy is doing very well. Loan growth, loan demand has been very good and it's been encouraging the last couple of days to see that ppi, CPI have trended back down towards where the Fed's target. I know it's a one month data series but hopefully it will sustain itself and it may be that we're in this very tight range for a couple more quarters we'll see.

[Jim Cramer]

Well now also it's sticking on the same kind of thinking. Your provision for credit losses was remarkably small. This is not the type of thing we see at the end if we've had a big boom. It's just actually the beginning. I'm quite impressed with how few people are default.

[Brian Jordan]

Yeah, I agree with you. I think credit trends have continued to be very, very good. We had about $30 million or so of net losses, 20 basis points and that's right in the middle of where we would have expected to be at this point in the cycle. And we're seeing very strong performance. The other key data point that that is really Endemic about our credit is we reduce non performing assets on a net basis by about 13 basis points relative to total loans. So a little over 1% to about 80 basis points loans. So we've seen very positive trends in credit and we don't see very negative trends emerging on the horizon, no pun intended. We think the economy is in a good place, credit will continue to do well and we're optimistic about the momentum we see now.

[Jim Cramer]

In your great footprint, are you seeing a lot of new business formation or people holding back and you're worried about artificial intelligence taking jobs?

[Brian Jordan]

No, we're seeing a lot of business formation. I commented on our call this morning. I've been a little bit surprised by the level of demand for credit. People who are very optimistic about the economy looking to build and invest and buy and so on and so forth. And to a person, when we talk to customers in different settings, we're hearing very positive outlook for the economy. So in our part of the world, the economy is going very, very strong. People are not sitting on the sidelines waiting for AI or any intended or unintended consequences of that. We're seeing people continue to invest, build, buy, and our economy I think will continue to grow at a very healthy clip.

[Jim Cramer]

We've got a divide in this country. We've got people who are saying, you know what the greatest creator of jobs right now in our country, data centers. We don't want them. And then we another part of the country which says bring them on, we can get a lot out of them for our schools, for our communities. Where do you, where does your footprint stand and have you helped any of these companies be able to get rolling?

[Brian Jordan]

Yes, we have. And we think in our footprint it's going to be a prime placement for a place to put data centers. We've got a very large data center here in the Memphis area. I read about one just recently opening in Louisiana. They're going to be built in Texas. With the abundant land energy regulation, I think the south is going to be a focal point of where data centers do get built. And we will look to continue to be supportive when we can.

[Jim Cramer]

And then we were in Memphis recently for, for FedEx. I don't know. I mean that state seemed. Could that state be the biggest boom state in your area or do we have to include Texas?

[Brian Jordan]

Well, I think you have. It'd be hard to leave out Texas or Florida. South Carolina is doing very well. Georgia is doing well. North Carolina, we have so many it's almost impossible to list them. And in some sense it really depends on what sector of the economy that you're thinking about. But Tennessee is doing very, very well. Our headquarters is not far from where Fed FedEx is headquartered. And this is largely a transportation dominated economy and it's going very, very well.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, look, I like what you have to say. It makes me feel once again there's nothing wrong with having a strong economy that doesn't have a lot of inflation. Maybe you have to get that down a little bit. But strong economy, you got to keep that. That's Brian Jordan, Chairman CEO of First Horizon Corporation. As I said, every dip has been a buy. Thank you. Good to see you.

[Brian Jordan]

Thank you.

[Jim Cramer]

They have money back in.

[Mad Money Announcer]

Coming up. He's the first fastest mind on Wall street. So we're putting him to the test with your help. Bring on the lightning round next.

[Jim Cramer]

It is time. It's time for the light. Your plan is out and then the lightning round is over. Are you ready, Skeet Dad? Tunnel MK running to start with, Bill Messers. Bill.

[Caller/Investor]

Jimmy. I got a tough one here that

[Jim Cramer]

I'm trying to check out. I wanted your opinion on Applied Digital Corporation. You know I like Applied Digital. It has come down like a lot of the others in this in the last few days when it comes to hyperscalers and, and the their intersection with digital, let's say digital planning. And this one is one of those that I think can be owned. But it has come down so hard. Start it small, okay. This is artificial. Don't start it big because it's losing money. Let's go to Carl in Indiana. Carl.

[Caller/Investor]

Hi Mr. Kramer, thanks for taking my call. At 83, 3 I'm a long time viewer. Thank Kudlow.

[Jim Cramer]

Excellent. Yeah.

[Caller/Investor]

Oh wow.

[Podcast Disclaimer]

Okay.

[Caller/Investor]

I have a great portfolio based on your recommendations. And I add to that portfolio on the 1st of each month regardless of price. I'm asking you about a stock that's down 30% currently over sourcing disputes. Should I buy, sell or fade? Blue Energy.

[Jim Cramer]

You want to buy Boom energy. It's come down a great deal. It is a non combustible way to be able to power data centers. Brookfield loves it. I think you should love it too. Let's go to Brett in Maryland. Brett.

[Caller/Investor]

Yes, sir.

[Jim Cramer]

How you doing, Jimbo? I am doing well, Brett, how about you?

[Caller/Investor]

I'm doing great, thanks for asking. Yeah.

[Jim Cramer]

So I have a question about Lens, the stock lens.

[Caller/Investor]

Interesting.

[Jim Cramer]

How the what it's going to look

[Caller/Investor]

like moving forward in regards to the building materials and building in general.

[Jim Cramer]

So you know, look, I mean I've tried to I've tried to own some of these stocks in an atmosphere where people think that they may raise rates. And even though I don't think they will, it is just, it's just too hard including a great company like Lennar. I'm going to have to say no. Let's go to Tom and Texas Top

[Caller/Investor]

Jimbo.

[Jim Cramer]

Booyah from New Ideals.

[Caller/Investor]

All right.

[Jim Cramer]

Hey, I've got a question.

[Caller/Investor]

I hold a pretty good position in enterprise products and I'd like to get your take on it. Regards to buy, sold, buy, sell or hold.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay. In how to make money in any market. I talk exactly about this stock and I can just double down right now a 6% yield. You want to own it? I think it's terrific for people who want fixed income. Let's go to Dennis, North Carolina. Dennis.

[Caller/Investor]

Jim, a couple months ago you had on the CEO and we love the story. Since then the stock's been cut in half. Is this an opportunity to grab the power of X Energy?

[Jim Cramer]

Well, it's nuclear. And the problem with nuclear is everyone just decided it's just too darn expensive. Not going to happen. Pure spec. Pure spec. You can buy somebody's pure spec because nuclear is pure spec. And Poland cost our country 2 much money right now. We're not like China. Let's go to Jeff and Marilyn. Jeff, Ju.

[Caller/Investor]

Jim, firsttime caller long.

[Jim Cramer]

All right.

[Caller/Investor]

My wife and I watched you living in South Africa. I recently staked out a position in a very profitable construction company buying on the dip. The only problem is the stock stock keeps dipping. All the numbers seem solid. The stock price keeps falling down about 10% in the past three months. What am I missing about road auto?

[Jim Cramer]

You know what? You're not missing anything more than I am. That Dothan, Alabama. Coming up, the light Dothan. I think that that's a road builder that should be bought. I bet you it's going to be consolidated if it stays down here. I think you've got a good one and I would stay long it maybe even buy some more. And that, ladies and gentlemen, conclusion of the Lightning Round.

[Mad Money Announcer]

The Lightning round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up, Cramer's sitting down with author Bing west to discuss what may happen when the US can no longer sustain its growing national debt. Next.

[Jim Cramer]

Booyah.

[Caller/Investor]

Jim Cramer, I'm a first time caller,

a happy club member and we want to thank you for being the people's champion of investing. Thank you for helping me become a millionaire.

[Jim Cramer]

In America, we have a steadily growing series of long term problems involving both military, defense And China, we have to ask what happens when we can't ignore these problems any longer, if we even know about them. And that's question posed in a new truly incredibly disturbing book called Cat 5, the 20202033 War by Bing West. He's a fabulous author who's written over a dozen books about war, including the New York Times number one bestseller, Call Sign Chaos Learning to Lead, which he wrote with General Jim Mattis. West knows that at some point our debt load will become untenable, leading to real spending cuts, including military spending. It'll likely happen just when China catches up with us, if they haven't already. I think this is incredibly important. Let's take a closer look with the honorable Francis J. West, author of multiple books. I have the honor of reading almost every single one of them. And former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. Bing, welcome to Mad Money.

[R]

Thank you, Jim.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, I want to get started because this is a not fool around book. This is a very, very important book that I want everyone to read. Our nation faces the convergence of two hurricanes. Talking about what Cat 5 is. This storm can begin with a bond sell off that invites Xi, Xi Jinping to strike while America is in financial disarray. This is an actual, true depiction of what could happen within the next five years.

[R]

That's the problem. We. I don't know who's going to sound the alarm, but we are headed toward $2 trillion in debt with $5 trillion in entitlements. That's our entire budget. There's nothing left for defense, there's nothing left for infrastructure. There ain't nothing more. Unless you go before the borrowers of the world and say, give me more money. But the trouble is our credibility is going to go down. So sometime between 2030 and 2033, our 10 year treasury is going to rise above 5%. Corporate bonds are going to be 7%. And then you have all the capital you have to use as a corporate CEO in order to borrow. That takes away from your plants. And at that particular point you get into what's called stagflation. Of course you have a stagnant growth and you have inflation. Well, if you're Z, Chairman Z, and you're looking at this and we are in a tussle among ourselves, you say, well, what do you know? Now I have a chance to really show them who the boss in the Pacific is now. And that's going to happen.

[Jim Cramer]

And if that happens, the most important piece of intellectual property in the world today is in Taiwan. Taiwan, semi I have to believe that the Chinese want it. I have to believe that if they really want it, they can take it. It would disable all of the American food chain of tech greatness.

[R]

Now the Senate, there's no doubt they want Taiwan. And it changes everything to Z. And of course, the last refuge of the scoundrel is patriotism. When his economy is beginning to tilt, he can say, well, look, I'm bringing Taiwan into the fold with all its money. And what he can do is try to repeat what happens with the Strait of Hormuz, to try to declare a blockade that he will be in charge of, not us. Now we get to the crunch. What do we do? And the problem we have, Jim, is that our services, our Defense Department is unwilling to admit that their money is going to go down. The Defense Department today has less money than it had for the last 80 years. It's already going down. And then when you add on our debt problem, because as the debt grows, they have to squeeze out something, and that's defense. Our procurement money is going down. So we have this big problem. Are we going to invest that in aircraft carriers and battleships and legacy? Are we going to go to autonomous systems? Autonomous systems give you more firepower and they don't put US Sailors at risk. But any admiral would prefer to have a fighting ship and not keep up with current future trends. And that is going to be a big fight inside the Pentagon over the next year.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, that must be won by the people who understand technology.

[R]

I think it's going to be a very close fight.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay?

[R]

Because Congress wants the jobs that come with shipbuilding, etcetera, Even though those are targets they're putting out there. It makes no sense. But it doesn't make any sense for us to be borrowing trillions and trillions of dollars and thinking nothing's ever going to change.

[Jim Cramer]

Now, I want people to understand whereof you speak and whereof I read the beginning of the book is a chilling look at your time in Vietnam with the Marines in Afghanistan you served in. You were in Iraq. You saw the situation where our nation had a Jupiter complex. It looks like to me that we're having it again in Iran.

[R]

As I looked at the three wars I was in, and I spent an awful lot of time in Vietnam as a Marine grunt. Then I was with our platoons in Iraq, Then I was with them in Afghanistan. I was still humping hills when I was 70. And when I looked at how we were fighting, you fight with all your might. And then I looked at our presidents and our policymakers. And they were of the attitude, well, I don't have to put in everything. I don't really have to. It was almost like they were biting their fingernails instead of saying, I have to fight with all my might. And as a result, we lost all three wars. That's what I call the Jupiter Complex. We believed that we were so powerful, like Jupiter, the Roman God who could cast thunderbolts, that once people understood how powerful we were, well, they. They quit. Well, that didn't happen. It didn't happen in Vietnam, it didn't happen in Iraq, didn't happen in Afghanistan, it's not happening in Iran, and it's not going to happen with China. We have to smarten up.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay, well, look, I want. Look, I'd ever do this. This book is Cat 5. I read it in the afternoon. I ripped out the pages because it was too important. I'm telling everyone about it. Why? Because I think that this is the single most existential risk that you have, not just to your portfolio, but unfortunately to, perhaps to your way of life. This is Bing West. He's the author and former Assistant Secretary of Defense and one of the greatest writers, not just one of the greatest clubs. I like to say there's always a bull market somewhere at Palm. Start to find it just for you right here, man. Money. I'm Jim Cramer.

[Robin Vince]

See you tomorrow.

[Podcast Disclaimer]

All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC or its 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 Kramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer'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 I want to

[Nick Confessori]

grow the game of soccer and give every kid the chance to play.

[Vanguard Marketing]

What would you like the power to do?

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