• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Doug Kass
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • Trifecta Stocks
  1. Home
  2. / Jim Cramer

Jim Cramer: It's Not Just About Stocks, I'm Sticking to What Matters

I don't care for Washington but I have no choice. If I only stick to stocks, I would have buried you.
By JIM CRAMER Oct 05, 2020 | 06:52 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: AXP, KO, WFC, GILD, XOM, OXY

Stick to stocks, Cramer. You don't know anything about medicine. You don't know anything about politics.

Do you know how many times I heard that this weekend as I, like many, tried to figure out the conflicting stories about what was going on with the president this weekend?

Let me start out by saying I would love to stick with stocks. I covered politics as a cub reporter and I despised it. Like many, I don't care for Washington. I would much rather be examining companies, trying to figure out how their stocks should trade.

But to do that and do enough of a good job to talk to you and help you with your portfolio, I have no choice. So what do I do? I lean on my network of CEOs and doctors to try to figure out how to recommend or reject stocks of otherwise very fine companies. If you have been at it like I have, either your network is good or you should retire. I am staying on.

I found this out the hard way. When I started out as a hedge fund manager I didn't pay much attention to politics at all. I just followed stocks. Over and over again, though, I would get hit on the head from something from Washington. That's because I tried to pay little attention to what the Federal Reserve was doing. Isn't that what Warren Buffett tells us to do? The fact is, though, if I stuck with his stocks - American Express (AXP) , Coca-Cola (KO) , Wells Fargo (WFC) in particular - I would have crushed my investors. Yet somehow, the twitter peanut gallery accepts that I am to divine the Fed but nothing else.

Now let's go over what I would have missed if I listened to the twitterati. I will list them:

First, I would have failed miserably at identifying the Covid-19 story. I flew back from Miami, the day of the Super Bowl, because I wanted to tell the story that I saw a vast pandemic coming our way that could kill many people, a pandemic unleashed from China that would not be stopped by just banning flights from China. I made that call because I thought that both the medical community and the White House were woefully prepared and the CDC had been stripped of credibility. Those were not stock issues. But they prevailed in identifying the Cramer Covid 100.

Second, I recognized that the first stimulus plan would save the economy from a Depression. I recognized that because I worked hard to bring to you both sides of the story in Washington, the story of Secretary Mnuchin, whom I have known since he was a boy and whose father was my boss, and from Speaker Pelosi, whose grandson was my stepson's roommate. I grew tired of the President's name calling so I decided to approach it in a scolding way to the President but it was taking totally wrongly and I failed miserably given my long respect for the Speaker and her multiple times on Mad Money. Sometimes you screw up. I apologized professionally and personally but given that the cook whom I love in town gave me a free Taylor, Egg and Cheese Sandwich for free Saturday because of my comments, I did a bad job, despite a lifetime of championing women's rights. Oh well. At least I got the big story right.

Third, I knew that Remdesivir was a loser for Gilead (GILD) after its initial hype and the stock should be avoided. I knew Regeneron had the winning combo and recommended it. I am not up 595 points for viewers on Regeneron.

Fourth, I have followed the energy stocks and the EV stocks and even thought the President is wildly pro-fossil fuel, I told you to sell everyone, from oil to gas to pipelines, hammering home that Exxon (XOM) and Occidental (OXY) were particularly vulnerable despite the President's pro oil and gas stance BECAUSE his stance led to a glut. I would have missed that one entirely.

Finally, I told you to stick with FAANG, which I created for heaven's sakes, because they all do BETTER in a pandemic, every one of them. If I believe that the pandemic would be over, like the President said it would be, several months ago, I would have crushed you. It was important to know AND to dismiss the President's view. I follow these stocks closely and I am confident in saying almost no one else got them right.

So, if I stick to stocks, I would have buried you. I knew that because I bought my first stock 41 years ago and I didn't fall off a turnip truck of algorithms and trash talk and second derivatives. I am sticking to what matters. What are you sticking to?

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no position in the stocks mentioned.

TAGS: Investing | Markets | Politics | Stocks | Trading | Jim Cramer | Coronavirus

More from Jim Cramer

Jim Cramer: I'll Put My Money With 'Boring but Lucrative' Any Day

Jim Cramer
Sep 29, 2021 1:28 PM EDT

Let's look at that recent downgrade of 'dull' Morgan Stanley and see why exciting is best left for the stadiums and amusement parks -- and not stocks.

Jim Cramer: America's Toughest Job? Finding Workers

Jim Cramer
Sep 28, 2021 12:17 PM EDT

It's the question of our time: Where are the people willing to take on these better paying gigs? Let's see what's going on and what we need to happen.

Jim Cramer: Here's How Analysts Can Be Off By a Wide Margin

Jim Cramer
Sep 24, 2021 12:02 PM EDT

Let's look at the reactions to Nike, Costco and Salesforce to see what happens when they're viewed from a real world perspective.

Jim Cramer: It's Pure Insanity That We Don't Make Chips Here in the U.S.

Jim Cramer
Sep 23, 2021 11:05 AM EDT

While the big guns meet at the White House about the global chip shortage, the president and these companies are approaching this all wrong.

Jim Cramer: Go Ahead, Have a Cow, but I Say Powell and Xi Are Bulls

Jim Cramer
Sep 22, 2021 3:51 PM EDT

We rallied, because China's President Xi and Fed Chair Powell made decisions that they knew would lead to rallies.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 12:01 PM EDT PAUL PRICE

    A Recent Director Buy in Children's Place (PLCE)

    Four of the most recent insider trades in Children...
  • 07:34 AM EDT PAUL PRICE

    A $525,000 Vote of Confidence on Macerich (MAC)

  • 09:49 AM EDT JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    Stop Wishing, Hoping, and Praying and Take Control...
  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2022 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login