People hate hearing "stay the course" when the selling gets bad, but Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers Thursday that if they own good stocks, doing nothing really is the best course of action.
That's because if you own stocks like Apple (AAPL), you're doing just fine no matter what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates. Apple just delivered a 21-cents-a-share earnings beat on revenues that topped $123.9 billion. Not only that, Apple said their supply chain woes actually improved as the quarter progressed.
All stocks are not Apple however, which is why Cramer's favorite market metric, the S&P short-range oscillator, remains bearish and why decliners have outpaced the winners for the past 10 consecutive days.
If you're betting on "conceptual" stocks that have no earnings, then you're betting that all of our supply chain, transportation and labor problems can be fixed quickly. If that happens, prices will decline and the Fed won't need to intervene for long.
This is a risky proposition, but if you're committed to this world view, then there's a new ETF made just for you. The Tuttle Capital Short Innovation ETF SARK has the single vision of shorting everything that Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) goes long.
Cramer said Tuttle's Short fund is the perfect way to hedge your bets until our economy can find its post-Covid footing.
Executive Decision: McCormick
In his first "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Lawrence Kurzius, chairman, president and CEO of McCormick (MKC), the spice maker that soared 6.8% to a new 52-week high today after reporting a blowout quarter.
Kurzius said consumer demand for flavor has never been stronger and consumers are loving the flavors that only McCormick can provide. Too much has been attributed to the pandemic, he added. Cooking at home was a trend before the pandemic and it's poised to be a long-term trend after the pandemic. Younger consumers in particular are excited to cook and share their meals on social media and McCormick is tapped into that demographic.
Kurzius also commented on their recent acquisition of Cholula hot sauce. He said Cholula goes hand-in-hand with their other brand, Frank's Red Hot. In fact, Frank's and Cholula are now rated No. 1 and 2 in the U.S.
McCormick was able to quickly turnaround the Cholula brand by increasing distribution with better shelf positioning in stores. They also added a lot more restaurants to the mix, which are using Cholula in the front and back of the house.
Shares of McCormick are up 15% over the past six months, during a time when the averages have been entering bear market territory.
What's New?
All markets controlled by supply and demand, Cramer reminded viewers. And after a record year for IPOs, SPACs and direct listings, it's no wonder the markets have been selling off. But is there anything worth owning amongst the 649 new issues from last year? Cramer dove into the group to find out.
Given that the Federal Reserve is no longer our friend, we need to be very careful with these new issues, Cramer explained. That's why his screens looked for analyst coverage with positive earnings per share estimates and valuations below 30 times those estimates. It also looked for only those with solid balance sheets and a minimum size, among other criteria.
In the end, Cramer whittled down the list to just 61 possibilities, one-tenth of the original.
Among the standouts were Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) and Dole Foods (DOLE) , both of which offer dividends. He also called out auto parts maker Holley (HLLY) and grill-maker Traeger (COOK) . A pair of fitness plays made the list, F45 Training (FXLV) and Xponential Fitness (XPOF) , as did Open Lending (LPRO) , which should benefit as the pandemic winds down.
Lastly, Cramer recommended Endeavor (EDR), the talent agency that has all of the talent the streaming services need to fill their ever-growing libraries of content.
Executive Decision: Nucor
For his second "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer also spoke with Leon Topalain, president and CEO of steelmaker Nucor (NUE), a stock that rose 3.9% Thursday but remains down 15% so far in 2022.
Topalain said Nucor is a diversified steelmaker, making products for everything from automotive and agriculture to construction and infrastructure. Every one of their end markets is growing and showing improvement as the pandemic winds down.
When asked about their automotive business in particular, Topalain noted that as the semiconductor shortage improves, auto supplies will ramp up, but that doesn't mean the industry will be fixed overnight. He said it will take years for the pent up demand to be fully met.
Topalain was also upbeat on Nucor's energy prospects. He said renewable energy, primarily with on- and off-shore wind farms, is a particular fast-growing sector that Nucor is well positioned to capitalize on.
Topalain also touted Nucor's new Iconic line of net-zero steel, which is now shipping to customers like General Motors (GM). He said Iconic is the sustainable platform of the future and they're very excited to see what it can do.
Lightning Round
In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Maxar Technologies (MAXR), Vista Outdoor (VSTO), Cerence (CRNC) and AbbVie (ABBV).
Cramer was bearish on Canopy Growth (CGC), Trade Desk (TTD) and WW International (WW).
Why Stock-Picking Still Matters
In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer said for all of those who think stock picking doesn't matter, consider the semiconductor titans of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA) and Intel (INTC).
For years now, Intel has underinvested in many key areas, allowing for both AMD and Nvidia to leapfrog them. Despite Intel's many claims that it is "catching up," in reality, the pair are only pulling further ahead.
What does that mean for your portfolio? If you had invested $1,000 in AMD in October 2014, when CEO Lisa Su took the reins, you'd have $31,000 today. If you had invested in Nvidia at the same time, you'd have over $50,000 today.
But if you had invested $1,000 in Intel, well, you'd have just $1,700. That's why stock picking matters.
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