Investors are fighting a war on two fronts, Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers Wednesday. First, there's the crisis in Ukraine, where there are still many unanswered questions as to the direction things are headed. Then there's our domestic war, the war on inflation, where there are also unanswered questions as to when, and how forcefully, the Federal Reserve will act.
When it comes to Ukraine, many of the negatives are still not baked into stock prices, Cramer said. While it looks increasingly unlikely that we'll see a diplomatic solution to the crisis, we still don't know exactly what the conflict will look like or how long it might last.
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But Cramer said the bigger worry for investors is our war on inflation. Many investors are too young to remember our prior battles with inflation, which is why the market's volatility remains high.
Today, we saw shares of Vertiv (VRT) crater 36.7%, after the company saw its input costs run completely out of control. Yet our Fed, which has repeatedly pledged to combat inflation, has not only failed to act on interest rates, it is still buying bonds to curb interest rates.
Cramer predicted that stocks will rally if and when the Fed finally gets its act together and investors can finally see the end of these supply chain nightmares. Until that happens, or until we have more clarity on Ukraine however, investors can expect more torturous days like Wednesday.
Executive Decision: Goldman Sachs
In his first "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer sat down with David Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS), the investment bank with shares that have lagged its peers and now trade with some of the lowest P/E ratios in the S&P 500. Shares of Goldman are up just 7% over the past year.
Solomon explained that the mergers and acquisitions business is a broad category, and while there are some regulatory headwinds in some areas, like big-cap technology, the bread-and-butter deals are smaller, less visible acquisitions and those are still going strong.
Solomon then outlined Goldman's strategy, one he admitted they need to do a better job explaining to investors. That strategy included strengthening their core businesses of capital markets, investment banking and trading, all of which have meaningfully expanded over the past year.
The second part of Goldman's strategy includes investing in four areas of growth, one of which is their digital consumer platform. That platform, which includes partnerships with Apple (AAPL) and General Motors (GM), has over 10 million customers and has brought in $100 billion in deposits to Goldman.
Goldman continues to invest in these growth areas, and Solomon assured investors that if there aren't opportunities, they will return more capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.
Off the Charts
In the "Off The Charts" segment, Cramer checked in with colleague Larry Williams to see where the averages are likely headed next.
According to Williams' indicators, the markets are poised for a meaningful rally, one that no one is expecting. His assertion was based on the Commitment of Traders, or COT Report, which shows the activities of large, commercial investors and hedge funds. Using his proprietary metrics, Williams saw bullish readings he hasn't seen since March 2020, when the markets recovered from their initial pandemic selloff.
Cramer said Williams' view is important, both because he has a solid track record of predicting market swings, and because no one is thinking about what comes after inflation and Ukraine fears subside.
Executive Decision: Peloton
For his final "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer checked in Barry McCarthy, president and CEO of Peloton Interactive (PTON), the connected fitness provider that's been on a wild ride, leading to McCarthy taking the helm from its founder.
McCarthy said there are a lot of similarities between Peloton and his prior employers, Netflix (NFLX) and Spotify (SPOT). All three are founder-led companies, in the content business, with global opportunities in front of them. He said there is a global market for Peloton, they just need to decide where they want to focus their efforts first.
Peloton currently has 2.7 million subscribers paying $40 per month, McCarthy noted, and he feels there's an opportunity to increase their total addressable market by lowering the upfront cost of the machines and focusing on features, functionality and content over the long haul.
When asked about the company's previous troubles, McCarthy admitted that Peloton didn't manage itself well during the pandemic, and the lack of forecasting abilities led to increased cash needs. Now, however, McCarthy said he feels Peloton was adequately capitalized given the inventory they already have.
"There's a lot of talent in the building," McCarthy concluded, and while he will always be wary about competition, he expects Peloton will remain the dominant player in the connected fitness space.
Lightning Round
In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Southern Copper (SCCO), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Crestwood Equity Partners (ET) and Energy Transfer (ET).
Cramer was bearish on Lumen Technologies (LUMN) and SentinelOne (S).
There's Always a Bull Market Somewhere
In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer reminded viewers that there is always a bull market somewhere, they're just getting harder to find. That's because investors no longer care about how good the current quarter is, they only care about what the future looks like.
That's why shares of Home Depot (HD) fell when the company reported strong earnings. Investors assumed this quarter would be Home Depot's last good one. Meanwhile, rival Lowe's (LOW) saw its shares soar, mainly because of its strong forecast.
Cramer said he's looking for companies like Molson Coors (TAP), which also saw shares rally on an upbeat forecast driven by new product innovation. Investors can also consider stocks with no raw costs, like technology, as a way to beat the never-ending inflation story.
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