CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday tried to quell investors’ recession fears. He pointed to several sectors that are seeing gains and said that the economy needs to slow for the Federal Reserve to make eagerly awaited interest rate cuts.
“If you have a market that’s been driven by a handful of stocks and then suddenly it’s being driven by health care, consumer packaged goods and financials, utilities, are we to presume that’s somehow a bad thing? If everything were to go down, sure, real bad, but not this time,” he said. “We have a ton of stocks that’re rallying here, a ton, giving us much broader leadership. Again, like the rate cut that’s coming — isn’t that exactly what we want?”
The market was on unsteady footing on Wednesday as Wall Street tried to rebound from Tuesday’s sell-off and investors anticipated the results of Friday’s employment report. The S&P 500 shed 0.16% while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09%.
Cramer said he doesn’t deny the economy is slowing, pointing to declining shares of stores like Dollar General and Dollar Tree. This widespread Wall Street theme is helping stocks poised to do well in a slower economy see gains, like consumer packaged goods and utilities, he added. Investors should expect these moves if they want the Fed to take action, he said, and emphasized that the central bank does not cut rates when business is strong.
Some may argue that the weakness in the tech sectors also spells a recession, Cramer said, with many convinced that Nvidia‘s $279 billion market cap loss is a “harbinger of disaster.” But he disagreed, saying the loss isn’t significant when considering the stock’s enormous rise this year — with its market cap nearly tripling within a matter of months — and the fact that it remains up more than 100% year-to-date
“I’m willing to declare that there’s too much doom and gloom out there,” he said. “Look, I’m not trying to call a bottom — I want to make that crystal clear — but I think it’s worth taking a hard look at what’s actually going right, not just what’s going wrong.”
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