With so many stocks in pain right now, could there possibly be any stocks left in the market that could still work in an investor portfolio?
This has been the question on the minds of many investors lately especially after the beating industrials, financials and tech stocks have taken lately. That is why Jim Cramer decided to dig through last week's rubble to find a few groups that could have some life left in them.
"I think the selloff has gone on so long that we just accept there are many 'no-fly zone' sectors that we just stopped paying attention to months and months ago," the "Mad Money" host said. (Tweet This)
That group of untouchable stocks seems to be expanding rapidly. At this point, anything that sells overseas these days is pretty much doomed. The best performance an investor will get with a big international company, aside from the drug business, is basically zero and that is because it sells food.
Takeover stocks have managed to create a bright light, especially in the health care space. There have been so many deals that activists could become involved, which is almost always a positive sign in Cramer's opinion. Names such as Aetna, Humana and Anthem have managed to stand out. Yet Cramer warned the sheer numbers of deals in the cable, medical device or biotech regions have created a false level of confidence.
So where do the bull markets remain?
Cramer's favorite play lately has been on the uptrend in housing, which touches anything that goes into a house and anywhere that those goods are purchased—with exception of lumber. And now that the Fed is going to raise rates, there could be opportunity.
Home Depot stock has risen, but Lowe's is down despite the excellent commentary from both companies regarding appliances. Cramer also highlighted both Whirlpool and PPG as being down, though they have substantial operations overseas away from their domestic business.
There are also a few recession proof stocks that have stayed strong. Constellation Brands and Electronic Arts have shown people still love video games and booze. And Autozone and O'Reilly Automotive are proof that auto parts are still needed now that Americans are keeping their cars longer, regardless of what is happening in the stock market.
Another group that has done well are the non-bank financials, such as MSCI, Equifax, Global Payments, Visa and MasterCard. However Cramer warned that the major banks have given up their gains for the year, even though they are the most important portion of the financial group.
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Finally there are the tech stocks and FANG stocks, which stands for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, along with a few peaked cybersecurity stocks, Avago and Skyworks.
"This pastiche of winners allows us the illusion of a bull running through this market. To me, though, the real takeaway is that after last week, not even these stocks are safe," Cramer said.
Ultimately that is a signal to Cramer that the damage that has been inflicted on stocks in the past week has been so great that any rate increase is built into the market, regardless of what happens in the September and December Fed meeting.
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