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Cramer: Angry politics are hurting this market

Cramer: Angry politics are hurting this market
VIDEO11:4711:47
Cramer: Angry politics are hurting this market

As both the and Nasdaq composite ended the month of February with losses, Jim Cramer pointed to politics that are hurting the market.

"We pay less for stocks than we otherwise would because this angry presidential race makes people feel more glum and less sure of the future," the "Mad Money" host said.

This was evident to Cramer in the messages received from both Warren Buffett and General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt.

Buffett portrayed the political environment as one that obscures the greatness of investible progress in the U.S., writing "candidates can't stop speaking about our country's problems (which of course only THEY can solve)" and indicated that the view that children in the U.S. will not live as well as current individuals is dead wrong.





I am saying that the backdrop that politics creates just makes people feel too uncertain to invest.
Jim Cramer
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In his annual letter to shareholders, Immelt also echoed concern about the relationship between business and government and called it "the worst I have ever seen." He also wrote that in his career it has been technology, productivity and globalization that were the driving forces to success, yet in politics it is fighting these forces that get them elected.

"I can quibble with some of what Immelt says about globalization, because I think it has hurt a lot of working people. But what I am not going to quibble with is the caustic nature of the political backdrop," Cramer said.

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Cramer added that not only does this backdrop make doing business more difficult, it also makes investors less willing to pay up for stocks of those businesses.

It is this brutal political atmosphere that is having a daily impact on stocks.

In the drug sector, Cramer thinks part of the reason why stocks are trading down are due to a belief that drug companies are bad actors in the system. And while there are a few out there, he found that a majority of drug companies are not worthy of the rejection.

"From an investing point of view, owning a drug stock has become a nightmare because of the fear that politicians will demonize all of them, not just the few who deserve it," Cramer said.

Additionally, big infrastructure spending on things like roads, bridges and tunnels have not been addressed by the government. This kind of spending has now become a fringe idea.

The oil industry was once known as a steady creator of jobs because of the technological drilling revolution. Now it is on the ropes, and the President still called for a $10 tax on every barrel of oil, a surcharge paid by oil companies.

Meanwhile, at the current low price of crude, the average oil company in the U.S. is now breaking even or losing money on most of its wells. Cramer thinks this surcharge could wipe out most of the independent oil companies and the jobs they create.

"Look, I am not trying to rant against either political party. I am saying that the backdrop that politics creates just makes people feel too uncertain to invest," Cramer said.

Ultimately it is an atmosphere that makes investors want to risk nothing; for fear that they could lose everything. And like Buffett, Cramer thinks those fears will prove to be unfounded.

Cramer urged investors not to hide from opportunity, especially in the face of a terrifying political environment. After all, it could obscure opportunities — but it doesn't eliminate them.

"I am not suggesting that we whistle past the graveyard. I am suggesting that it is not really a graveyard, the politicians have simply made it feel like one," Cramer said.

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