Cramer sees great buying opportunities in 'Washington's shenanigans'

• "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer finds great buys pegged to the Trump administration's actions, but few that are tied to tax reform.
• Some may argue that tax reform is baked into the stock market, but others are not counting on any tangible legislation, Cramer says.
• Cramer advises investors to stop waiting for Washington to act on tax reform and start investing around the federal government's other moves.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin may have cautioned that the stock market will drop if tax reform is not passed, but CNBC's Jim Cramer isn't buying it.

"Look, I appreciate [that] he's trying to get Congress motivated, but just on the facts, I think he's quite wrong. The truth is, most executives don't believe tax reform is coming. It's simply not integral to this market. Yes, they've lost faith," the "Mad Money" host said.

As such, Cramer advised investors against counting on tax reform for stock gains. Expectations of tax reform would have benefited retail, restaurant, cable and entertainment stocks, which currently represent the market's weakest group.

Instead, they should keep an eye on the federal government's other moves, he said.

"Washington's shenanigans do create some pretty terrific buying opportunities," Cramer contended. "There are a ton of sellers lurking on any news related to North Korea, the 'little' guy with the rockets. There are always people getting anxious about the president's off-the-cuff comments, like the calm before the storm line [or how] drug companies [are] getting away with murder."

Those very moments provided great, if fleeting, buying opportunities, the "Mad Money" host said.

Trump's comments on high drug prices drove the stocks of Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Abbott Laboratories down to discounted levels, Cramer said.

If the Federal Reserve does raise interest rates in December, it will give the bank stocks, particularly Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, an earnings boost, he added.

For Wednesday's "investable bargains," Cramer pointed investors to defense stocks Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.

"They've been some of the most dependable stocks every time they get hit because it's not like world peace is breaking out," he said.

Cramer noted that shares of Netflix sold off after its strong earnings report on Monday, but said that the action was simply "disgruntled" sellers letting buyers get into the stock at a lower price.

Shares of the major airlines have stalled, which Cramer argued also makes for a buying opportunity.

"With everything that's working in this market, the only thing I don't want you to be thinking about is tax reform," the "Mad Money" host said. "At one point it was indeed baked into stocks, the ones currently being clobbered, because they stood to gain from it, but that time has long passed. Otherwise, with a few exceptions like the bear markets in oil and retail, when you see a pullback in this market — like IBM yesterday or the defense stocks today — you've got to go take it."

WATCH: Cramer refines how to invest around Washington

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Abbot Laboratories and Citigroup.

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