These are the five stocks Jim Cramer would buy today – and why

Published Thu, Aug 17 20232:01 PM EDT

There are five stocks I would buy right now if I were just joining the Club, or had come into some new money. We have resisted like hell the trap of falling into lockstep with the bond market, which would have had us in a recession more than a year ago, or the so-called brilliant talking heads who told us we were never going to get out of the bear market. We hold in contempt those who thought Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was an idiot, either because they were stupid or talking their own book. Unlike many of these stooges, I actually know Powell and I recognize that he is a practical, no-nonsense, non-political, get-the-job-done person who doesn't want to throw people out of work and doesn't want to make your money worth less down the line. My faith in Powell helped us be non-ideological, or neutral, and kept us from the false dichotomy of a so-called soft-or-hard landing – and now we're at a point where we could be in for no landing at all. The man is trying to navigate an economy that's pumped up by federal stimulus, while sagging from higher interest rates, and he is doing so with aplomb. So, here's a rundown of the five names I'd target today: 1. DuPont de Nemours (DD) is run by the very able Ed Breen, who I know wants to go out on a high note. I think Breen's going to call it quits when Dupont hits $100 a share. It is now trading around $75 apiece. Dupont's mosaic of businesses fits perfectly with the end of an interest-rate-tightening cycle because it has just enough cyclical kick to produce big numbers next year, while at the same time it's a terrific way to invest in the long-awaited turn in the cellphone and personal-computer markets. And Dupont has a ton of cash to buy back stock while it happens. 2. Danaher (DHR) is the medical-device-and-equipment maker that had to suffer for the first time through a three-quarter stretch of disappointing numbers . But I think it can rally on a potential renaissance in biotechnology stocks, helped by an industry appetite for initial public offerings that's only growing. All Danaher has to do is spin off a slow division and watch orders improve. 3. GE HealthCare (GEHC): Sometimes the market can be so wrong that it's painful – and that's the case with this medical technology name. The sellers just don't know as much as we do. They do not know that everyone in the country fears dementia and Alzheimer's. And Americans are going to be chasing the new drugs that target this disease, whether they be from Biogen (BIIB) or Club name Eli Lilly (LLY). But our country can't afford to give these new drugs to everyone. So, the people who run Medicare for the federal government are going to ask the smartest neurologists in the world how to decide who gets the magic elixir. The answer will be those who have the most plaque on their brains. How do you detect plaque? With a GE HealthCare machine. 4. Honeywell (HON): Despite its exposure to the aerospace industry, this stock has been going down because this silly market only has eyes on a couple aerospace investments at a time and can't bother to think deeper. That's why Boeing (BA) and General Electric (GE) keep going higher. But Honeywell has a whole bunch of great divisions, including chemicals and climate controls, a pristine cockpit division — which manufactures for both Boeing and Airbus (EADSY) – and one not-so-hot warehouse-automation business. If Honeywell's new CEO , Vimal Kapur, were to close the warehouse-automation division tomorrow, this $186-a-share stock would be worth at least $198 apiece. I can't afford to let that happen without buying more , which is what we did Tuesday. 5. Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) : This maker of industrial tools and household hardware represents one of the best bargains in the entire portfolio. The company has products used for homebuilders, remodelers and renovators. Those are construction areas that remain hot because of the scarcity of housing, and because few people want to sell their homes and risk losing a low mortgage rate. So, they will use Stanley Black & Decker tools to fix up their homes. It doesn't hurt to have a 3.5% yield, either. Yup, we need to buy some more of this one. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long DD, DHR, GEHC, HON, SWK. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

There are five stocks I would buy right now if I were just joining the Club, or had come into some new money.