Cramer: The 3 things I want to see in a stock before buying in this bull market

Published Thu, Mar 28 20246:00 AM EDT

At the beginning of the year, I was talking about how we didn't need rate cuts. Maybe one, maybe none, and others were talking about needing six of them. What kind of Canopy Growth product were they smoking? I want to be clear about this: The economy is too strong to cut rates, but the lower-income portion of this country is too weak to ignore. So, if we see unemployment spike, and we haven't yet, the Federal Reserve will start cutting. But not until then. Right now people are being patient, still banking on the Fed to save them. I say, save them from what? Fed Chief Jerome Powell has taken himself out of the equation until he is needed. We need to focus on the fundamentals. Fortunately, the fundamentals are pretty darned good for many many industries. When jobs are plentiful and the federal government is spending money like it always does in an election year, you have to be ready to buy sell-offs not sell them. Why do I mention sell-offs? Because you know that when I see speculation I pull in my bull horns. The speculation I have been seeing in former President Donald Trump's media stock ( Trump Media & Technology Group ) and recently Astera Labs and Reddit I find worrisome, but the reversals in Reddit and Astera Labs are hopeful. We want speculation nipped in the bud and the broadening out of the advance encouraging. However, when I dug deep into our portfolio, I was surprised at how few of the stocks we own I would buy right now because of the phenomenal runs we've seen. We aren't running a hedge fund. We don't sell to buy, or own puts or short stocks. We just own and choose not to buy more until better levels. That's how I feel about most of the stocks we own. Right now we are in no man's land and unless a stock is well off its highs I am not tempted to buy anything. You need three things to pull the trigger right now: 1. A terrific company 2. A stock price that is way too low versus that company's worth 3. A stock market that's come down a bit to make things less dicey If we only have the first two, that can mean you can pull the trigger. This was the case with our most recent initiation: Best Buy on Wednesday. But in an ideal world, I want all three. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) 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.

CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer

Rob Kim | NBCUniversal