Cramer Remix: My pre-election investment strategy
Uncertainty took its toll on the stock market on Monday, with stocks slumping in preparation for the first presidential debate.
However, Jim Cramer doesn't expect significant changes for the stock market regardless of which candidate wins the election.
"Uncertainty creates sell-offs, but it also creates bargains. Given how little the president really has to do with the performance of individual companies, if we get a big enough decline, I recommend pouncing on the unaffected opportunities," the "Mad Money" host said.
Ultimately, as radical as the differences are between Trump and Clinton, Cramer doesn't believe that the person that wins the presidency will mean as much to the stock market as many people seem to believe.
"The president just doesn't have that much power over the economy, even if you sometimes pretend otherwise," Cramer said.
Cramer recommended staying unemotional, and remembering that even when business people hated the Obama administration, it didn't stop them from making a fortune in the stock market. That is the key to taking advantage of the presidential bargains.
Cramer also attributed the sell-off not just to political uncertainty, but to the worries surrounding the potential solvency of Deutsche Bank.
It was clear to Cramer that Deutsche Bank radically underestimated how much it would have to pay for transgressions in the U.S. mortgage market. The company's reserves are thought to be around $5 billion to $6 billion, versus the $14 billion sought by the Justice Department.
"At times like this, the Justice Department can represent the will of the American people, and the people want bankers to pay for their transgressions," Cramer said.
The idea that the Justice Department would give Deutsche a pass, was radically misread, Cramer said. Especially considering that Deutsche isn't an American bank, and there aren't tens of thousands of U.S. employees that will be expected to lose their jobs.
Cramer also decided to play the sell-off by circling back to the stocks that have worked so far this year. Align Technology is the maker of the clear, removable dental braces Invisalign. The company also makes a mobile scanning stem that eliminates the need for dentists to take impressions.
Align Technology's stock is up more than 41 percent this year, thanks to strong earnings in July. Cramer spoke with Align's President and CEO Joe Hogan who explained how the company achieved such accelerated earnings-per-share growth.
"Overall the growth has been wide and the utilization continues to increase, so we get leverage off of that volume," Hogan said.
With Apple's stock up 25 percent since its multi-year lows in May, Cramer has heard various rumors about why Apple has suddenly come roaring back.
There is one important piece of the puzzle that he thinks Wall Street has mostly ignored that explains the bounce.
Apple's chief rival, Samsung, was caught in a debacle for its Galaxy Note 7 phones, after it was discovered that the batteries could overheat and cause the phone to explode. Samsung's newest smartphone has now been recalled in the U.S., and the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning as a potential safety hazard.
"This opens the door for Apple to take back a potentially enormous amount of market share," Cramer said.
British biotech GW Pharmaceuticals took one step closer to having its key childhood epilepsy drug Epidiolex approved on Monday, when it announced promising phase 3 clinical trial results. Shares of the stock soared more than 17 percent in response.
In an interview with Jim Cramer on Monday, GW Pharma CEO Justin Gover said that the children participating in the trial had previously tried 10 other anti-epileptic drugs. Despite the medication, they still had three seizures a day, approximately 90 a month.
"The impact that we have had that we have shown today is a hugely important potential breakthrough in the treatment of the condition called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome," Gover told Cramer.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Ensco: "The only part of the whole complex that I don't like is the offshore. I am willing to go onshore because they are drilling because it's cheaper. But not offshore."
International Flavors & Fragrances: "We love that company ... I think that is a fantastic stock, even up here at $140. They keep delivering, they are so consistent."