Cramer Remix: Memo to President Trump - the Fed's on your side
- "Memo to the President: Powell stopped tightening, he's doing what you want—take yes for an answer," the "Mad Money" CNBC's Jim Cramer says.
- "I'm not saying the economy's in great shape. The point I'm making is that it's foolish to view the inverted yield curve ... as a harbinger of recession," the "Mad Money" host says.
- "We only have an inverted yield curve because the Fed mess up when it tightened in December. They know the situation is fragile, so I think they'll stay on hold," he says.
CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday suggested that President Donald Trump stop targeting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and let the chief carry out his current monetary policy plan.
In a Sunday tweet on, Trump doubled down, again, on his criticism of Powell in the wake of the Federal Open Market Committee's move to raise the benchmark funds rate to a range of 2.25% to 2.5% last December.
"Memo to the President: Powell stopped tightening, he's doing what you want — take yes for an answer," the "Mad Money" host said.
Cramer, who was also once critical of the Fed chair, has warmed up to Powell since he canceled plans to hike rates in 2019 for a "patient" approach. The host called the rate increase a "rookie mistake."
The Fed put a hold on rate increases in part because of slowing growth in the global economy. As investors and analysts worry that a recession could be looming, Cramer said he is not convinced.
"I'm not saying the economy's in great shape. The point I'm making is that it's foolish to view the inverted yield curve — the fact that some short-term interest rates are now higher than some longer-term rates — as a harbinger of recession," he said. "We only have an inverted yield curve because the Fed mess up when it tightened in December. They know the situation is fragile, so I think they'll stay on hold."
As the economy remains relatively healthy, he said there are a number of warning signals that would hold the Federal Reserve back from being hawkish again in the near future.
Cramer gives seven reasons why here
Surviving Death Star
Investors should factor the Amazon effect into their stock-picking homework because the company is a "Death Star" that could disrupt any industry it decides to set its gaze on, Cramer said.
"Any company with any kind of consumer product could potentially end up in their crosshairs, and that's a very dangerous place to be," the "Mad Money" host said.
The Amazon effect continues to have a daunting impact on most brick-and-mortar retailers, and the entertainment industry could be next in its path. Spotify has become a dominant name in the audio world by offering both free, ad-supported and subscription models for streaming music. It is also making a mark in the exceedingly popular podcasts segment.
But shares of the streaming platform ended Monday down 4.4% on news that Amazon could release a free music streaming service on its Echo device as soon as next week.
"Now that we know [Amazon's] interested, Spotify's stock will never trade the same way again ... Amazon has a huge installed based of 100 million devices that could easily make this service work, destroying Spotify's moat [and] potentially turning it into an absolute also-ran in its own industry," Cramer said. "I think Amazon could do just about anything it sets its mind to right now."
Read more here
Brand power
Conagra Foods is dishing out just what young consumers want, according to CEO Sean Connolly. Connolly explained to Cramer how the company has "modernized" its products.
The agribusiness giant owns Slim Jim, Healthy Choice, and Orville Redenbacher, among other names.
"For the last four years, we've taken a large vast portfolio and we've modernized it across the board and our focus is making sure these brands resonate with young consumers, millennials," he said.
Catch the full interview here
Tiger effect
The golfing industry might be in for a windfall after Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters win on Sunday, CNBC's Jim Cramer said.
"I think the golf renaissance is about to blow up thanks in part to the Tiger Woods effect, and right now the best pure play on the industry is Acushnet Holdings," the "Mad Money" host said Monday. "That said, if you'd prefer something more beaten down, I still like Callaway down here. I just think it's more risky."
Cramer said superstars are great for selling merchandise and Woods' decade-long comeback story could help trigger a faster recovery in the "seemingly boring sport" of golf. Interest in the game, typically popular among older generations, has picked up among millennials with the introduction of interactive concepts like TopGolf, he said.
The fun-focused TopGolf courses can be enjoyed by professionals and beginners alike.
Stocks connected to golf and Woods rallied on Monday.
Get more insight here
Coming down the pipe
Chevron is buying Anadarko Petroleum in a $33 billion deal in cash and stocks. While the acquisition was announced Friday, Occidental Petroleum was reportedly making its own bid to buy Anadarko for north of $70 per share.
Cramer brought Chevron CEO Mike Wirth to discuss the merger and how it played out.
"We didn't know anything other than our negotiations and discussions with Anadarko," he told Cramer when asked about the competing bid. "I can't comment on that. I'll say we made a full and compelling offer. It's a certain offer and we intend to close."
See the discussion here
Cramer's lightning round: This one's always a bridesmaid, never a bride
In Cramer's lightning round, he shared his responses to callers' stock questions:
3Pea International Inc.: "Well, that's about as speculative as it gets. That's a payment processor that's a niche payment processor, but you said it's speculative, so therefore I'm gonna say [buy]."
Oracle Corp.: "Oracle is just an inexpensive stock that needs a catalyst. That didn't shock me. I mean they got a cloud business … but it's not like Amazon's. It's just not."
Walmart Inc.: "Yes. I would buy it even right here. It's very inexpensive and no one's championing it, except for me."
Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Amazon.com.
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