Investors buy companies that align with durable themes that can withstand the negative sentiment on Wall Street, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.
The “Mad Money” host’s comments came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed lower for the fourth consecutive session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also finished in the red, as all three major U.S. equity averages are headed for a negative week.
“How do you handle an increasingly gloomy market? I’ve got a solution: You buy the stocks of companies that fit ... broader themes, ones that you can always buy more of if the stocks get clobbered,” Cramer said.
The first one Cramer highlighted is cybersecurity, which he said “is essential in a world where everything’s increasingly networked and the bad guys just get smarter everyday.” In this industry, he said CrowdStrike is “almost unrivaled,” with Palo Alto Networks being one possible exception.
The second theme is “anything that makes you look or feel better during the pandemic,” Cramer said, referring to companies such as Signet Jewelers and Ulta Beauty.
Another durable theme that remains in place despite the Covid delta variant or Federal Reserve policy is “the digitization of everything,” Cramer said. One company that fits squarely within that trend is enterprise automation software maker UiPath, he said.
Finally, Cramer said financial empowerment through technology has a bright future no matter what the current attitude on the Street is.
“This is an irrepressible story, whether we’re talking about zero commission trading or artificial intelligence powered lending that lets you escape from your credit score shackles,” Cramer said, adding that Affirm Holdings and other companies in the buy now, pay later industry also are promising.
