There are many different ways to look at the market, Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers Wednesday. You can just look at the averages and assume everything is bad, or you can do a little homework and realize that real companies with tremendous brand loyalty are triumphing.
Instead of worrying about broken supply chains, ask yourself, "who benefits from fixing them?" Instead of fretting over rising commodity prices, find out who has the brands that can raise prices. And instead of assuming the entire economy suffers with rising interest rates, why not ask "who makes more money with higher rates?"
The stock market is not made up of interchangeable parts, it's made up of individual companies. With a little research, you can easily find stocks like Bank of America (BAC), a bank with some of the best technology and loyal customers. Bank of America will make a ton of money with higher interest rates.
Then there's Morgan Stanley (MS), which was once an unreliable, episodic financial company, but no more. Now, Morgan Stanley is making money hand over fist and investors should take notice.
Need more convincing? How about Procter & Gamble (PG), the once sleepy consumer products giant that on Wednesday delivered organic sales growth and terrific earnings that sent shares up 3.3%. Procter is able to offset rising costs because customers love the company's brands and are willing to pay a little more to get them.
Finally, there's UnitedHealth Group (UNH), the health insurer that unlike rival Humana (HUM), isn't having problems with Medicare advantage and once again delivered solid quarterly results.
If you just look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average and read the headlines, you won't find great opportunities like these. But dig a little deeper, and this market selloff is creating a lot of opportunities.
Executive Decision: SoFi Technologies
In his first "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi Technologies (SOFI), the online lender that saw its shares soar 13.6% after receiving regulatory approval to become a national bank.
Noto said he got very emotional after receiving word from the Federal Reserve that SoFi's banking application had been approved. The application process involves a lot of regulatory hurdles and lots of hard work, which makes this approval represents a huge milestone for SoFi as a company.
SoFi's mission is to be a trusted partner in all of their customers' most important financial milestones, and now with the ability to offer checking and savings accounts, they can offer new services as well as gain the ability to lower costs at the same time.
SoFi currently offers four different types of loans, Noto said, and since they only lend to high-quality applicants, their loan performance to date has been far better than traditional banks. With the banking approval, SoFi will now be able to offer products in all 50 states, up from just 40 states today.
Featured Interview: Gary Gensler
In a special interview, Cramer spoke with Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission, about the commission's efforts to update regulations and guidance to address fast-paced market changes.
Gensler said he's always been a fan of Greek philosopher Aristotle, who posited that like things should be treated alike. This applies to how companies come public. For decades, that process involved an initial public offering, or IPO, that included intense scrutiny and disclosures to the public.
But today, we have special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, which make an end-run around these regulations and often just benefit institutional investors at the expense of the public.
Gensler said the SEC has a commission working on the issues with SPACs. They will soon make recommendations to require better disclosures of the risks involved and offer better protections for individual investors.
Similar efforts are underway at the SEC regarding cryptocurrencies, Gensler added. When you put money in a mutual fund, he said, information is shared and you understand the risks involved. But when you invest in crypto, there are no disclosures and the vast majority of investors have no idea what they're investing in. Those lucrative 9% returns for just parking your money in some tokens is suspect, he said, and needs to be regulated. Likewise, the crypto trading platforms also should be required to register with the SEC to ensure that investors receive basic protections against fraud and front-running.
Beyond SPACs and cryptocurrencies, Gensler said the SEC is also looking into many other rule changes as well. The SEC's job is to make the markets fair for regular folks, he said, and there are many areas that can be improved.
The SEC learned a lot of lessons a year ago when the stocks of GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment (AMC) soared into the stratosphere thanks to meme investors on Reddit and Robinhood (HOOD).
Gensler said they are looking into the gamification of investing, as well as the advice and recommendations that apps and trading platforms are sending to their customers. Many, he said, are encouraging trading, which makes them money, rather than long-term investing.
There is no such thing as commission-free trading, Gensler cautioned. In many cases, these "free" apps are not sending orders to competitive markets where customers will receive the best price. Instead, they send them to preferred partners, for a small fee, and the customer does not get the best price on their trade.
The SEC is also looking into a host of "plumbing" issues in how the markets operate. Gensler said they're looking to shorten the 10-day disclosure window for large shareholders, which gives short sellers an advantage. They're also working on rules to ensure that smaller investors aren't locked out of the markets, as they were a year ago during the height of the meme stock surge. Finally, Gensler noted that investors need comparable, consistent data when it comes to ESG disclosures for both companies and funds.
Cramer commended Gensler for all of his efforts to update our regulatory system to meet today's biggest investing challenges.
Lightning Round
In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Commercial Vehicle Group (CVGI), and Spirit Airlines (SAVE).
Cramer was bearish on DuPont (DD), Southwest Airlines (LUV), FREYR Battery (FREY) , and Vector Group (VGR).
Cramer's Bullish on Oil
In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer explained why he's turned bullish on oil, after years of proclaiming the group "uninvestable."
Put simply, the facts have changed, Cramer said. For years, the oil drillers had no discipline, chasing profits at all costs. But recently, oil producers have found religion, focusing on stable returns for shareholders. That has resulted in a cautious approach to drilling that has eliminated the boom and bust cycles of the past. The group has also gotten serious about climate change and is aggressively working to curb carbon emissions.
Cramer said companies like Devon Energy (DVN), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) and Diamondback Energy (FANG), along with Chevron (CVX) have all earned a spot in your portfolio.
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