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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday said the packaged food industry appears to be rebounding after falling into trouble waters in recent months.
General Mills and J.M. Smucker have lead the way, he said.
“As much as I hate to chase, I think General Mills is too cheap and too good to ignore here,” the “Mad Money” host said. “And Smuckers, let’s just say it’s not too far behind.”
Both stocks have climbed more than 20 percent in 2019, beating the S&P 500’s less than 10 percent gain since the start of the year.
Find out why Cramer thinks General Mills could be a buy here
The best time to invest is when investors are concerned that increased labor and gasoline expenditures will negatively impact company profits ahead of earnings season, Cramer said.
He pointed to an article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Investors Brace for Hit to Profits as Costs Rise” to counter worries that rising wages and energy costs would cut into earnings and threaten the bull market. That negativity is a reason to be bullish because those issues were already baked in the market, Cramer said.
“The more downbeat stories we see about the market, the more likely it will be that we’ll have a decent earnings season. The averages can power higher because it’s decent,” the host said. “Lowered expectations are the best kind of expectations.”
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The tobacco sector has soared in recent months even as smoking rates continue to decline and vaping becomes more popular, Cramer said.
He gave his thoughts about the stocks of Altria and Philip Morris International, which spun off from Altria more than a decade ago.
“If I had to choose between these big tobacco titans, I’d pick Altria here as the company’s taking aggressive action to offset the secular decline in smoking,” the host said.
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Dominion Energy is making moves to close 10 coal and gas-fired power plant in part because of concerns about the environment, CEO Tom Farrell told Cramer in an interview.
“When I started at Dominion about two decades ago … about 55 percent of our power production came from coal,” he said. “Last year it was 12 percent and that’s been largely replaced with renewables and natural gas.”
Catch the full interview here
Dave & Busters‘ earnings show how the company has found the right strategy to draw customers into its locations, Cramer said.
The game and food franchise said it could soon double its 125 locations, he said. He pointed out the company has been more effective at bringing people out to the malls than once-dominant retail chains such as Sears and J.C. Penney.
“The malls need Dave & Buster’s because they’re what’s known as a ‘traffic donor,'” the “Mad Money” host said. “That’s the term mall managers use for businesses that can actually bring in more customers, rather than repel them.”
At at time when more people are inclined to shop and play games at home in lieu of hanging out at a mall, the gaming center operator beat sales and revenue growth expectations, Cramer said.
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In Cramer’s lightning round, the “Mad Money” host zips through his reactions to callers’ stock questions:
Albemarle Corp.: “You can overwhelm demand with supply and that sure seems to be the case, so we’ve been taking a pass on that one.”
Nokia Corp.: “We’re believers now. I mean look, we’re not crazy about it,but we think that the problems with the Chinese are going to make it so that you’re going to make money with Nokia and that’s why we like it.”
On Semiconductor Corp.: “I like On Semi. This is the kind of classic, just kind of plain vanilla. It’s like a little Texas Instruments. I say keep buying it.”
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