Cramer explains the challenges of staying invested in winning stocks
While reflecting on the 20th anniversary of e-commerce giant Amazon's (AMZN) IPO, Jim Cramer wanted to address the difficulty of staying in a good stock by looking at the market's "here and now."
"Lots of people have been opining about how this incredible stock [Amazon] could have eluded so many of us who were customers," the " Mad Money " host said. "I want to zoom out and discuss some stocks that are hot in today's market and why it's so darn hard to stay in them, even as I think they could be incredibly rewarding."
Cramer started with Home Depot (HD), a home furnishings retailer that many on the Street thought would, like so many others, fall victim to Amazon's influence.
"In some cases, that may be true," he acknowledged. "However, this morning Home Depot reported the best quarter of any major retailer relative to expectations, with same-store sales up 5.5 percent versus the 3.9 percent that Wall Street was looking for. So much for the shortfall thesis. That makes this stock exhibit A in the here and now for why people sell winners."
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Home Depot's Tuesday win can be attributed to a number of factors, Cramer explained. First, the retailer is not tied to the mall, which he said "has become the kiss of death" for many retailers.
Second, Home Depot serves both do-it-yourself shoppers and professional buyers. Professionals helped drive earnings this quarter, and Cramer said that while Amazon may be more convenient, Home Depot is better for picking up bulkier items when the pros need them.
Third, Home Depot's business serves homeowners both in the sense that it creates value and helps them remodel their homes as real estate becomes more scarce.
On Home Depot's conference call, CFO Carol Tome said that since 2011 homeowner wealth has grown 113 percent, or roughly $50,000 per household. That, she said, causes more people to lean towards remodeling instead of moving homes.
So what kept investors out of this seemingly promising stock? Cramer found that a lot of it had to do with Home Depot's stock getting ahead of itself after good news hit the market, then pulling back on worries of something stopping the run.
"The declines in the stock after huge jumps caused a lot of people to sell it and be grateful for a good gain instead of holding out for the big enchilada," the "Mad Money" host said.
Compounding worries about Amazon will likely continue to plague Home Depot's stock despite its leverage in home-building, homeowner wealth, remodeling and home scarcity, Cramer said.
Then there is what could be stock-pickers' biggest hurdle: Washington, from the Russian probe to FBI Director James Comey's firing to the Washington Post's inflammatory accusations.
"I don't care. Either way, it's not a reason to sell Home Depot. Moreover, if the stock were to go down on Trump's tweets or whatever investigation is occurring or whatever headline is troubling people, it's a reason to buy the stock of Home Depot because the stock is levered to housing, not the White House," Cramer said.
Cramer also looked into the stock of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Its rally from $4 in 2016 to $12 now eluded a lot of investors, mostly because of its poorly structured balance sheet.
"As the stock went higher, the company had to issue a lot of equity and sell off assets. Well, that's also not the kind of thing that makes you happy, but it worked," Cramer said.
The company's latest quarter was disappointing, and the stock dipped. But Cramer thinks that quarter was a shake-out and the stock is re-energized and has more room to run higher.
Finally, Cramer looked into Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), another stock that investors find hard to hold due to a barrage of negative commentary and downgrades from Wall Street.
The "Mad Money" host recalled the controversy around Alphabet's ad business when companies started pulling out because they did not want their ads appearing next to hate speech or illicit content on YouTube and analysts deemed Alphabet's ad branch a failure.
"This controversy lasted for weeks," Cramer said. "I told anyone who would listen, which was absolutely nobody, that Alphabet said it would have the situation under control in no time," Cramer said.
But the negativity continued, and eventually, it turned out Cramer was right. Business is strong and those who sold the stock later regretted their moves.
Even with the Street's concerns taken into consideration, Cramer thinks these three stocks are still worth owning.
"It's tough to find winners and, more important, it's tough to stay in winners when they keep going higher. But as long as the story stays good, or, in the case of Alphabet, actually gets better, it's a clarion call to buy. Keep these three stocks in mind the next time you decide you've had enough and you can't take the volatility any more," the "Mad Money" host advised.
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