Cramer: Why Trump’s Twitter tantrums on pharma are your buying opportunity
Just as pharmaceutical stocks started to get red hot, President Donald Trump wrecked everything with a tweet about the drug industry on Tuesday.
Jim Cramer wasn't fazed. While many investors reacted to the tweet by selling pharma stocks, Cramer thinks it is a buying opportunity.
"Every time the president has singled out an industry or a company to make a deal, the stocks get hammered and you have to hold your nose and buy. That has been the right move every time because the call-out is really just the opening bid in the negotiation," the " Mad Money " host said.
This isn't the first time Trump has trashed the pharma industry. He campaigned hard against the drug companies in the spring and winter of last year. However, if the president wants to crack down on drug pricing, he will need help from Congress. Cramer thinks that will be very difficult because drug companies are incredibly powerful in Washington.
Watch the full segment here:
The only way to reign in drug prices, Cramer said, is with a single payer healthcare system where the government mandates pricing. If there were two drugs, the government could pit them against each other and buy the one with the lower offer and cut the other out.
Single payer has been a dream for the Democrats, but the Republicans are in charge right now. Same thing goes for more direct price controls, as the GOP would likely not let it happen.
"Anything that would really impact drug prices would need to go through Congress, and I am telling you right now that Trump simply will not get his way on this issue. The drug lobbyists have too much sway and the GOP is too committed to free markets," Cramer said.
The good news is that most of the time when Trump singles out a company or industry, it's a buying opportunity.
Thirty points ago, Trump laid into Boeing (NYSE: BA) over its pricing for the new Air Force One. That turned out to be a chance to buy. His rant about Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) gave a dip for investors that has since had a 19 point gain. The president brought General Motors (NYSE: GM)' stock down to $34 over the Chevy Cruze cars, and it is up 7 percent since.
"If I were president, I would be going after other countries for routinely ripping off our drug companies by jamming them with lower prices, which then causes them to charge more here," Cramer said.
Cramer would go after every country that squeezes the profits out of pharmaceutical companies knowing there isn't a cost to it because they make so much money in the U.S. He views it as a classic example of trading partners taking advantage of the U.S. And no president stands up against it.
So instead of worrying about Trump's next move, what matters to Cramer is that the drug stocks have been red hot, and this could be a chance for a price break. He recommended Merck (NYSE: MRK), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Allergan (NYSE: AGN) and Mylan Labs (NASDAQ: MYL) on generic competition.
"The only real power the President has domestically at this moment is to deregulate, and he is using that power with a vengeance to help the autos and the airlines and the banks and the oil companies. I bet they stay winners," Cramer said.
And if some red-hot stocks get dinged because of a Trump tweet, count Cramer in.
Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
More From CNBC
