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Jim Cramer: Sell Index Funds and Stay Long These 4 Stocks

Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:51 pm
Posted by rickgrimes
Member since Jan 2011
4181 posts
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:51 pm
quote:

If you are older, as I am, and you are still walking around with something like 80% or 70% S&P Index fund, I would say that's just too much risk. We know most people are in index funds now. On Saturday, Warren Buffet was questioned about whether indexing has reached a peak and has overstayed its welcome.

Buffett defaulted to how much better an index fund is to one that charges fees. I get that. But he didn't address what I thought the core of the question was: do index funds own too many of the wrong stocks for a recession/pandemic? Buffett did not truly address the latter and my judgment is you now must scrutinize the index because it was built without a pandemic in mind.

The problem is, if you own index funds, you own the other $13 trillion. Many of these stocks were index worthy during even a garden variety recession, but not one of pandemic proportions. In a pandemic that's coupled with a worldwide collapse of trade and a trade war, you have to have a lot of cash and you have to overweight secular winners wherever they may be, even if it means being very long Facebook (FB) , Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) as I have long advised club members. These are and have been core holdings for ages because they have great management, can pivot and have fabulous balance sheets. How many S&P 500 names can meet that tri-part test?

LINK
Posted by The Egg
Houston, TX
Member since Dec 2004
79189 posts
Posted on 5/4/20 at 11:53 pm to
Oh Cramer hasn't heard of MVIS????????
Posted by RebelExpress38
In your base, killin your dudes
Member since Apr 2012
13594 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 7:02 am to
I wonder how the folks who were long on Shell feel about this strategy
Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
38918 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 7:21 am to
quote:

you have to overweight secular winners wherever they may be, even if it means being very long Facebook (FB) , Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT)

those stocks plus AAPL are like 25% of the S&P. If you hold an index fund you hold those stocks, but what that also means is that in the current market you’d be better off ditching the index fund and just buying those equities. A middle way is to get out of the whole market index funds and invest in growth, dividend and industry specific funds, which are SOP for most investors

this isn’t groundbreaking investment strategy
Posted by jimbeam
University of LSU
Member since Oct 2011
75703 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 8:14 am to
This idea works if you’re ignorant.
Posted by Boring
Member since Feb 2019
3792 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 12:05 pm to
I saw something that showed the top 3 companies (by market cap) outperformed the entire market quite substantially, going back to like 1980 or something. It was a Reddit post so don't @ me. Seems to jive with Cramer's advice.


ETA: Here's a quote from Buffett at the shareholder's meeting

quote:

“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is owning the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting. “If you bet on America and sustain that position for decades, you’d do far better than buying Treasury securities, or far better than following people ... Perhaps with a bias, I don’t believe anyone knows what the market is going to do tomorrow, next week, next month, next year,” Buffett said.
This post was edited on 5/5/20 at 12:10 pm
Posted by NC_Tigah
Carolinas
Member since Sep 2003
124186 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 1:26 pm to
quote:

Jim Cramer: Sell Index Funds and Stay Long These 4 Stocks
I'm not a fan.

Ms NC likes Cramer. I think he's hot garbage. This "4 Stock" bullshite advice is a perfect example. Cramer runs a daily segment called "Am I diversified?" Guess what Jimbo . . . a Facebook (FB) , Alphabet (GOOGL) , Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) portfolio ain't diversified.

Cramer simply is not trustworthy.
Half of his show has turned into CEO interviews which are actually infomercials. I don't know how much the CEO's pay to be "interviewed", but the interactions stick of greased palms. Hell to this day, Cramer would still be willing to bring Aubrey McClendon on to sell the audience on what a great company Chesapeake Energy is, if only Aubrey hadn't offed himself in a car.
quote:

Buffett defaulted to how much better an index fund is to one that charges fees. I get that. But he didn't address what I thought the core of the question was: do index funds own too many of the wrong stocks for a recession/pandemic?
Do index funds own too many of the wrong stocks for a recession/pandemic? Like, for example, do they own the four major airlines as Buffett did?

Here's an idea Jimbo . . . if you think the S&P is headed south Jimbo, buy an inverse fund
Posted by Hussss
Living the Dream
Member since Oct 2016
6744 posts
Posted on 5/5/20 at 2:54 pm to
Jim Cramer is head of sheep herding (and then shearing) for Goldman Sachs. Do the complete opposite of this charlatan.

NC nailed it above!

Btw, your money was NOT fine with Bear Stearns! He murdered sheep with that infamous call!
This post was edited on 5/5/20 at 3:01 pm
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