Trump’s odds of winning the presidency rose significantly yesterday after Joe Biden’s poor performance in the debate.
CNBC’s Jim Cramer appeared today with the right attitude, looking at the concrete winners and losers if Trump takes office in November, and especially if Republicans sweep the House and Senate. Cramer said he’s not ready to make any deals himself but wanted to offer some ideas for those who think that’s what will happen.
I thought it was helpful:
- Nike and Starbucks shares decline due to the possibility of a real trade war with China, especially if Navarro is appointed Secretary of State.
- The Kroger-Albertsons merger won’t be blocked (ACI shares were up modestly before the start of trading). Albertsons shares are now trading at $19.74 per share, compared with the acquisition price of $34.10 per share.
- AMZN. Efforts to break up Amazon will be shot down.
- Apple. Apple will no longer be in the FTC’s crosshairs. (This surprises me because Apple also benefits from China.)
- More media mergers. I’m not entirely sure what trade might emerge on this, but I imagine acquirers and targets might do well, perhaps Sinclair?
- JNJ. He made a case about rules that hurt Johnson & Johnson in connection with Purdue’s opioid lawsuit.
- New Fortress Energy and LNG. It doesn’t appear to be the only NFE, which is up about 6% in premarket. The US has temporarily halted LNG approvals, and Trump has made it clear he will reverse that. He also stressed that “unrestricted” oil production will provide some other opportunities (oilfield services?). He later highlighted Cheniere Energy as a winner.
Finally, he expressed serious concern that the soft landing could be damaged if Jerome Powell was replaced.
“I’m not a political guy but I think Jay Powell is amazing,” Cramer said. “He did a fantastic job and it would be terrible if he was sacked.”
Cramer said he also worries that a group of people will say, “This is so crazy, I need to take some money off the table.”