CNBC’s Jim Cramer explains why Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade were forced to discuss a potential merger, or end up left behind by the disruption of tech companies in Silicon Valley. The “Mad Money” host says it’s time for investors to trim their holdings of marijuana stocks. In Thursday’s show, he sits down to chat with the CEOs of American Airlines and Advanced Micro Devices.
Beware the disruptors
In this photo illustration a Robinhood Markets logo seen displayed on a smartphone.
Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images
Robinhood and the “creative disruption unleashed by Silicon Valley” forced the potential merger between Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade brokerage firms, CNBC’s said Thursday.
It’s the latest sign that companies must “invent … disrupt … or die,” the “Mad Money” host said. The incumbents didn’t see Robinhood coming to change the status quo with commission-free trading, he added.
“Earlier this year … Robinhood reached a tipping point in asset gathering that the incumbents, like Schwab and TD Ameritrade, had to respond to by abandoning commissions,” he said. “Now these companies have to combine to cut tech spending … ad spending to defend their turf” from app trading.
No recession turbulence in sight, according to United Airlines
Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Fears of the U.S. economy falling into a recession are significantly misguided, CEO Oscar Munoz told Cramer.
“I’ve never seen a wider gap between what is being discussed and trying to be pushed and the facts and the figures that we see,” Munoz said in a “Mad Money” interview.
Cramer asked if he thought a recession was lurking.
“The answer is no,” Munoz said.
The fire is out on weed stocks
A customer lights a joint at Lowell Farms, America’s first official Cannabis Cafe offering farm-to-table dining and smoking of cannabis in West Hollywood, California, October 1, 2019.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Roughly one year after Canadian legalization, CNBC’s has tapped the breaks on his hypothesis for pot stocks claiming “the marijuana industry is just not what it was cracked up to be.”
Amid growing support to end prohibition in the United States, the “Mad Money” host said he may have been wrong in calling the weed business an “incredible opportunity.” He argued that it’s an opportune time for investors to put the fire out and downsize their holdings since multiple equities lost at least half their values in 2019.
“The cannabis industry [has] got to be rational and rationalized — it’s neither. Companies need to close, funding needs to dry up, mergers must occur,” the former hedge fund manager said. “Until then, these stocks are now sell-in-the-strength detritus. A casualty of a market not yet ready for prime time or anytime, for that matter.”
Advanced Micro Devices: Excitement around the data center market
Lisa Su, CEO, AMD
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su told Cramer she expects there to be “secular growth in computing demands” in high-performance computing.
The semiconductor manufacturer sees opportunity primarily selling both central and graphics processing units, she said. The chips can be used to quickly process data and perform complex calculations for needs such as gaming.
“The key is we want AMD to be a the center of that and really, you know, we view it as helping our customers unlock what they’re trying to do,” Su said. “What we like to do is we like to develop our road maps with” our top customer “five years out.”
Cramer’s lightning round
In Cramer’s lightning round, the “Mad Money” host zips through his thoughts about callers’ favorite stock picks of the day.
Abbvie Pharmaceuticals: “Buy, buy, buy.”
Lululemon Athletica: “I like Lululemon. I think they’re going to be one of the retail survivors.”
Plug Power: “I actually think the stock could go to $4 just on the strength of hype.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Abbvie
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