It has taken an amazing 15 years for the Nasdaq (.IXIC) to reach new highs, and now Jim Cramer is hearing chatter of a new bubble forming. So, what?
“First, let me just say that it does your career no harm to call this move a bubble. If the market implodes, you look like a genius. If it doesn’t, who cares? You’re just early,” said the “Mad Money” host.
Could the market really be headed toward a bubble?
To find out, Cramer compared the market then versus now to see if the situations are alike. First, there is the market leader, Apple (AAPL). Cisco (CSCO) was the leader back in in 2000, with a market cap of $ 550 million. Apple now has a $ 736 billion market cap.
Yet anyone who follows Cramer knows that he values stocks by looking at their price-to-earnings multiple. While the average stock is trading at just 18 times earnings currently, Apple now sells at approximately 15 times earnings.
In the last bubble, Cramer argues that Cisco sold at about 80 times earnings. That is a huge difference!
“I struggle to figure out why the Nasdaq isn’t higher, why the valuations aren’t bigger, especially given our low inflationary environment,” said Cramer.
So, until he sees evidence of stocks being overvalued, or the 10-year Treasury yield even goes above 2 percent, he’s not buying it. He will believe it when he sees it, and the proof is not in the pudding right now.
Dow Chemical (DOW) has spent the last year trading sideways, and Cramer thinks it’s ready to take off again. This massive chemical company took the time last year to streamline its assets and sell its non-core businesses.
Was that the right move? It appears it was, as this year it is up almost 9 percent.
Dow reported at the end of January and delivered a 16 cent earnings beat from a 69 cent basis and strong performance in Europe. It even affirmed full-year guidance for 2015 and forecast strong volume growth for the year.
And while the stock is $ 5 from its 52-week high, Cramer thinks it is still a bargain. To make sure, he sat down with Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris.
Since Liveris has taken over the company, Dow has tried to separate itself from the impact of the price of oil.
“We have decoupled it, and there are two positives now: this is the type of oil price that you want. It is actually going to stimulate the economy. We have healthy demand…every operating rate point increase that I get on my machine, I make $ 200 million more on the bottom line,” Liveris said.
Cramer was in complete awe the power of Valeant (VRX-CA), and its incredible 14 percent move higher on Monday. Especially considering that it hasn’t even combined with Salix (SLXP) yet, an acquisition announced on Sunday.
Valeant announced quarterly earnings a day earlier than expected, and Cramer was blown away.
“I am shocked at how much better it is doing than we thought,” said the “Mad Money” host.
Analysts expected to hear organic growth of approximately 12 percent, $ 2.2 billion in revenues and $ 600 million in cash flow. Instead, Valeant delivered 16 percent organic growth, $ 2.3 billion in revenue and cash flow of $ 624 million. Talk about blowing the lid off of earnings!
“This is the fastest growing major pharmaceutical. It is easier to see that it could trade to $ 240 if it executes and the irritable bowel syndrome drug gets approved. It’s not a pipedream. It’s a reality.”
With oil bouncing all over the place, one thing that Cramer knows for sure is that no one knows where it is headed. That is why the “Mad Money” host thinks the safest option right now is to stick with a high-quality domestic exploration and production company, such as Cimarex (XEC).
This mid-sized oil and gas producer has a stake in the Permian Basin and Cana Woodford shale in Oklahoma. Cimarex made a smart move when it sold $ 460 million in non-core assets ahead of the collapse in the price of oil in the third quarter last year.
While this stock did take a beating and has cut its capital expenditure budget in half, it has rallied $ 23 since mid-January which is a big jump. Can it head higher?
To find out, Cramer sat down with Cimarex CEO Tom Jorden.
“We have always done a terrible job predicting these price swings. People ask me if I was surprised by these price swings, and to me that’s like asking people in California if they were surprised by the big earthquake. We always knew the price collapse was a possibility, and we managed the company for it with our balance sheet health. But when it comes, it’s stunning” Jorden said.
One thing that is interesting to Cramer about the oil and gas industry this year is that while oil companies are cutting the budget, they are still planning to increase production this year. In many cases the continuous drilling stems from the need for more cash.
This fact might come to the benefit of a company like Flotek (FTK), which makes proprietary and environmentally safe chemicals that are used in the oil and gas extraction process. Additionally, it has a drilling technology business with citrus-based chemicals.
Though the stock has also been hammered, the company reported promising results in January, with energy chemical technologies and its drilling business up for the quarter.
Will Flotek continue to grow if budgets are cut? To find out, Cramer spoke with Flotek Industries CEO John Chisholm.
“Whether the price of oil is at $ 100 or $ 50, you need to be able to use the right technology at the right time to be able to get the most oil out of a well. We did have a record quarter, but people paid attention to that for about 15 seconds before they wanted to move on to 2015,” Chisholm said.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Apollo Global Management (APO): “No, we have been using Blackstone, and that is our play in that sector.”
BioCryst Pharmaceutivals (BCRX): “No that is one of my least favorite. I’ve got a bunch of them. You know I like the Celgene (CELG); you know I like the Isis Pharma (ISIS), Biomarin (BMRN) and Regeneron (REGN). I like them all more than that one.”