Investors cannot wait for inflation to peak before they start to buy stocks, says Jim Cramer
- Stock market investors need to be willing to look through the current inflationary pressures in the U.S., CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.
- "With the exception of labor, there are suddenly a lot of bullish pieces in the inflation puzzle," the "Mad Money" host said.
- "If you wait for the jigsaw puzzle to be completely finished, you'll end up waiting too long," Cramer argued.
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday stock market investors need to be willing to look through the current inflationary pressures in the U.S. as they evaluate their next portfolio moves.
"With the exception of labor, there are suddenly a lot of bullish pieces in the inflation puzzle. ... If you wait for these prices to finally come down, if you wait for the jigsaw puzzle to be completely finished, you'll end up waiting too long," the "Mad Money" host said, after the S&P 500 finished in positive territory for the seventh straight day and notched a record close of 4,549.78.
The broad equity index's first seven-day winning streak since early July comes as Wall Street looks to move past a September swoon and rally into year-end.
Market participants are still monitoring economic concerns such as inflation and supply chain bottlenecks, Cramer said. However, he said the ongoing earnings season is providing enough positives to shift sentiment, even if a few additional hot inflation readings may be in near future.
"Jumping the gun is a mistake in almost every single human endeavor, except for the stock market," Cramer said, alluding to the fact stocks are forward-looking assets. "The averages have been gun jumping on peak inflation for the last 10 days because the big guys cannot afford to wait to get in. Soon, neither can you."
At the same time, Cramer acknowledged the recent strength in the market may take a breather.
"I suspect we're overbought ... and we could always have another leg down," he said. "Remember, seven to 10 days from now begins the most seasonally strong period of the year for the last 23 years, so I would hold onto stocks or pounce on weakness as we are doing for our new investment club."
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