CNBC’s Jim Cramer urged investors on Monday to tame their fear in the face of the Moody’s downgrade of U.S. debt. He recalled the S&P’s downgrade in 2011 and Fitch’s downgrade in 2023, both of which were followed by market declines. Like those previous two, Cramer argued, Friday’s downgrade from Moody’s prompted more fear than the short-term economic environment merited.
Monday’s trading day opened lower and Treasury yields spiked, following Friday’s announcement from Moody’s. At session lows, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 300 points and the S&P 500 was down 1%, but by the end of the session, the markets eked out a gain. Treasury yields were off their highs, the Dow closed up 0.32%, the Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.02%, and the S&P landed up 0.09% at 5,963.60 for its sixth consecutive winning day.
Cramer said that investors are conditioned to be fearful. Friday’s post-close downgrade was just that: a “get out now” story that spooked investors into selling out of perfectly fine portfolios. Instead, he said, “fear is what must be tamed, if you want to be a good investor.”
He suggested gold and bitcoin as hedges against excessive government borrowing, if investors are seeking to act on their downgrade-prompted fear.
Reading the downgrade as a sign to sell is a mistake, Cramer said. Instead, “You are being given an early warning to invest more—not more aggressively–but more of what you can save. That’s the real hedge if you’re worried about the government’s creditworthiness, not the ‘get out now.'”
Cramer warned investors that the latest call to “get out now” won’t be the last, but there’s a key to staying level-headed. Remember, he said, “The people who write these are either fools who know nothing or incredibly shrewd short sellers who really need to spread fear because of their business model.”
