Jim Cramer on his 2020 lessons: Do not bet on the end of the world

A year ago Tuesday the S&P 500 suffered its worst single-day decline in more than three decades in the midst of a severe weeks-long decline triggered by the global coronavirus pandemic.

Stocks have more than recovered from the swift plunge in prices, boosted by historic government intervention that helped to avert an even starker crisis, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday.

“If you only learn one thing from the pandemic … I want you to remember that betting on the end of the world is a sucker’s game,” the “Mad Money” host said. “The next time you think the world is ending, you have to assume that it isn’t. I want you to take the other side of the trade. I want you to bet against the end of the world.”

The major averages bottomed about a week after the March 16, 2020 session.

From its trough last year, the Nasdaq Composite has since more than doubled as of Tuesday’s close of 13,471.57. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have both rebounded more than 80% to 3,962.71 and 32,825.95, respectively.

Cramer credited lawmakers and officials in Washington for contributing to the market turnaround in the wake of thousands of business closures and millions of jobs lost.

“When our policymakers actually learn from the past and our scientists work their magic, then the darkest moment really is just before the dawn and the light at the end of the tunnel is genuine sun, not that of an oncoming train,” Cramer said.