Jim Cramer says investors will be ‘rewarded’ when the Fed finishes hiking interest rates

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday told investors that good things will come to those who wait for the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates.

“I always say there’s no give without a get. Right now, the give is that you get your portfolio all going down — the Fed’s bringing the pain,” he said. “The get is that you’ll eventually be rewarded with lower inflation followed by lower rates. We’re very much in the first phase, though, the give phase.”

The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched a fifth consecutive day of declines while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly up.

The producer price report, consumer price index and retail sales report will be released on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively. Wall Street expects the data to shed light on whether the central bank will continue its path of aggressive interest rate hikes — and whether the economy will enter a recession.

“Other than last week’s nonfarm payrolls report, the Fed really only cares about the consumer price index at this moment, and that comes Thursday. Those numbers are potential bombs,” Cramer said.

He reminded investors not to let temporary rallies give them hope that the market’s declines are over unless the data shows the economy is cooling. “You have to remember that the bears, not the bulls, are in charge,” he said.