Stock market’s dismal performance is ‘part of the fight against inflation,’ Jim Cramer says

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday that while the hot consumer price index suggests the Federal Reserve is losing in its struggle against inflation, the dismal performance of stocks, particularly in the Russell 1000, offers a different view.

“When I talk about the Fed winning or losing the fight against inflation, I mean the fight to tamp down on expensive spending, allowing overstretched supply chains to play catch up, easing some of the strain on the labor market,” the “Mad Money” host said.

“When you look at the collapse of the IPO market and see the stocks in the Russell 1000 … we’re witnessing the most extreme wealth destruction that we’ve seen since the dotcom bust in 2000,” he said. “It’s exactly what the Fed needs on still one more day where a government inflation figure is just too darned hot,” he later added.

Cramer’s comments come after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the consumer price index gained 8.3% year-over-year, remaining near 40-year highs.

To illustrate his point, Cramer showed a list of the worst performers in the Russell 1000 put together by CNBC statistician Gina Francolla.

“All of this wealth destruction makes those stocks the trump cards in [Fed Chair] Jay Powell’s” fight to control inflation, Cramer said. “The losses in these names represent the extra vacation, the new roof, the fancy dinner. … These losses slow the economy.”

Here is Cramer’s list of the worst-performing companies in the Russell 1000:

1. Carvana
2. Upstart
3. Skillz
4. Unity Software
5. Rivian
6. TuSimple
7. Fluence Energy
8. GoHealth
9. Wayfair
10. Novavax
11. Fastly
12. Netflix 

“This is a rogue’s gallery of losers that’s expanding every day. … Same with almost all of the IPOs and the SPACs. Their declines are part of the fight against inflation,” Cramer said.