Raphael Stevens

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday offered tips to investors for how to make smart trading decisions as skyrocketing inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roil the stock market.
The “Mad Money” host has a three-pronged approach for investors to cut through the confusion.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday offered tips to investors for how to make smart trading decisions as skyrocketing inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roil the stock market.
The “Mad Money” host has a three-pronged approach for investors to cut through the confusion.

Don’t attribute every stock movement to Russia’s invasion: “When you see stocks down badly and they have nothing to do with the event that’s causing the decline — in this case, Russia — it makes no sense to panic at all. If you sell, you’re just trading off the futures, not events …  and you’ll end up losing money,” Cramer said, mentioning semiconductor stocks as an example.
Be familiar with the companies you invest in: “I bet the sellers of these stocks had no idea what they are; otherwise they would’ve stayed the course,” he said.
Most importantly, take advantage of opportunities that do exist: “Remember what matters and what doesn’t,” Cramer said.

While investors might balk at the thought of owning stock of banks that could be affected by economic sanctions, they shouldn’t sell shares of companies that won’t be affected, such as Tennessee-based First Horizon, Cramer said. “You sell something like that at your own peril,” he said.
“The only defense is to know what you own and recognize that you must not be shaken by events that have nothing to do with your stocks,” Cramer said. “You must steel yourself at night and in the morning before the open, because the aggressive futures traders often turn out to be dead wrong,” he added.

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Sports organizations and professional athletes are hitting Russia with their own kinds of sanctions as Vladimir Putin’s military persists in its invasion of Ukraine.
FIFA suspended all Russian teams from games until further notice, as the federation gears up for this year’s World Cup.
Russia is also facing pressure from hockey organizations. The nation is known for producing superstars in the sport.

Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals shoots the puck against the New York Rangers during the second period at Capital One Arena on October 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Patrick Smith | Getty Images

Sports organizations and professional athletes are hitting Russia with their own kinds of sanctions as Vladimir Putin’s military persists in its invasion of Ukraine.
The most consequential action, so far, has come from the world’s top soccer federation.

On Monday, FIFA joined the Union of European Football Associations to announce it would bar Russian teams from events, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, until further notice. That move came days after Poland and Sweden refused to play Russia in World Cup qualifying matches. The World Cup is scheduled to start in November.
The International Olympic Committee also recommended banning Russian teams from competitions for violating the “Olympic Truce.” Liberty Media-owned Formula One could relocate an event. The National Hockey League has spoken out, too.
“Sometimes sport is successful by using their leverage to turn things around,” said Dr. Harvey Schiller, former executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee. “Every country now is part of a global economy,” he added. “And when you’re part of a global economy, and there’s been free exchange for so long, this (war in Ukraine) upset the apple cart.”

Focus on hockey

Out of the four major U.S. leagues, the NHL has the most ties to Russia due to its over two dozen Russian-born hockey players. The league said it supported its players days after Russian NHL superstar Alex Ovechkin was asked his thoughts on the matter and walked a tight line.
The Washington Capitals star said the invasion was out of his control, adding it’s a “sad situation right now for both sides.” Ovechkin called for “no more war” and noted, “I have a family back in Russia, and its scary moments.”

Ovechkin, a three-time NHL MVP, said: “I hope soon, it’s going to be over, and it’s going to be peace in the whole world.”
But Ovechkin received backlash for not condemning Putin, the Russian president. “I’m not involved in politics. I’m an athlete,” the hockey legend said.
Former NHL players struck a different tone. NHL legend Wayne Gretzky labeled Russia’s invasion a “senseless war.” Now a hockey analyst for Turner Sports, Gretzky also suggested the International Ice Hockey Federation ban Russia from the 2023 junior championships.
On Monday, hockey’s governing body granted the request and banned players from Russia and Belarus in every age category. Belarus has aided Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by providing a staging area for part of the attack.
In a statement, IIHF president Luc Tardif said the organization isn’t a “political entity and cannot influence the decisions being taken over the war in Ukraine.” Yet, “nevertheless have a duty of care to all of our members and participants and must therefore do all we can to ensure that we are able to operate our events in a safe environment for all teams taking part in the IIHF World Championship program.”
Meanwhile, retired NHL goaltending great Dominik Hasek, who is Czech, called for a more extreme measure, suggesting the NHL should suspend contracts of all Russian players.
Schiller, the longtime sports executive and former president of the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise, said that move would go too far.
“They should play, and that’s the appropriate thing,” Schiller said of Russian players staying in NHL competition. “These players are not oligarchs; they’re different. When you’re playing in the NHL, you’re not representing your country, you’re representing yourself.”
The NHL also suspended agreements with Russian companies. Last September, the NHL struck its first exclusive deal in Russia after agreeing to terms with sports betting company Liga Stavok. The league added it would stop Russian language social media and digital sites and wouldn’t consider Russia for future NHL events.
The NHL said it understands players “and their families are being placed in an extremely tough position” because Russia is an authoritarian country. Hence, players’ comments could endanger family members and risk their future in Russia. 
But the league’s public stance on Russia could take a bit of pressure off NHL players being questioned about the matter.
“Business is not going to be as usual,” while the invasion persists, Schiller said. He added, “if I was a scout for the NHL, I’m not getting on a plane and going to Russia. That’s not going to happen.”

Trucks display electronic messages while protestors demonstrate outside United Nations headquarters, as inside diplomats hold an emergency session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Manhattan in New York City, February 28, 2022.
Mike Segar | Reuters

Basketball, soccer and judo, too

Players in the WNBA also demonstrated their condemnation of Russia’s invasion. 
ESPN reported WNBA players who play in the region during the offseason would seek to depart. In a statement to the news organization, WNBA said players are no longer in Ukraine and added the “league has also been in contact with WNBA players who are in Russia, either directly or through their agents. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.”
International sports sanctions are where Russia could experience a unique kind of discomfort, said Declan Hill, a professor at the University of New Haven. 
Hill said organizations are showing “sport has soft power with immense importance” by banning Russian participation in events. He added FIFA’s World Cup decision would impact Russia the most.
“Soccer to the average Russian is as big as the National Football League is to the average American,” said Hill, an expert on corruption in international sports. “It’s a massive cultural phenomenon.”
The IOC also recommended the ban of Belarus athletes from competition as the country is aligned with Russia under the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. Last week, F1 said it’s “impossible” to hold the Russian Grand Prix “in the current conditions,” which threatens the race that’s scheduled for September.
In perhaps the most personal blow, the International Judo Federation stripped Putin’s status as honorary president and ambassador. Former pro boxers and Ukraine natives Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko received praise for vowing to fight and defend the country from Russian invasion. Vitali Klitschko is also the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which has so far repelled Russian attacks.
“This is a moment in society where we understand things like life and death are more important than sports,” said Hill, adding that it’s “profoundly important” for sports organizations to “say and do the right things.”

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Lucid Group is cutting its car production forecast for this year by as much as 40%, sending shares of the electric vehicle start-up tumbling 14% during after hours trading.
The company cited supply chain constraints for slashing production expectations to between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles, down from 20,000 units.
Lucid’s CEO said the problems are more to do with commodity parts such as glass and carpet rather than an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips.

Courtesy: Lucid Motors

Lucid Group is cutting its car production forecast for this year by as much as 40%, sending shares of the electric vehicle start-up tumbling 14% during after hours trading.
The company on Monday cited supply chain constraints and parts quality issues for slashing production to between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles, down from initial expectations of 20,000.

“This reflects the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges we’ve encountered and our unrelenting focus on delivering the highest-quality products,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement. “We remain confident in our ability to capture the tremendous opportunities ahead given our technology leadership and strong demand for our cars.”

Rawlinson, on a call with investors Monday, said the problems are more to do with commodity parts such as glass and carpet rather than an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips. He said the problems are with a handful of its roughly 250 suppliers.
The company’s first electric vehicle is a $169,000 sedan called the Lucid Air Dream Edition. Since beginning retail production in the fall, the company has produced more than 400 of the vehicles at a new factory in Arizona. It has delivered more than 300 of those units to customers, including 125 units during the fourth quarter, the company said Monday.
Rawlinson said Lucid also will delay its second vehicle, an electric SUV called Gravity, to the first half of 2024. It was initially expected in 2023. He said the delay is to refine the product and give more time to impose best practices from launching the Air.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

Lucid announced the production forecast and sales as part of reporting its fourth-quarter results. The automaker reported a loss of $1 billion during the fourth quarter on revenue of $26.4 million. It lost $4.8 billion in 2021, the company reported.

Shares of Lucid, which went public in July through a SPAC deal, closed Monday at $28.98 a share, up by 10%. The company’s market cap is $47.7 billion.
Lucid said customer reservations now exceed 25,000 units, reflecting potential sales of more than $2.4 billion. That’s up from 17,000 units in November.
Lucid also confirmed plans to build its first international assembly plant in Saudi Arabia. Rawlinson said the plant is expected to begin production in 2025. Maximum capacity is slated to be 150,000 units, he said.

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

Investors should be a little more patient before going all-in on the unsettled stock market, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.
The “Mad Money” host leaned on technical analysis of the VIX from OptionPit.com’s Mark Sebastian.

Investors should be a little more patient before going all-in on the unsettled stock market, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday, summarizing the latest takeaways from technical analyst Mark Sebastian.
Sebastian looked at the trajectory of the VIX, Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, and the S&P 500 in order to help make sense of heightened volatility during the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The founder of OptionPit.com “thinks there will be more pain, but if you’ve got some cash on the sidelines, he says there will come a point when you want to start putting it to work,” Cramer said.
“In the meantime, he predicts more wild days like last week when we exploded higher, or today when the market came right back down and then went up again,” the “Mad Money” host said after Monday’s mixed session.
The VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P 500 options, and S&P 500 are supposed to head in opposite directions. Cramer said that in order to become more confident, Sebastian wants to see stocks make a new near-term low while the VIX is not making a fresh near-term high.
Here’s how the S&P 500 and VIX have traded so far in 2022.

Arrows pointing outwards

The year-to-date moves for the S&P 500 and the VIX.
Mad Money with Jim Cramer

“When the VIX and the S&P diverge, it tells you that the trend is about to change. That will be the moment [Sebastian] says to jump in with both feet … like October 1990,” Cramer said, referring to when the stock market bottomed during tensions associated with what became known as the Gulf War.

The chart below shows that divergence in 1990.

Arrows pointing outwards

The VIX and S&P 500 from July 1990 to June 1991.
Mad Money with Jim Cramer

However, at present, Cramer said Sebastian does not believe the market has reached that point just yet. Instead, the technician sees VIX futures in a state of backwardation, which to him is additional proof the market is “stressed” and therefore more “bad things can happen,” Cramer explained.
Backwardation, a relatively uncommon occurrence, happens when the near-term VIX futures are more expensive than those for months later in the year.
The chart below shows VIX futures for each month through November.

Arrows pointing outwards

VIX futures have entered a state of backwardation, when near-term contracts are more expensive than those for months later in the year.
Mad Money with Jim Cramer

“You’ve got to steel yourself to get through this period, so you can be opportunistic when the moment comes to start buying, and that moment will come,” Cramer said.
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The Federal Reserve faces more pressure to increase interest rates as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hinders a market already hit hard by inflation, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.
“In the end I think that we have to choose, not between Russia or Ukraine or a hardline Fed versus softline Fed, but whether stocks have gone down enough to be able to handle what either Powell or Putin throws at us,” he said.

The Federal Reserve faces more pressure to increase interest rates as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hinders a market already hit hard by inflation, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.
“The war over Ukraine just makes the inflation situation worse. A shortage in oil is already leading to higher prices at the pump,” the “Mad Money” host said, adding that Ukraine’s role as a top exporter of wheat and corn could also drive up grain prices. “That means the Fed will be under even more pressure to raise interest rates.”

“In the end I think that we have to choose, not between Russia or Ukraine or a hardline Fed versus softline Fed, but whether stocks have gone down enough to be able to handle what either Powell or Putin throws at us,” he added.
Cramer’s comments come after the stock market remained volatile on Monday and continued to react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped around 0.49% while the S&P 500 closed down 0.24%. The Nasdaq gained 0.41% after a late-day rally. 
Ukrainian and Russian officials completed a round of talks on Monday with Belarus, and say there could be more negotiations coming.
Cramer urged investors to “get used to” the developing situation with Russia, including the economic sanctions U.S. and European officials are continuing to put on them, and throw away the assumption that Russia’s invasion will slow down the global economy.
When Jay Powell goes in front of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, he’s likely to extend sympathy to the people of Ukraine, as I do, but I don’t see him relenting in his mission to” ease inflationary pressures, Cramer said, referring to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

However, the host added that there’s still time for investors to take advantage of rallies like the one late last week.
“I’m in favor of raising some cash, which is always a good idea if you don’t have any … We’re in a seasonally strong moment,” Cramer said.

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A shipment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-internet dishes arrived in Ukraine on Monday, according to a top government official.
The Starlink kits came less than 48 hours after CEO Elon Musk announced the company would send support.
Ukraine digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov posted a photo showing more than two dozen boxes of Starlink user kits in the back of a truck.

SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on a screen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021.
Nacho Doce | Reuters

A shipment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-internet dishes arrived in Ukraine on Monday, less than 48 hours after CEO Elon Musk announced the company would send support, according to a top official in the nation’s government.
Ukraine digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who tagged Musk in a request on Twitter on Saturday, posted that Starlink was “here” in Ukraine — with a photo showing more than two dozen boxes of the company’s user kits in the back of a truck.

Each Starlink kit includes a user terminal to connect to the satellites, a mounting tripod and a Wi-Fi router. It’s not known how many kits SpaceX is sending to support Ukraine.
Fedorov thanked Musk in his tweet; Musk responded: “you are most welcome.”
Ukraine-based Oleg Kutkov tweeted a screenshot of an internet speed test on Monday, saying “Starlink is working in Kyiv” and thanked SpaceX for the company’s support.
The SpaceX CEO on Saturday stressed that Starlink was already “active in Ukraine.” Fedorov’s plea for assistance came after a suspected cyberattack disrupted the satellite-internet service of Viasat — although the number of customers affected by that company’s outage is unclear.
Musk has previously stressed Starlink’s flexibility of Starlink in providing internet service. In September, Musk talked about how the company would use links between the satellites to create a network that could provide service even in countries that prohibit SpaceX from installing ground infrastructure for distribution.

As for government regulators who want to block Starlink from using that capability, Musk had a simple answer.
“They can shake their fist at the sky,” Musk said.
SpaceX has launched about 2,000 Starlink satellites to date to support its global network. The company’s service has around 145,000 users as of January. They pay $99 a month for the standard service and $500 a month for the premium tier.

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Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal issued a stark warning to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday, saying despite an abysmal season, it would be a huge mistake to trade the team’s biggest superstar, Lebron James.
Some have suggested that trading James may be the quickest and easiest way to fix the team’s disconnect.
O’Neal also talked about his successful franchise businesses.

Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal issued a stark warning to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday, saying despite an abysmal season, it would be a huge mistake to trade the team’s biggest superstar, Lebron James.
“If you trade LeBron, you’ll never win again,” O’Neal said of the Lakers in an interview with CNBC.

While the NBA trade deadline has passed, James’ contract with the Lakers expires in 2023. Some have suggested that trading James may be the quickest and easiest way to fix the team’s disconnect.
O’Neal himself played eight seasons with the Lakers, leading the team to three championships alongside Kobe Bryant. In 2004, the franchise traded the 7’1 former center to the Miami Heat.
O’Neal, who also serves as an TNT Broadcaster, said Monday the Lakers should be focusing on surrounding James with the right set of players.
“If you put LeBron around the right guys, they are definitely going to win,” he said. “I think whoever put the team together needs to step up and try and fix it.”
The Lakers are currently in 9th place in the Western Conference with a 27-33 record. The team has a 9% chance of qualifying for the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight’s Prediction Model. Sunday night, Lakers fans booed their own team after a 123-95 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.

“I’ve been booed before, that was not a good feeling,” O’Neal said.

‘They will continue to work’

Shaquille O’Neal, NBA star and Carnival Cruise Line’s Chief Fun Officer, gives guests a taste of his highly-anticipated dishes that will be offered at sea as part of Big Chicken at Mardi Gras’ Summer Landing zone during Carnival Cruise Line’s NYC Cruise Into Summer Event To Celebrate The Arrival Of Mardi Gras In 2020 at Pier 59 on June 18, 2019 in New York City.
Mike Coppola | Getty Images

Shaq’s comments came at the International Franchise Association’s annual convention, where he also talked to CNBC about his experience as both a franchisee and franchisor of several restaurants.
The former All-Star owns nine Papa John franchises and one Krispy Kreme franchise. He’s also the co-owner and franchisor of a rapidly growing chicken restaurant called “Big Chicken.”

Keisha Lance Bottoms, Steve Ritchie and Shaquille O’Neal attend Shaq’s Papa John’s Pizza Grand Opening on August 24, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prince Williams | Wireimage | Getty Images

“I learned from the great Magic Johnson that it’s okay to be a superstar basketball player, but at some point you want to go and invest in businesses,” O’Neal said. “As a simple model, if it works and you follow the rules, they will continue to work.”
O’Neal wouldn’t disclose his franchise’s profits. He’s gotten out of several franchises over the years including locations of Auntie Anne’s, Five Guys and 24 Hour Fitness. Just this year, O’Neal said, he was forced to shutter his L.A. restaurant, Shaquille’s, amid the Covid pandemic.
According to the IFA, franchise growth is expected to stabilize in 2022, expanding by 2.2% to reach a total of 792,014 franchise establishments nationally. The group has also found that franchising encourages higher rates of entrepreneurship among women, non-white business owners and underrepresented groups — 26% of franchises are owned by people of color.
“With the franchise business, if you stick to the core values of what’s being taught, a lot of times you can’t go wrong,” O’Neal said.

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