The boost in oil prices was the straw that broke the underclass's back, says Jim Cramer

Jim Cramer explains why he has turned much more cautious on the market. The strong jobs report makes Fed rate cuts unlikely, removing his primary bullish catalyst. He warns that the upcoming SpaceX IPO could open too high and then decline, hurting sentiment. He also cites Apple's post-WWDC pullback, Google's equity issuance, and the stretched consumer as additional concerns. His advice: wait for a better entry point.

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Metals

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SpaceX IPO volatile

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The boost in oil prices was the straw that broke the underclass's back, says Jim Cramer

WTI; US jobs

ndx

I am not that bullish. My bullishness can wait. I think you will get a better time to buy than right now.

11 calls

-8

slightly worse than random

6/4/2026 2:58:00 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	-1.55%	-0.78%
5/18/2026 8:57:56 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+2.30%	-1.15%
10/10/2025 6:54:59 PM	short term down	5 days later	+2.46%	-2.46%
10/1/2025 8:37:05 PM	short term up	5 days later	-0.21%	-0.21%
9/18/2025 3:05:09 AM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-0.50%	+0.25%
9/6/2025 2:37:59 AM	short term cautious down	7 days later	+2.24%	-1.12%
9/5/2025 2:48:48 AM	short term up	7 days later	+2.24%	+2.24%
9/2/2025 5:00:10 PM	short term down	5 days later	+1.48%	-1.48%
8/4/2025 4:22:01 PM	short term down	6 days later	+2.21%	-2.21%

Show all 9 ndx results

rut

Cramer discusses the stretched consumer hurting retailers like Walmart, Dollar General, and Five Below, which are heavily represented in the Russell 2000. His cautious macro view implies downside for small caps.

wti

The boost in oil prices was the straw that broke the underclass's back.

8 calls

-8

slightly worse than random

5/18/2026 8:57:56 PM	short term up	5 days later	-10.36%	-10.36%
5/13/2026 10:53:45 PM	short term up	5 days later	+6.52%	+6.52%
5/6/2026 3:20:01 PM	short term down	5 days later	+7.77%	-7.77%
4/13/2026 8:34:50 PM	short term up	6 days later	-1.83%	-1.83%
3/3/2026 7:49:07 PM	short term sharp up	5 days later	+26.94%	+40.40%

Show all 5 wti results

yields

You could argue that we might actually need a rate hike to cool the economy, not a rate cut.

40 calls

no reliable edge (random outcomes)

6/8/2026 8:36:09 PM	short term up	6 days later	-1.30%	-1.30%
5/18/2026 8:57:56 PM	short term up	5 days later	-2.34%	-2.34%
5/13/2026 3:58:23 PM	short term up	5 days later	+4.62%	+4.62%
1/14/2026 4:01:24 PM	medium term up	20 days later	+2.76%	+2.76%
12/26/2025 10:44:03 PM	medium term cautious up	21 days later	+2.79%	+1.40%
12/19/2025 9:52:12 PM	short term up	7 days later	-1.27%	-1.27%
12/12/2025 10:10:57 PM	short term up	7 days later	-0.31%	-0.31%
12/8/2025 8:08:40 PM	short term up	6 days later	-0.10%	-0.10%
12/2/2025 10:26:40 PM	medium term up	20 days later	+2.76%	+2.76%
11/26/2025 5:09:32 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	+2.20%	+1.10%
11/14/2025 10:02:14 PM	short term cautious up	7 days later	-2.30%	-1.15%
11/13/2025 9:40:00 PM	short term up	5 days later	-0.36%	-0.36%
10/31/2025 9:02:06 PM	short term sharp up	7 days later	+0.10%	+0.15%
10/30/2025 1:11:10 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	+1.37%	+0.68%
10/28/2025 3:55:04 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+1.18%	-0.59%
10/15/2025 9:48:44 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	-0.33%	-0.16%
10/10/2025 10:13:48 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-1.09%	+0.54%
10/9/2025 8:36:27 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	-0.12%	-0.06%
10/2/2025 9:51:20 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+0.24%	-0.12%
10/1/2025 7:40:01 PM	short term down	5 days later	+0.95%	-0.95%
9/26/2025 9:43:54 PM	short term cautious up	7 days later	+0.51%	+0.25%
9/25/2025 9:42:20 PM	short term sharp up	5 days later	-1.93%	-2.90%
9/12/2025 1:09:47 AM	short term cautious up	7 days later	+2.70%	+1.35%
9/11/2025 9:43:20 PM	short term up	5 days later	+0.37%	+0.37%
9/11/2025 4:21:20 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+0.37%	-0.18%
9/5/2025 8:42:13 PM	short term down	7 days later	-0.30%	+0.30%
9/2/2025 5:53:30 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-3.92%	+1.96%
9/2/2025 5:00:10 PM	short term cautious up	5 days later	-3.92%	-1.96%
8/26/2025 5:10:10 PM	medium term cautious down	20 days later	-5.00%	+2.50%
8/20/2025 6:15:09 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-1.66%	+0.83%
8/20/2025 4:19:17 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-1.66%	+0.83%
8/15/2025 9:51:48 PM	short term up	7 days later	-1.52%	-1.52%
8/14/2025 3:53:08 PM	short term sharp up	5 days later	-0.74%	-1.11%
8/7/2025 6:28:51 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-1.10%	+0.55%
8/6/2025 10:00:41 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+1.15%	-0.58%
8/6/2025 12:29:47 AM	short term cautious down	5 days later	+1.15%	-0.58%
8/4/2025 4:22:01 PM	medium term cautious down	20 days later	+1.88%	-0.94%
7/21/2025 5:52:01 PM	short term down	6 days later	+1.94%	-1.94%

Show all 38 yields results

Things have changed for the worse. There's a shroud over this market. Even on a good day, the Dow dropped 81 points, the S&P gained 0.3%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.86%. Not an overwhelming comeback from Friday's selling.

Jim Cramer
The stronger-than-expected employment report on Friday was awful for the bulls. The bulls desperately need one or two rate cuts this year to keep this market going higher. You don't get rate cuts when the labor market is this solid.

Jim Cramer
The employment figure was so strong that you could argue we might actually need a rate hike to cool the economy, not a rate cut. You can't fight the Fed when the Fed is raising rates. If rate cuts are now off the table, you have to get less bullish.

Jim Cramer
Part of my enthusiasm for this market came from the fact that Kevin Warsh, the new Fed chief, clearly wants to cut rates. My biggest bullish prop is gone, at least for now.

Jim Cramer
There's a huge percentage of people who know nothing about owning stocks or homes and are struggling to make ends meet. The boost in oil prices was the straw that broke the underclass's back. When management at Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Five Below all talked about the stretched consumer, those are the facts.

Jim Cramer
Second, we have this gigantic IPO coming from Elon Musk's SpaceX, and it's reportedly oversubscribed. What if it opens way too high because there's not enough stock to go around, and then we watch a sickening decline? That could color things very negatively.

Jim Cramer
Third, the pullback in Apple today. Apple had been the cleanest story among big cap stocks. I don't want to lose the leader of this stock market. We've lost all the other mega cap stocks.

Jim Cramer
Finally, there's the equity issuance from Google last week. It's bad for everyone else, especially shareholders of Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. If there's more equity issuance from the other companies before the SpaceX IPO, could the market literally run out of money?

Jim Cramer
Rate cuts from the Fed are likely off the table. The SpaceX deal will suck money from the rest of the market. More hyperscaler equity offerings could do the same thing. And now Apple is getting its clock cleaned too. That's more negativity than I can handle.

Jim Cramer
I am not that bullish. My bullishness can wait. I think you will get a better time to buy than right now.

Jim Cramer
Angel (caller)

I bought Cerebrus when it first came out. I thought the stock was coming out at 170-180. When I went to finalize the close, it was at 370. It has not been anywhere near that since then. Is this stock dead? Should I get rid of it?

The caller describes a bad experience with a botched IPO where the stock opened far too high and then declined, leaving buyers underwater.
I think it went up 36 points today, giving you a nice bounce back. I'd cut it in half, and if it goes up any more, get rid of the rest. This was a botched deal. This is what I most fear. They misallocated, they didn't understand the stock could open very big. Everyone who bought in the last two weeks is underwater.

Jim Cramer
CJ (caller)

My question relates to ServiceNow. I've had it for five months. I thought it was a growth company that might grow a little faster than it has, and then the price plummeted. I hear mixed projections about the future of holding ServiceNow.

The caller is a small, active investor seeking guidance on a holding that has underperformed.
It's expensive. That's the problem. It's one of these companies that has a lot of software as a service, but it's been pivoting rather rapidly. I have mixed feelings about it. Of the stocks in enterprise software, I think it's better than most. But I'm not that bullish to begin with. To me, it's not the time to buy.

Jim Cramer

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