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Albemarle Corporation (ALB): ‘A Business We Don’t Want to Be In’ – Jim Cramer

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We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Looked At These 11 Stocks Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer looked at recently.

On Wednesday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, shared his thoughts on the volatile trading day, pointing out that President Donald Trump’s actions are reshaping how investors assess stocks. Cramer highlighted that before Trump came into the office, his method of evaluating a stock was looking at its price, earnings, revenues, and gross margins.

“Now, though, I start with a simple question: Can President Trump hurt the stock? Can he damage it with an offhanded comment? Can he crush it in anger? And most important, does the price-to-earnings multiple make sense in this new world in light of the president’s love of tariffs and total hostility to the way this country’s been running the past, not to mention many of our country’s friends?”

READ ALSO: 10 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar and Jim Cramer and Analysts Like These 10 Stocks

Cramer specifically pointed to the automotive industry as a significant example of how Trump’s approach to trade has shifted the dynamics of the market. He recalled how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was originally created, partly to protect the U.S. auto industry from the influx of low-cost imports from countries like Japan and South Korea.

“Without NAFTA, auto companies couldn’t compete against the flood of imports from Japan and South Korea, which only have a 2.5% tariff on them. The tariffs President Trump slapped on American companies that import products from Mexico or Canada, 10 times that.”

Cramer also acknowledged that the recent pause in tariffs for the auto industry caused a brief surge in market activity, which led to some unpredictability in stock movements. However, he noted that if automakers are forced to either pay the hefty tariffs or shift their production to the U.S., replacing inexpensive labor in Mexico with higher-cost union labor, their earnings could face a sharp decline. Cramer speculated that such a scenario could result in a significant cut in earnings, though he hoped the impact would not be as severe.

“Here’s the bottom line: This market is fiercely trying to revalue stocks because of the president’s comments. And we do it day after day after day because he’s always making so much news. So it’s been doing a poor job and that’s created a ton of opportunities for you to both buy and sell and I say you take them right away.”