CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday told investors that while the market remains volatile as it receives contrasting signals about the state of inflation, the seesawing could give way to a soft landing.
“The news is precarious. It could go either way. But maybe that’s what we need to see if we’re going to have a soft landing, not a horrific crash landing,” he said.
“If all the data were strong, we’d be set up for a series of aggressive rate hikes that would wreck the economy. If all the data were weak, then it’s already too late,” he added.
The “Mad Money” host pointed to several pieces of bad and good news the market has received recently, including that pending home sales were up 0.7% in May compared with April and that durable goods orders rose in May.
At the same time, the major indices saw declines Monday and several commodity prices are coming down, though the energy sector saw gains, he added.
“The ideal outcome here is to get enough of a slowdown that the Fed can take up rates gradually without throwing a ton of people out of work,” Cramer said. But Wall Street could be bracing for layoffs after a hiring boom during the height of the pandemic.
