CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday he’s not taking seriously any comparisons drawn between the current stock market and the years 2001 and 2008, both of which saw steep sell-offs into year-end.
The “Mad Money” host acknowledged the S&P 500 has so far in 2022 followed a path that looks similar to its trajectory in 2001 and 2008. For example, it’s down roughly 13% year to date after mounting a comeback since mid-June, when it recorded its much-steeper lows of the year.
- In 2008, the S&P 500 was down about 12% at this point and, in 2001, the broad U.S. stock index was lower by nearly 12%, Cramer said. In both years, the S&P 500 had bounced off earlier lows to get to where it was in late August.
However, Cramer said it’s incredibly important to go beneath the chart-level surface before concluding the stock market will end 2022 on a sour note. Not only is the U.S. economy at a much different part of the business cycle than in 2001 and 2008, but Cramer said “major destabilizing events” were primary drivers of the end-of-the-year slides.
“I just don’t see a parallel in this year. 2008, it was the reverberations from the Lehman Brothers collapse nearly bringing down the financial system. In 2001, of course, it was 9/11,” Cramer said.
Cramer said there is always a possibility of a so-called black swan event, noting there is inherent uncertainty about what lies ahead. “If something terrible happens on the scale of the Lehman Brothers collapse … then I would indeed change my mind,” he said.
However, he added, “here’s the bottom line: Unless something terrible comes out of nowhere, I’m feeling pretty sanguine about this market, because 2022 is not 2008 and not 2001.”