Jim Cramer says to buy stocks on these themes to navigate a dark market

Investors are buying companies that line up with sustainable themes that can withstand negative sentiment on Wall Street, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.

The comments from the host of “Mad Money” came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed lower for the fourth session in a row. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite also finished in the red as the top three US stock averages point to a negative week.

“How do you deal with an increasingly dark market? I have a solution: you buy the stocks of companies that fit into broader themes, the ones you can always buy more if the stocks get squashed,” said To screw up.

The first one Cramer has highlighted is cybersecurity, which he says “is essential in a world where everything is more and more networked and bad guys are getting smarter every day.” In this industry, he said CrowdStrike is “almost second to none”, with Palo Alto Networks being a possible exception.

The second theme is “anything that makes you look or feel better during the pandemic,” Cramer said, referring to companies such as Signet Jewelers and Ulta Beauty.

Another enduring theme that remains in place despite the delta variant of Covid or Federal Reserve policy is “the digitization of everything,” Cramer said. One company that fits perfectly with this trend is business automation software maker UiPath, he said.

Finally, Cramer said that financial empowerment through technology has a bright future, regardless of the current attitude on the streets.

“This is an irrepressible story, whether it’s commission-free exchanges or AI-powered loans that let you escape the shackles of your credit score,” Cramer said, adding that Affirm Holdings and other companies in the industry buy now, pay later also show promise.