Investment guru Jim Cramer blasted the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus on Thursday, arguing “this is the time for radical action.”
Cramer said he is worried that multiple companies in the S&P 500 could go bankrupt within weeks.
“They know nothing. We know more than they do, and that’s not acceptable either,” Cramer said early Thursday on CNBC.
“I want the federal government to know more than me. I knew more than they did in 2007, and I know more than they do now and it is disappointing,” he said.
“Are we going to sit here and let so many companies go bankrupt because of an illness? I think that is stupid,” Cramer said. “Once we settle that out and stop worrying about money, we can worry about health simultaneously. Right now we can’t do both.”
Cramer argued the government should temporarily suspend all manner of tax collection.
“Everyone owes the government at all time. Everyone in this country, individuals, corporations. That has to be suspend right now so they have more money,” Cramer said.
Cramer also held out hope the government is debating some big options to tackle the economic and financial markets crisis arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think that they will perhaps consider the idea that the federal government does not need to be paid during this period so therefore the people, the working people, get paid and are protected,” he said later on CNBC.
“I think they are debating the notion about whether they should have a trust fund ... also debating the notion right now about whether the Federal Reserve should be able to guarantee credit lines,” Cramer said. “The Treasury trust fund would indeed, perhaps, take advantage of the lower rates and make it so that people feel their credit lines would be backed up.”
“I believe that some of these plans that I mentioned are being debated right now and I feel better,” he said. “You’re going to get clarity.”
Crashing U.S. stocks on Thursday confirmed Wall Street is in a bear market after new travel restrictions to curb the coronavirus spread spooked investors and rattled world markets.
President Donald Trump's Europe travel ban announced late Wednesday sent all three major U.S. stock indexes into a tailspin, slamming the book on the longest-running U.S. bull market on record.
The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have lost about 24% of their value since reaching record closing highs just 16 sessions ago, as nations around the world grapple with how to contain the fast-moving coronavirus and its economic effects, Reuters explained.
Meanwhile, Trump said he expects markets to recover from the mounting losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak that has killed thousands worldwide and crushed industries including airlines and hotels.
“It’s going to all bounce back and it’s going to bounce back very big,” Trump said Thursday at the White House during a meeting with Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Bloomberg reported.