Cramer sees positives for investors after sell-off on Covid fears: ‘The carnage is reversible’

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he sees positives for investors after steep market declines Wednesday as Wall Street grew further concerned about the coronavirus pandemic.

“I recognize the carnage, but I do think the carnage is reversible,” Cramer said Wednesday on “Closing Bell,” after the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 943 points, or 3.4%, in its worst day since June. The benchmark S&P 500 declined 3.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 3.7%.

“It’s just that you do need to get past the election, and you have to start accepting the fact that because people don’t wear masks, they don’t practice social distancing, we don’t do contact tracing … that we’re going to have a lot of case loads,” Cramer said.

The “Mad Money” host said by recognizing the shortcomings of the U.S. response to the pandemic, investors will be able to spot individual opportunities in the market where there is upside. He pointed to the strong earnings report from Ford Motor, which illustrates the strength in the auto market, and General Electric.

“You get a one-off like Ford and a one-off like GE, and you get a couple more one-offs. Next thing you know you’re saying, ‘Why am I just selling everything?'” he said.

Cramer said the coronavirus case count in the United States is sure to rise in the coming days. That echoes comments made earlier Wednesday by former Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who said that “things are going to get worse.”

“[Investors] know, and we have to build in the Covid case load,” Cramer said. “We have to build in the restaurant shutdowns. We have to build in who the heck knows with the election? At a certain point, it gets built in.”

“And then we say, ‘Well listen, I’m not inured to Covid. I don’t want anyone to have it. I don’t want to catch it,'” he added. “But at a certain point, how many times are you going to discount Covid?”

Wednesday’s sell-off was broad, with all 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing in the red, led by technology’s 4.33% decline. However, Cramer said that type of market movement lays the foundation for opportunities. “I’m not saying it’s artificial. But I am saying good news will create an upswing.”