By Natasha Abellard
Publication Date: 2026-03-26 22:26:00
The war in Iran has forced investors to act more like military strategists instead of stock pickers, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday. However, he recommended investors ask themselves a series of questions to guide their decision-making with the conflict’s resolution still uncertain.
“I’m going to turn the whole process upside down and think about what the war really means to someone who’s simply trying to build a portfolio,” Cramer said on “Mad Money,” shortly after President Donald Trump announced he was extending the pause on bombing Iranian energy facilities to April 6.
“We know we can’t predict the outcome of the war. We can’t predict the timing either as tonight’s bombing pause extension shows … But what we can gauge is whether the stocks we like have much of a connection to the war,” Cramer said.
Nvidia is an “obvious” example where utilizing a checklist can help determine if the stock is worth buying in this moment, Cramer said. Shares of the leading artificial intelligence chipmaker are down a little over 3% since Feb. 27, the last trading day before the war broke out.
“First, we have to ask, is Nvidia’s stock down because of the war, ” Cramer said. In Nvidia’s case, its direct ties to the conflict are difficult to quantify, he said. “Nvidia is a big part of the stock market itself and so it’s the easiest stock in the world to trade. I think it’s going down because it is so easy to get back in at a lower level.”
Interest rates are another factor to consider,…
