Aug 24, 2026 · 44 min
Data centers, bond yields and AI infrastructure test investors
Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 8/24/26
The episode connects data-center economics, monetary policy and capital returns to the risks facing investors in an AI-driven market.
- 1Large data-center operators may withstand local opposition and rising infrastructure costs better than speculative builders.
- 2Rising long-term Treasury yields can pressure mortgages, stock valuations and expectations for Federal Reserve policy.
- 3AI infrastructure remains attractive, but leverage makes CoreWeave a speculation rather than an outright buy.
Don't miss
Roger Wells discusses how autonomous air and maritime systems, domestic production and affordability are reshaping defense procurement.
The brief
Jim Cramer opens with a data-center thesis: large operators may outlast speculative builders because they can absorb community compensation, regulation and infrastructure costs.
The market’s macro backdrop complicates the trade. Rising long-term Treasury yields can lift mortgage costs and compress valuations as investors await Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve outlook.
Cramer treats CoreWeave as an attractive AI-infrastructure speculation, but its balance sheet prevents an outright buy; he applies similar caution to crypto leverage and MicroStrategy.
The episode’s standout interview features Avex CEO Roger Wells on autonomous air and maritime systems, domestic manufacturing, affordability and deployments in Ukraine.
A closing discussion on dividends and buybacks shifts from growth to capital discipline, asking when shareholder returns strengthen a company and when they expose risk.
What was said on this episode
41 statements · 23 positive · 15 negative · 2 mixed · 1 neutral
Unrestricted data-center construction is likely ending
“the unbridled build-out is most likely over”
Listen at 4:36
Some data-center construction orders will be canceled
“some orders will indeed be canceled, if not many orders”
Listen at 4:48
Political rhetoric will reduce Micron’s valuation multiple
“the multiple will shrink anyway because of the chatter, because of the rhetoric”
Listen at 6:44
Investors should reduce exposure to data-center stocks
“I think you sell some. You can't be as heavily invested in this theme”
Listen at 6:54
Speculative construction is increasing data-center building costs
“the cost of building a data center is being boosted by many companies constructing these things on spec”
Listen at 7:36
Large hyperscalers will benefit while speculative builders fail
“they're the biggest beneficiaries because they can afford to compensate local communities and get their warehouses full of servers built while the spec builders will indeed get obliterated”
Listen at 7:53
Political opposition may improve hyperscalers’ competitive position
“This political pushback might be a godsend for the hyperscalers”
Listen at 8:40
Data-center opposition may benefit large technology companies
“This data center pushback may be a victory for big tech”
Listen at 8:59
MicroStrategy is unattractive because of its excessive debt
“I'm not in favor of my— I'm not in favor of Mr. MSTR, that's what I call it, because frankly, they have too much debt”
Listen at 10:14
Quantum computing’s impact is sufficiently distant to reduce current concern
“I think the quantum is happening way too late, and I'm much less worried than I used to be”
Listen at 10:59
Higher energy prices contribute to broad inflation
“higher energy prices spread throughout the whole system. As you know, it's a key source of inflation”
Listen at 13:25
High inflation prevents the Federal Reserve from cutting short-term rates
“when inflation is too high, the Federal Reserve can't cut short rates”
Listen at 13:29
Hyperscaler borrowing for data centers is affecting fixed-income markets
“the tech titans have started borrowing so much money to build data centers that it's impacting the entire fixed income space”
Listen at 13:43
Reducing spending or raising revenue is necessary to address federal debt
“The only real solution to this problem is to either cut spending or raise more revenue”
Listen at 17:23
Long-term interest rates will fall only if inflation is controlled
“We want longer term interest rates to go lower, but that's only going to happen if we can get inflation under control”
Listen at 18:20
The Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut rates while inflation remains high
“I don't think they're going to cut rates with inflation this high”
Listen at 19:47
Historical precedent favors Fed rate increases at current inflation
“history says the Fed should be raising rates, not cutting them”
Listen at 20:43
The labor market remains weak and recently lost jobs
“The labor market softened up last year. It hasn't gotten any better. We lost 23,000 jobs last month”
Listen at 20:52
CoreWeave is an attractive speculative investment
“I think Corweave is a great spec”
Listen at 25:36
CoreWeave’s balance sheet prevents an outright buy recommendation
“this balance sheet is not... such that I can recommend it as just a flat-out buy”
Listen at 25:40
Investors should not sell Morgan Stanley
“I would not sell Morgan Stanley”
Listen at 26:15
Morgan Stanley is an excellent company or investment
“Morgan Stanley is great”
Listen at 26:34
Intel CPUs are a key opportunity for robotics
“the CPUs are the secret and hope for robots”
Listen at 27:44
AVEX is among the fastest-growing autonomous unmanned-systems companies
“AVEX is one of the fastest growing autonomous unmanned systems companies”
Listen at 29:50
AVEX’s Tampa facility can produce over 1,000 systems monthly
“Our Tampa production facility can generate over 1,000 systems a month”
Listen at 30:33
AVEX will deliver over 9,000 systems to Ukrainian combat operations this fiscal year
“by the time we finish this fiscal year, we will have delivered over 9,000 systems to combat operations in Ukraine”
Listen at 31:08
Autonomous unmanned systems will be deployed across major military forces
“We're going to see these kinds of systems structurally deployed in every major combat, in every major force structure moving forward”
Listen at 31:48
The Black Sea acquisition will make AVEX the largest U.S. pure-play multidomain autonomous-systems company
“the largest pure-play multi-domain autonomous systems company in the United States”
Listen at 32:33
U.S. production programs will replace revenue lost from AVEX’s EUCOM program
“That's accelerating and replacing the revenue that will be rolling off as part of the U-Come Deep Strike program”
Listen at 33:31
Rocket Lab is excessively speculative
“I think Rocket Lab is too speculative”
Listen at 35:52
Rocket Lab shareholders may consider following the CEO’s sale
“maybe you should follow the CEO”
Listen at 35:56
Canadian Natural Resources is among the better oil-and-gas companies
“I think it's one of the better oil and gases”
Listen at 36:16
Canadian LNG exports will benefit Canadian natural-gas companies
“I think people should recognize that that's going to be terrific for all the Canadian natural gas companies”
Listen at 36:27
Palantir will rise to at least $200–$250
“I have been committed to say it was going to go up to 250, at least 200. I'm not backing away”
Listen at 37:05
Palantir reported an excellent quarter but remains speculative
“They have an amazing quarter. It's a great spec, but it is a spec”
Listen at 37:10
Williams is an excellent investment
“I think Williams is terrific”
Listen at 38:15
Enterprise Products Partners offers a strong yield near 6%
“Enterprise Product Partners. EPD is very good, almost 6% yield”
Listen at 38:24
IBM is performing better than investors believe
“I think it's doing better than people think”
Listen at 39:04
Apple returned about 94% of profits and substantially reduced shares outstanding
“Apple returned roughly 94 percent of its profits, mostly in the form of buybacks, and it dramatically shrunk its share count”
Listen at 39:58
Micron is investing heavily to expand U.S. capacity and gain Korean market share
“Micron's spending a fortune on sending ducted plants to build up our domestic capacity, take share from their Korean competitors”
Listen at 41:24
Micron’s expansion strategy is beneficial for its stock
“I support Micron's strategy not just because it's good for American manufacturing, but more importantly, because it's good for the stock”
Listen at 43:24
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
Books & mentions
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