Cramer says the ‘bifurcated consumer’ is making this market hard to understand

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday told investors why it's hard to generalize about consumer behavior, saying there's a stark divide between cash-strapped consumers and ones that are flush.
"High rates may not be helping, but they aren't hurting yet either, right now at least," he said. "In the meantime, we've got a bifurcated consumer in this country, and until you understand that, nothing in this market will make sense at all, let alone the inequality that comes with it."

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday told investors why it's hard to generalize about consumer behavior, saying that as inflation continues, there's a stark divide between cash-strapped consumers and ones that are flush.

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"High rates may not be helping, but they aren't hurting yet either, right now at least," he said. "In the meantime, we've got a bifurcated consumer in this country, and until you understand that, nothing in this market will make sense at all, let alone the inequality that comes with it."

As long as many consumers remain "under pressure," Cramer said, it will be clear that inflation remains a pressing issue, and the Federal Reserve won't cut interest rates. And if these rates don't come down, he said, "there's this difficult reverberation in the bond market that causes longer-term rates to go higher, making everything even more expensive for those who have little money, without really impacting the wealthy."

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Cramer took McDonald's mixed earnings report as an example of the consumer divide. The fast-food giant's CEO Chris Kempczinski discussed how the low-income consumer cohort is a "battle ground" as many trade down to deal with higher costs. The company has been raising its prices recently to offset its own inflated operating costs. Cramer noted how this trend differs greatly from consumers who are shelling out for products like a new Taylor Swift vinyl or the Apple Vision Pro.

But some aspects of inflation are out out of the Fed's control, he added.

"While the Fed can crush many kinds of inflation, the real inflation that matters to everyday consumers —the cost of gasoline and the price of food— well that's not something the Fed can control," Cramer said. "The bountiful Permian Basin is in charge of keeping oil down, while the United States of Costco and Walmart make food affordable for those who can't afford the Double Big Mac."