Cramer says stocks may bottom sooner than expected because Wall Street is so negative

Investors’ current poor market sentiment could lead to a market bottom soon, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.

“We also need … everyone to believe that the market can only go lower. We need wholesale capitulation. Crescendo selling, like when Covid hit. Or even when the big banks were almost done in 2009. Only then can we get a sustainable rally,” the “Mad Money” host said, referring to the fallout from the financial crisis that lasted from 2007 to 2008.

“Because sentiment is already so negative, that bottom could come sooner than you’d think,” he added.

Cramer’s comments come as Russia’s intensifying invasion of Ukraine continues to shake Wall Street after weeks of volatility. The broad-market S&P 500 index decreased 0.7% on Monday. The Nasdaq fell 2.04%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat.

Bond yields rose ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s expected announcement of a quarter-percentage-point rate hike after its two-day meeting concluding Wednesday. The move, meant to help curb skyrocketing inflation, is the first of several interest rate hikes the Fed is expected to implement this year.

Cramer said that while there are some stocks that are in a bull market, including those of health care companies, investors need to be patient in waiting for a snapback rally.

“We need to get through this tough period, and we will get through it,” Cramer said.