Cramer: Investors Sitting Out the Coronavirus Dip are ‘Playing With Fire’

CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer said Wednesday it’s high time people start buying stocks after the coronavirus sent markets and traders reeling this week.

“I think you’ve got to start buying something,” Cramer said on CNBC‘s “Squawk on the Street” after $1.7 trillion was wiped off the books through the first two trading days this week. “I understand there’s two shoes to drop: the cluster that they find in America …

Cramer went on to say the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is likely to be “worse than the regular flu, but we’ve had 15 million people have the regular flu this year in America, so maybe it goes to 100 million for this thing.”

“The economy is going to slow; I think some companies are beginning to reflect that,” Cramer said, though, he did admit it’s fair that many investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to get a better feel of where the market bottom might be.

“I understand that you want to wait till the warnings comes,” he said.

But if you’re sitting on an ample supply of cash in your accounts, Cramer said now is the time to buy this dip.

“If you have a lot of cash, let’s say you have 20% cash, you’re not going to put 1% to work?” Cramer asked. “Are you really going to think that nobody has anything going on?”

Cramer then said there are still a couple of shoes to drop that people are likely waiting for: When we get a cluster of infections here in the United States, and then when we have the first death, both of which will likely cause another market dip.

But that’s no reason to stay on the sidelines in the short-term, he said.

“If you haven’t put anything to work, I think you’re playing with fire,” Cramer said. “Look, I would obviously say put it all to work if I felt you didn’t have these other shoes (to drop).”

Editor’s note: Cramer seems fairly confident that now is the time to buy. How are you handling this market dip? Are you sitting on the sidelines waiting or are you buying?