DOJ Powell Probe Backlash, JPMorgan Chase's Earnings Beat, Eli Lilly CEO Exclusive 1/13/26

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Carl Quintanilla (0:23)

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Jim Cramer (0:59)

It's Jim Cramer here. You're listening to the opening bell of CNBC's Squawk on the Street. Don't miss a minute of the action.

Carl Quintanilla (1:06)

Good Tuesday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with David Faber. Post nine of the New York Stock Exchange. Cramer once again at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Futures do erase some losses here as the worst fears about December CPI go mostly unrealized. Year on year core, 2.7 is a tenth light. Meantime, earnings season kicks off with JPM and Delta. Tenure is backing off once again off of 4.2. Our roadmap begins with the latest read on inflation and what it means for the Fed's next rate move as global central bankers now unite in their defense of J-PAL.

David Faber (1:39)

JPMorgan is kicking off earnings season. The bank beat estimates this thanks to better than expected trading revenue. We'll keep an eye on that stock. President Trump announcing a new tariff on any country doing business with Iran. This amidst the crackdown of course on protests there, a move which could derail America's trade deal with China. And as we mentioned, Jim is out west at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. Eli Lilly's CEO Dave Ricks is going to join us or him certainly for a CNBC exclusive a bit later in the hour.

Carl Quintanilla (2:12)

Let's begin with CPI this morning and the Fed as we dive through some of this data. We've seen Jim about a half hour old. There were some fears that there was going to be payback for that cool reading out of November but this isn't too bad.

Jim Cramer (2:24)

No, I look at shelter still too high, food at home still too high, surprising break in used cars. I can't find that in the actual work that I do. And also energy but we think the energy could come down. This was a very soft number and I understand if the president were to actually say I think the rate should come down as long as this doesn't involve that decoration of the Federal Reserve Building.

Carl Quintanilla (2:47)

Yeah, the only hole in the donut there Jim might be grocery, two four year on year, and seven tenths. That's the biggest monthly gain in about three years.

Jim Cramer (2:58)

Look, food's too high. A lot of that is tariffs. A lot of that is say for instance, when you deal with Brazil, Brazil would be a way to get cattle down. Cattle is a principal source of food inflation. I'm surprised the president hasn't addressed it yet. But when you're a political enemy, as Brazil is regarded now, you're not going to get lower tariffs. And I think that what the president is going about incorrectly, and I know now the president feels like a little bit more of a free fire zone after what justice did with Powell, is you just go and you make a deal. Let's get beef down. That is a principal source, a staple, and it's way too high, and it's up to the president to lower it.

Carl Quintanilla (3:38)

Jim, you did say yesterday that about the DOJ that they are in league with the president, and you can't believe that they take themselves seriously. Where's your head right now on DOJ and Powell?

Jim Cramer (3:51)

Well, look, I mean, everyone keeps talking about the attack on the Federal Reserve and independence. That's because we're a business network. That the fact that the Justice Department is being revealed as a pawn of the president, even to the point where the president doesn't even know it's a pawn, that's what the real attack is on. I think the just, you don't want the Justice Department to be a farce or a joke. It tends to be a really important arm of government. But right now, it just seems like a kind of a hack group of people. Do you know, when I got out of law school, the number one job they get was, before you go to any of these firms like Paul Weiss or Krabath or Sullivan, you went to the Justice Department. I don't think anyone would be thinking about going to the Justice Department now, because you just had to do the bidding of someone else to go after Powell, to make it so that he could be in jail. It's farcical. And I think that the Justice Department is the one, the agency that is really being hammered, not the Fed.