Jim Cramer warned of an "incredibly jarring gulf between stock prices and reality" as markets weighed resilient business investment against weakening consumer conditions, higher oil prices, rising interest rates and heavy government borrowing. Speaking Thursday from the construction site of Micron Technology’s new semiconductor fabrication plant in Boise, Idaho, Cramer said the project showed that parts of the U.S. economy remained robust, but stressed that investors ultimately view stocks through the market’s broader prism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.9% and the Nasdaq declined 1% as bond yields rose and erased gains that followed the Treasury Department’s debt-management announcement. Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales rose 2.6%, below the 3.8% analyst forecast, while traffic growth slowed to 1.5% and spending per transaction increased 1.1%. Walmart CFO John David Rainey said gasoline prices above $4 a gallon were forcing consumers to make trade-offs, and the retailer expects fuel-related costs to be about $2 billion higher than initially forecast. Cramer questioned whether a debt buyback of about $4 billion, even if expanded, could materially affect borrowing costs against a $40 trillion national debt. The U.S. Treasury later doubled the maximum size of its liquidity-support buybacks for long-dated bonds as long-term yields approached levels last seen nearly two decades ago. Micron shares rose 4% after the company announced plans to invest $10 billion over the next decade in a Boise research lab, adding to more than $250 billion committed to U.S. manufacturing and research. Its first new Idaho fab is expected to begin DRAM production in 2027, and the planned expansion could ultimately create more than 17,000 jobs. Separately, JPMorgan warned that global food inflation could double by 2027, citing possible shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a potentially historic El Niño event. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was a "very good chance" the U.S. budget deficit under President Donald Trump had peaked and suggested fiscal-consolidation measures could save several hundred billion dollars. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned about the growing burden of interest payments on the national debt and attributed it to policies he opposed in Congress, which he believes cost him his re-election bid. The wider debate reflects a divide between strong asset prices, business investment and household finances, with analysts warning about high costs, labor-market risks, potential stagflation and the consequences of continued borrowing.