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CNBC’s Jim Cramer said trading days like Monday could be investors best shot to buy the dip — even if it means enduring some short-term losses.

″This is my eighth tightening cycle and I know from experience that if you wait until the [Federal Reserve] is done and inflation’s broken, it’ll be too late to buy,” the “Mad Money” host said, referring to the Fed’s plan to implement several interest rate hikes this year to control soaring inflation.

“You have to anticipate the peak in inflation, just like [Monday] where the market looked so treacherous and then turned placid. You have to accept some short-term losses. … If you can’t take the pain, though, go ahead and swap into Treasurys now that they’re yielding near 3%,” Cramer said.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite plunged to new lows for the year on Monday but rebounded before the session’s end. The Nasdaq gained 1.63% while the S&P 500 surged 0.57%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was down more than 500 points at its low, edged up 0.26%. 

Cramer also said that if a firm’s stock performed poorly on Monday despite reporting an upbeat quarter earlier this earnings season, it’s a reflection of the current market, not the company. He gave an example of American Express, Coca-Cola, and UnitedHealth Group.

″The market’s simply not willing to pay as much for those future earnings in this new environment — whenever interest rates rise rapidly, price-to-earnings multiples start shrinking,” he said.