With new money finally flowing back into the stock market, Jim Cramer placed his bet that money managers would send stocks soaring next week, depending on who President-elect Donald Trump appoints to key positions.
Politics can outrun earnings on Monday if Trump names Mitt Romney as secretary of state, Cramer said. The pair is meeting on Saturday, and while a source close to Trump told NBC News that they will discuss the top diplomat position, there's no indication yet that Trump will offer it or that Romney will accept it.
The market may rally on the perception that Trump is savvier about foreign policy than some people thought.
"A name-brand Wall Street friendly Treasury secretary on top of tabbing Romney for state would send this market through the roof, that is if there even is a roof," the "Mad Money" host said.
The only earnings exception was Novo Nordisk, which Cramer deemed the worst quarter of 2016.
Ever since President-Elect Donald Trump won the election, Cramer has spoken with many investors who are confused on what to do with Apple's stock.
Going into the election, Apple had a remarkable run. The stock immediately fell to $105 from $111 in the wake of Trump's victory. It has since slowly climbed back up to $110.
"People may be confused about what a Trump administration means for Apple, so let me dispel the confusion — the positives far outweigh the negatives," Cramer said.
With one look at United Airlines, Cramer said investors should never assume that winners will always be winners and losers will always be losers.
United Continental was the black sheep of the airline industry. When the airline group faltered, United fell the most. When it climbed in the big airline rally in 2012 and 2013, United rose the least.
Lately the company has gone through a remarkable transformation, and the stock has become the best performer of the group, up 19 percent for the year.
"Under the leadership of Oscar Munoz, United Continental has tackled many of the problems that had plagued the company for years," Cramer said.
Cramer recommended waiting for a pullback before buying the stock, given its recent run.
Retail has been all over the map lately, and Cramer found it almost unbelievable.
"We have too many retailers. Some are hanging on by a thread. Some simply aren't needed. Some seem atavistic and antediluvian and they are just waiting to be destroyed by Amazon. Then we have other retailers that could be saved by the, well, Trump," Cramer said..
With the drastic difference in retail options ahead of Black Friday, Cramer reviewed the trends and how the market has reacted to them.
The new winner of the mall was Children's Place, which reported an amazing quarter. The stock rallied in response.
"Children's Place … has cracked the code and is winning both online and off. It's pure execution: the right styles and the right sizes. The Childrens Place is the NVIDIA of retail and a reminder that not only is the mall not dead, but you can make a ton of money in it if you have the right stuff," Cramer said.
When Cramer listened to the conference calls of Salesforce, Children's Place, NVIDIA and Netflix, he didn't hear management even talk about macro issues.
In recent years, Cramer has gotten used to the term "macro" being thrown around on calls. Before the Great Recession, he considered it to be some sort of alibi management gave for when it didn't execute.
"The sheer lack of companies that didn't fall back on something or complain or wring their hands this quarter tells me that it is the macro. And when you have a company that doesn't complain, it is part of a rare breed," Cramer said.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Abbott Laboratories: "I'm so not crazy about health care under this new leadership. But I do like Miles White [CEO]. Longer term it's fine, but I've got to tell you that short term I just think that there is not a lot of upside."
Headwaters: "No. We are going to stick with Home Depot. Let's not get fancy."