Jim Cramer had a loud and clear message for the Federal Reserve on Friday: Bring on the rate hike!
With the U.S. economy humming along, it no longer needs the help of the Fed. And right now there are many companies that need higher rates to make more money, and not many that will get hurt by it. In particular, the financials need higher rates.
"When you have the banks as leaders you can have a real rally, the kind that can take us much further than people believe," the "Mad Money" host said.
With this in mind, here are the stocks and events on Cramer's radar next week:
Retail has become so bad that, unfortunately, the only way to increase profitability is for businesses to close stores. For winners like Foot Locker to announce it would close 90 mall stores this year and for Childrens Place to say it would close as many as 200 stores, Cramer worried how bad things could be for the losers in the group.
"If you own retail stocks, you can't wait around to find out if your company will be one of the last men standing," Cramer said. "They are just too risky and too subject to a secular shift in shopping habits where the enemy isn't just Amazon, it's themselves."
If the Fed does indeed decide to raise rates, that means banks will be able to make more money, as they collect more interest on customer deposits. It could also mean good things for lending, as they can lend money at higher rates or invest in higher yielding Treasurys.
LendingTree is the online marketplace that helps to connect consumers with lenders to get mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans and even credit cards.
While LendingTree itself doesn't lend money, it helps people find loans, which means it is a play on the volume of transactions. With the stock up 17 percent so far this year, Cramer spoke with LendingTree's CEO Doug Lebda, who shared a valuable lesson he has learned steering the company.
"One of the things I have learned in capital allocation in being a CEO is you get a lot more return sometimes when you just make smart decisions at the smart time, and when you know that there is a dislocation in the market," Lebda said.
Cramer was shocked when the news that iconic industrial company Caterpillar's Peoria, Illinois headquarters was raided by Federal agents last week — but it didn't scare him off from recommending the stock.
"Accounting issues almost always equal sell, but in this rare case, I think Caterpillar's declines already bake in the potential problems and its business is getting so much stronger that I think the story is too good to ignore with the stock down at $92," Cramer said.
United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes says that, since the election, an increase in consumer sentiment has reflected positively in the company's bottom line.
"The current administration has reached out to business in a way the last administration has never done," Hayes said.
"I think getting a chance to go to the White House to have your voice heard is very, very important and I think the Trump administration is trying to do the right thing to bring jobs back to America, to grow the American economy and we're certainly supportive of all of those things."
Hayes confirmed that its Otis Elevator business has the largest backlog seen since 2007. In fact, the only problem Otis is facing is finding enough people to install the elevators.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few stocks from callers;
Burlington Stores: "I'm light on the retail stocks, but there are three that are not mall-based. It's Burlington Stores, Ross Stores — that are not traditional mall based — and TJX. My charitable trust owns TJX. All three of those are best-in-show, and Burlington may be better than TJX. I do like the stock, but that's not a mall retailer."
Rite Aid Corporation: "No I don't want to do Rite Aid because I can't get this Walgreens, which my charitable trust owns, has been trying to buy Rite Aid for more than a year and this deal somehow doesn't want to happen. If the deal doesn't happen, Rite Aid is not going to stay at $4, it's going lower. I've just got to make that clear."