CNBC's Jim Cramer has noticed a pattern of "downward bias" among investors in the stock market.
"I'm talking about the notion that a slowdown lurks around every corner, as people thought would be the case with Apple tonight, or that pricing is going to get worse, a fret about Alphabet, or demand is about to taper off, the whisper that drove down the stock of Amazon in [the] late afternoon," the "Mad Money" host said. "Did you know that none of these happen to be the case?"
"So many supposed experts and analysts keep giving you second-rate, or even just plain wrong, information," Cramer continued. "They're used to things going bad for so many years and they just can't shake the prejudice even when everything is, arguably, coming up roses."
So, to make sure investors got a more comprehensive look at one of the market's most hotly contested sectors, technology, Cramer dove into the earnings reports from Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple after the giants delivered their quarterly results.
Alphabet delivered what was perhaps the most mixed quarter of the bunch, but Cramer still believed in the Google parent's story despite its weaker-than-expected results.
"I was a tad disappointed, but then again, it had run up so much in anticipation of a blowout quarter that there was a letdown for certain," Cramer said. "My take? Don't lose hope, don't lose sleep, it's doing well."
In looking at the overall market layout, Cramer has determined that some stocks are simply "on a mission" to greatness.
"These are the stocks that blast out of orbit, and that orbit may have had them stuck for ages. And once they are in motion, they stay in motion until they get to where they need to go," Cramer said. "You either get long or you get out of their way."
Cramer has found few stocks that are on as determined a mission as Boeing, the massive aircraft manufacturer that took the No. 1 spot in the Dow Jones industrial average for 2017.
"This stock has been going up pretty much in a straight line ever since we had the CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, on the show in December when he confirmed that business is stronger," Cramer said.
Marathon Petroleum CEO on 2018 demand
The oil price recovery has sparked a resurgence in U.S. production, and for refinery giants like Marathon Petroleum Corporation, that translates into profits, CEO Gary Heminger told CNBC on Thursday.
"[Gasoline exports have] been, really, I think, one of the most important fundamentals of the refining industry over the last five, six years," Heminger told Cramer in an interview. "We exported 314,000 barrels per day in the fourth quarter. Exported. That's about 17 percent of what we make. So that is very important, to be able to hit the foreign markets."
Foreign markets will likely drive Marathon's success in 2018 as well, according to Heminger's forecasts.
"We're expecting 2018, globally, to be up about 1.5 million barrels per day," the CEO said. "That's going to require more and more exports from the U.S. And the U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, they're the best engines in the world."
ServiceNow CEO: Right product, right platform, right time
As companies increasingly go digital, racing to simplify customer and employee interactions, ServiceNow is emerging as a key beneficiary of the trend, President and CEO John Donahoe told CNBC on Thursday.
"This is a wonderful situation where it's the right product, right platform at the right time," Donahoe told Cramer. "Companies everywhere are embracing digital transformation where they're being forced to deliver better consumer and customer experiences and better employee experiences."
But ServiceNow's offerings aren't only about ease of use. They also help C-suite executives determine the effectiveness of the technologies they're using.
"Companies have been spending millions and millions and tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars or billions of dollars on technology over the last five or 10 years, but it's really hard to measure the impact or the effect," Donahoe said. "What ServiceNow enables our customers to do is to demonstrate how they can get clear productivity improvement from their investment in ServiceNow and other technologies and how they can get demonstrable improvements in their employees' experience and in their end customers' experience."
Playing the Big Game with Zebra Technologies?
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Eagles super-fan Cramer tends to get a little bit distracted from the gyrations of the stock market.
"But what if there was a way to mix my two greatest loves, the NFL and the stock market? What if there was a high quality company with exposure to football that trades well as a stock?" Cramer wondered.
Sure enough, the "Mad Money" host found one: Zebra Technologies, a leader in enterprise asset intelligence that specializes in barcodes, mobile printing, data capture and, most importantly, real-time locating systems.
In 2015, Zebra signed with the NFL to put real-time trackers in all of their players' shoulder pads and footballs creating what Cramer called a "treasure trove of data" for televised football games.
"[Zebra Technologies is] running at full tilt … but the stock still remains cheap," Cramer said. "I'd start to be a buyer of Zebra right here — of course it would be more attractive if the stock takes a nice dip — so put it on your shopping list and actually hope it goes down."
Lightning round: Aligned with ALGN
In Cramer's lightning round, he rattled off his take on some callers' favorite stocks:
Align Technology: "This is way overdone to the downside. This is [the maker of] Invisalign. I know it got ahead of itself. I think that you should be a buyer."
Emerson Electric Co: "Emerson's not done going higher. We've been behind it ever since it bottomed in orders about 10 points ago. I was late. It's going higher. Wouldn't shock me if it goes to $80. It's $72."
Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com