A bottom in biotech? Hardly
This week was a tough one for Jim Cramer. With exception of the Kraft's takeover bid from Heinz, there wasn't too much positive news circulating in the market. Yet somehow leaders in the biotech and semiconductor spaces showed signs of life on Friday. Could they be making a comeback?
Cramer does not anticipate that next week will be as tough, but it will be bizarre. The only big news next week is the Labor Department's nonfarm payroll report, which comes out on Friday, when the market will be closed.
"Sometimes, when you're a stock junkie, like me, you search for clues anywhere you can get them. And on slower days you bear down and truly get the skinny on something else no one knows," the "Mad Money" host said.
With the need to think outside of the box next week, Cramer elaborated on his radar for the coming days:
Friday: Nonfarm payroll numbers
Cramer cannot emphasize enough just how important employment figures will be. Especially considering the fact that last month's employment report was very strong, and then there haven't been any strong economic numbers of importance that have been announced since.
Some investors what to see a number that resembles the weak statistics of the other numbers announced, because they fear that a strong economy will prompt the Fed to raise rates.
"Don't fear the Fed; fear the prospect of the economy downshifting from 2.2 percent gross domestic product number we got for the fourth quarter today," he said.
Cramer anticipates that unless there is a pickup in business for the industrial companies that are set to report next month, the strong dollar could create chaos. However, if there is employment growth that will at least give some optimism in what Cramer thinks will be a very disappointing earnings season.
Read More Cramer game plan: Fear this next week, not the Fed
Cramer saw a shred of hope in the market on Friday, as the four horsemen of the semiconductor and biotech industries stood their ground and showed some signs of restoration.
"It could bode well for a real stand in these two leadership groups that have been hammered, and that weakness was the proximate cause of this week's decline," the "Mad Money" host said.
Last Friday Cramer saw the decline in biotechs coming and warned investors to ring the register, as the biotechs were getting overheated.
What caused it to peak? He was alarmed by the large amount of merger and acquisitions that were occurring, along with the huge bid for Pharmacyclicsfrom AbbVie. Additionally, amazing results for anti-cholesterol drugs were announced by both Amgen and Regeneron.
Likewise, the semiconductor spaced was crushed this week, too. Even the best stocks, the ones that have proprietary content linked to cellphones and connectivity, were hit hard. Cramer faves Skyworks Solutions, Avago, Qorvo and NXP Semiconductors were included in the carnage.
The real bloodshed came from companies like Intel, Micron and Qualcomm. Negative commentary from Taiwan Semiconductor took that stock down, too.
"Again, I came away thinking that these semiconductor stocks can bottom, too, and the problem children in the group each have their own issues that don't bleed into the territory of the four semiconductor horsemen," Cramer added.
After the market had a big pullback this week, Jim Cramer thought it would make sense to revisit one of the strongest and hottest groups of the year. Restaurant stocks have been roaring lately, thanks to a stronger job market and cheaper gas prices.
However, now that the momentum has slowed, Cramer took a step back to look at the restaurants that are in the best shape and the ones to avoid.
The best way to evaluate a restaurant is to look at the vital metric of same-store sales, also known as comparable-store sales. This data will tell you how well the core business is doing by pulling in the performance of stores that have been open for at least one year.
But some of the companies with the best same-store sales turned out to be the weakest stocks. The worst reaction that the "Mad Money" host saw came from the burger chain Sonic, when it reported this week and tanked 12 percent the next day.
Then there were companies that actually had their stocks go higher when they reported strong numbers. Those were Cracker Barrel and Zoe's Kitchen, as most investors just didn't expect the numbers to be so good.
Cramer pulled together a group of restaurant stocks that he called the "don't touch" group. Those are the ones with such bad numbers he wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole.
First up was Noodles & Company, which doubled the first day of trading when it came public in 2013 but has been a total dog since with a report of 1.3 percent same-store sales growth.
"You need to analyze the trend to see if a restaurant's comps are accelerating or decelerating, because that's what determines whether or not the stock goes higher."
Read More Cramer: Restaurant winners & losers of the year
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Adobe Systems Inc: "No, that quarter was no good. Come on, we have to stay focused. That was not a good quarter. We are going to stay away from Adobe."
Box Inc: "I think Aaron Levie did okay. Honestly if I would have told that story, it would have had a much better narrative. They should have let me do that conference call and the stock would be at $22. I'm not kidding, he just didn't know how to tell the story