Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 10/15/26

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1:03Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Kramerica. I'm just trying to make a little bit of money. My job is not just to teach, but to entertain and educate. So call me at 1-800-743-CNBC. Tweet me at Jim Kramer. Diversification hurts so bad. Until days like today, when you learn why you own Kimberly Clark or Procter & Gamble, Why are you bothered with WM, the old waste management, or trafficking in Eli Lilly and Merck, or AppLove and Reddit? Nike! These are all stocks that have soared over the last few days as the market suddenly cooled on the data center stocks and moved away from tech hardware.

1:40And it wasn't just soft goods that rallied. The software stocks took office, did some of the transports, and of course, all the oils. That's how the Dow jumped 556 points, S &P gained 0.33%. Even the Nasdaq globally advanced 0.08%. It was like old-timers day for some, but I regard it as a diversification bonanza. We don't talk enough about diversification on the show, in part because it's no fun when one group keep outperforming the rest of the market by miles and miles. Who wants to stay diversified when the AI data center stocks are red hot? And only the AI data center stocks, nothing else. Everything else is ice cold.

2:22But when that group crashed to earth over the last few weeks, only diversification from cash can save your portfolio from obliteration. If you're too concentrated, you're going to get blown out. Possibly giving up on the entire asset class and heading for cash, as so many did in 2000, 2008, and 2022. The departed left trillions on the table. My goal is to make it so that doesn't happen to you. There'll be this CNBC Investing Club meeting today, which went a little long because we had to talk about the slow-motion train wreck that tech has become. Almost day after day for the last month, we've seen major give-ups in the data center place.

2:58It's been nothing but bloodshed led down by SK Hynix, the Korean memory chip maker that dominates trading in Korea and has begun to have the same impact here. After being a rocket chip rallying almost 1 ,000 % over a two-year period that ended in June, SK Hynix and also its memory-making cousin Samsung have been just disasters. How bad? SK Hynix, the one that trades in the U.S., was at$195 10 days ago. Now it's at$146. That was easy. In the last few years, the Korean market has been gripped by a trading frenzy like no other. Individual investors dominate the action in Korea, not unlike here. And they don't seem to care for diversification at all.

3:38I have seen statistics showing that SK Hynix and Samsung represent a huge percentage of traders' portfolios in Korea, with many owning just these two stocks, nothing else. Talk about crowded. In the last few weeks, these stocks have been mowed down. I mean, they're mowing down the shareholders. Especially the Dinwiddie who bought them with borrowed money. Unfortunately, there's been some spillover here, although that only makes a bad situation worse. These two Korean stocks, and frankly most of the tech hardware names, desperately need the AI data center story to remain intact. Lately, though, that story has developed some cracks.

4:11The data center build-out needs a huge amount of cash, but with interest rates rising, cash has been harder to come by, stands to reason. The two biggest companies in the business, OpenAI and Anthropoc, are still private, though the latter could come public by Thanksgiving. Last night, Anthropoc gave out some sales figures and an outlook that some regarded actually as disappointing. At the same time, Corweave, a heavily indebted data center builder that we talk about a lot, saw its stock under attack from short sellers who argued that the company could have trouble continuing its own build out because its public debt yields 15 percent.

4:41It's generally worrisome, even though its private loans trade much higher. Now, the witness in Cori was nothing new. It's been going on ever since the stock peaked in May at 138. It's now 69 change. It's the worst week of the year. But it was the breakdown in its bonds, not its stock, that caused people to panic because Cori invests a huge amount of debt. Much of it is backed by NVIDIA semiconductors. So let's figure out the chain. For the longest time, the whole data center ecosystem was soaring. Increasingly, Koreans have been buying stocks heavily in our market. They've been bidding up the highest-flying semiconductors, well, by the way, as Tesla and NVIDIA.

5:15When things were going up, wow, all was well. But now that there's been a breakdown, the Korean selling has bled right into our market. The concentration, the lack of diversification has caused a giant sell-off in the semis. I've been saying it's gotten so bad that you can tell how hard our tech stocks will be hit just by getting up early and watching how SK Hynix and Samsung trade overnight. It's been the greatest tell I can recall. No matter what, the Korean Cosby and the Nasdaq, they can't seem to be a couple anymore. Which brings me to yesterday. We had nonstop coverage of the dangers of Corrie, focusing on how expensive the data had become.

5:49Given that Corrie was a huge client for a host of data center suppliers, that was bad news for the entire complex. Then after the close, we learned that Anthropics has been letting potential investors know its revenues have grown from$4.7 billion in the year's first quarter to$11.6 billion in the second, and then$16.8 billion in the third quarter just closed last night. Sounds great, right? But the skeptics point out that anthroposic sequential growth has slowed from 147 percent in the second quarter to 45 percent in the third quarter. Chile could still be operating a hundred billion dollar run rate by the year end, but it's not what the Uber Bulls wanted to see.

6:25They say its growth rate is slowing. Now, last night, Taiwan Semi, which manufactures Envidio chips, among many others, actually brought a terrific, much better expected quarter. I thought that would staunch the bleeding that would go into Korea. Nope. The Kospi, which again is chiefly SK Hynix and Samsung, was so horrendous that they had the whole trading for 20 minutes. The Korean version of SK Hynix fell 11 percent and Samsung dropped over 9 percent.

6:53Now, the selling looked like, again, it would spread here as it has for months now. The opening was indeed ugly for tech. Corweave leading us lower. It didn't stop declining until Nvidia CEO Jensen Wang and Corweave backer said the company not only didn't need his help, the company, it was actually doing better than expected. That allowed Corweave stock to turn positive, and most of the group managed to stabilize with smaller losses. By the end of the day, Corweave actually closed up nearly 6%, incredible given that it was a death store at the opening. Stock jumped from$59 at its lows to$69 at the close.

7:24That's a stunning rebound. But while all this back and forth was happening, money was pouring into all sorts of non-tech stocks. That's the point. Consumer packaged goods, plays, retailers, restaurants, healthcare. It was like a tech jailbreak. We've seen stocks short that have done nothing wrong aside from having no data center exposure. And don't I know it. At last month's investing club call, I talked about my sellers remorse about corning. I said I was I thought I was being a pig and I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take my lack of diversification. So what did I do? Well, we bought Kimberly Clark, the maker of Kleenex, high fiber glass to low fiber toilet paper.

8:02Boy, I look stupid. I wanted to put my head in the toilet, just power flushing. Now, though, coin is rolling over. Kimberly Clark's taking off. Look, I don't know how long the buy in these forlorn stocks is going to last. I don't know if the coast will ever be clear for the data centers until after the midterm elections when we see if the state and local politicians are still willing to let data centers be built in the states. But one thing I do know, there will be a heck of a lot fewer Koreans trading tonight than there were not that long ago because of the losses that you almost always generate when a concentrated portfolio goes bad.

8:31It's a shame. Maybe with the bounce back from the bottom today, American SK Hinex will be a little bit of follow through. But the bottom line, to those who persisted in owning the food, beverage, drug, health care, entertainment, big box retailers and discounters, hey, I say congratulations. The ones who own soft-free consumer packaged good stocks, fantastic. You stayed diversified. That means you're still watching. Think of it like a designated driver for your portfolio. No fun when the party's on. But when everybody's plastered and puking out their guts, these non-tech stocks will get you home safely like they did today.

9:02Pretty sobering when you think about it. Let's go to Kyle in my home state in New Jersey. Kyle! My best friend, Jim Kramer. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing great, pal. Hey, where are we going tonight? Two years ago, you told me you were going to let me take you and your wife out to dinner, and it hasn't happened yet. So we've got to do that, man. That's my bad. I mean, Lisa's saying, when are we going out to dinner with Kyle? And I keep snoring. I'll get on. What's going on? Listen, you're a busy guy. I'll give you a break. I'm jammed. So I sold this stock at about 25 last September, and I'm thinking about hopping back in it.

9:44I know that they're still buying back shares, but I'm worried that Elon's going to put them in the coffin. What do you think about Lyft? I think Elon's going to put them in. No, I think Lyft. Look, that's Risher. I think Richard does a good job. I like the last quarter. I like the last year. But the problem is people have just, you know, it's a churn stock. It's like SoFi. 17, 15, 15, 17. Kyle, I'll explain it to you when we go out there. How about that? Let's go to Sam in Pennsylvania. Sam. Jim, I wanted to highlight UBS. After their merger with Credit Suisse, the stock is up over 100%. And I think it's really interesting to hear the company making a pivot towards wealth management.

10:26See, the market tends to reward their earnings coming from wealth management higher. because it's predictable and reoccurring. So I'm curious when you think of UBS with their$7 trillion in assets under management as a buy. You know, I haven't looked at UBS, frankly. I mean, yeah, I knew about the pivot. But you know what? That sounds like an interesting story. I mean, UBS used to be the cream of the crop. Let's take a look at it. We need to do work to fulfill what Sam is talking about. Let's go to Susie in California. Susie. Hey, Jim. I'm coming from the home state of my beloved L.A. Dodgers. I don't understand the baseball teams, but they're good.

11:04Hey, I've been a longtime viewer, too, since 2006. Excellent. Wow. Thanks. Love you, man. Right now, the banks and financials are struggling. I'm calling about a credit card company you recommended. And today, Yahoo discussed it in the finance division, giving a variety of statistics that basically show it looks like most things are going up because I don't understand what it's saying. But they talked about net revenue being less, you know, minus 5.9 cents, 5.9 percent. And I don't know what most of these items mean. But finally, they said this stock is expected to mirror their overall market performance in the near future.

11:45What does this all mean? And when do you see a turnaround for Capital One this year? Capital One. OK, I'm betting. No, no, I'm looking for the 20th on the 20th. That's what I said today at the club meeting. Look, Capital One's Richard Fairbank. He's money, and the stock has not done much lately at all after they merged with Discover. I think it's about to take off, but I got to tell you, it's the ones that people like. They like MasterCard, and they like Visa, no credit exposure, and really, really good growth. But I'm still hanging with Capital One. I just hope I don't get hung by Capital One.

12:11All right, listen to me. I've been telling you to stay diversified for I don't know how long. I hope that rang true for you, and you didn't get thrown out of the game. But I can't tell, because then you probably wouldn't be watching anyway. I'm like, I'm going to have money tonight. Schwab's earnings might have bucked the narrative that AI is coming for the financial advisory sector. I'm thinking of the numbers, see what they tell us. And some analysts upgrade to two retail stocks and got me doing a double take on this sector. Don't miss my take on VF Corp. And no, I'm not going to tell you a second one.

12:39And the consumer packaged goods stocks have been mounting a comeback lately. So I should be adding the portfolio. Well, I'm telling you where I come down. So stay with Kramer. Don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow at Jim Cramer on X. Have a question? Tweet Cramer. Hashtag Mad Mentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneyatcnbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC. Miss something? Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.

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14:50Charles Schwab just can't seem to catch a break. This morning, the retail brokerage firm with a sideline in banking and wealth management reported what I thought was a pretty strong quarter. Yet the stock initially plunged over 5 percent for bouncing off its lows and finishing the session down 2.7 percent. What can I even say about this stock? It feels like Schwab never gets the benefit of the Dow. Stock got slammed in 2023 during the mini banking crisis, even though it had limited exposure to the problems that were bringing down various banks. It's a broker, for heaven's sake, and it just didn't have that kind of exposure.

15:21Earlier this year, it was weighed down by AI displacement worries, as though Claude is going to Vibecode some kind of alternative brokerage software. Then, once these AI displacement fears faded, the stock spent a couple of months flying higher. Now we're hearing that Meta's Muse AI agent could help customers shift their cash away from Schwab's lower interest accounts. This morning, I spoke to Carl Cantania, when I squawked on the street, about how these muse worries had crushed the stock. I told him I was skeptical that Schwab's clients would be willing to hand all the banking details to any AI platform.

15:52I think this is just like what happened to the stock when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed or during the initial AI displacement sell-off. Back in March of 2023, I recommended Schwab in the mid-50s because the whole thing seemed so stupid to me. Schwab had a tiny banking business that was not at all comparable to the kind of banks that were going under. By April of 2024, the stock was back to the 70s. This is a Rodney Dangerfield name that consistently gets no respect, but often that creates terrific buying opportunities. So let's talk about the quarter. Even though Schwab delivered a modest 3-cent earnings speed of$1.66 basis with 29 % growth, the revenues came in a tad light, up 17%.

16:28Clients brought in record new assets, too, but investors wanted reassurance about deposits and net interest income, and they didn't get that. Swab's net interest margin, the spread between what they pay for deposits and what they charge for loans, came in at 3.04%. Wall Street was looking for 3.11%. Bank deposits, little white. But total net new assets, what I care about, came in much better than expected. Core net new assets were up 38%. Swab's attracting plenty of money, just not in the form of cheap deposits. Right now, everyone's worried that AI agents will keep putting pressure on net interest margins for the whole financial industry, Swab included.

17:05If customers move cash out of low-paying accounts, these guys lose cheap funding. But the stock got clobbered in these same AI displacement fears earlier this year, and they never really came to anything. CFO Mike Verdeshi addressed that directly on the call, quoting, This is not cash sorting in any way, end quote. That means they're not losing deposits to other institutions. He said improving sentiment and IPO activity simply encouraged clients to put their cash into the market. Management also expects seasonal cash inflows later in the fourth quarter. I like that. At the same time, customers really want to borrow.

17:37Margin loans reached$187.9 billion. That's up 93%, while bank loans increased 35 % to$72.3 billion. Now, I'm not crazy about that margin number. Borrowing money to buy stocks is for hedge funds, not individuals. Too dangerous for me. Still, it is very good business for Schwab. On the other hand, loan growth here has outpaced deposit growth, forcing Schwab to find alternative sources of funding, which isn't cheap when you're in a high-interest rate environment. That's why management's full-year revenue forecast was at the lower end of the previous range, although expenses were also near the low end.

18:10Management said fourth quarter net interest would be at the low end of the 3.25 to 3.30 range that they predicted in July. So the guidance was flawed, but not terrible. They didn't lower their earnings forecast. And keep in mind, Schwab has already pulled back from 114 at its highs in late August to$94 and changed today. Now, a lot of that's because Wall Street's gotten carried away with this AI disruption angle again. I just don't see people letting AI agents independently move their money around. And that goes double when we're talking about people with real money. And Schwab has an answer of its own.

18:41Charlie, their in-house AI assistant that combines outside models with Schwab's information and security controls. As for outside agents, today's conference call, CEO Rick Wurster was emphatic about unauthorized agents trying to log in for clients. Quote, we are not going to allow that. We are already blocking it. End quote. In fact, hardly anyone's tried it. Customers can still act on AI recommendations, but these agents won't be running your account. There's also a difference between money sitting forgotten and money waiting to be used. When Worcester came on CNBC a couple of weeks ago, he quoted the idea that Schwab was full of idle cash incredibly misplaced, pointing to paychecks, dividends, interest payments and stock purchases moving through accounts.

19:20On today's call, he said clients move nearly four trillion dollars in cash each month. We're still for another observation. Traders using AI through swabs connections hold more cash than other active traders because they're preparing for the next investment. That doesn't prove AI will always benefit cash balances, but it undermines the assumption that AI automatically drains swabs cash. And look, there's a reason total client assets increased by 15 percent this quarter. 1.2 million new brokerage accounts were open. Swab Wealth Advisory net flows increased 55%. Customers are committing more money to human advice.

19:57At the same time, investors are questioning whether AI will replace it. Doesn't look like it to me. Swab's other businesses are contributing, too. Asset management and administration fees rose 14 % ahead of expectations. Trading revenue increased 16%. Daily average trades jumped 44 % from last year to$10.7 million, even after cooling down a bit from the second quarter. Worcester said AI has improved developer productivity by about 25%, helping the company reinvest while controlling its costs. Schwab also repurchased$500 million of its own stock in the quarter. So far this year, they've bought back nearly$4 billion worth of stock through September.

20:30That's impressive. There's still an opportunity in the securities portfolio. CFO Ferdeschi says Schwab has roughly$190 billion securities yielding less than 2%. As those investments roll off, you better believe Schwab will get much higher yields. Plus, there's the valuation. At$94, Schwab trades at less than 15 times this year's earnings estimates, and just under 12 times next year's numbers. That's pretty darn cheap given the numbers they're putting up in that growth rate, which runs the reason why most of the major bank stocks. Here's the bottom line. Every time Wall Street counts Charles Schwab out, it's proven to be a great buying opportunity.

21:03I think it was wrong to sell the stock on AI displacement fears this spring, and it's wrong to sell it on Metamuse worries today. This is a franchise that's bringing in record new assets for heaven's sake. My only regret is that Schwab's stock has already started rebounding off its lows. Hey, maybe it'll get hit again and give you a better entry point. I think this run will be every bit as grand as the last two I told you to get a piece of. And I'm recommending it all by myself. Muse had nothing to do with it. Everybody's back here for the break. Coming up, the consumer may be strapped right now, but Kramer's found two apparel stocks that could be set to run.

21:39Next.

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23:06I'm always searching for new ideas, and this week I got not one but two of them. practically came out of nowhere thanks to some very rigorous analyst upgrades. VF Corp and Contour Brands, a pair of apparel companies that I've been on the fence about, they both caught major upgrades this week. Yeah, these look very interesting to me. At a time of rising interest rates and rising oil prices, I rarely think, hey, let's get some apparel exposure. But these two just might be worth it. Let me walk you through them one by one to show you why I'm so intrigued. We'll start with VF Corp. What you may know is North Face, Fans, Timberland, among a bunch of smaller brands.

23:41Lots of outerwear and footwear. On Tuesday morning, VF Corp, not one but two upgrades. That in itself is a pretty great tell. First, Truist took the stock from Hold to Buy, raising his price target from$14 to$20. At the time, the upgrade of the stock was just under$16. Then Piper Sandler took the stock from neutral to overweight, basically Hold to Buy again, and raised their price target from$16 to$20. It's the Piper upgrade that really moved me because this was in response to their annual teen survey. A fantastic piece of research that I always follow closely. If the teen survey says buy VF Corp, then I got to tell you, buy, buy, buy.

24:16First, though, let me explain the setup here. VF Corp had a spectacular run last decade from 2009 to 2019. The stock soared from the high teens all the way to 100 at its intraday high on the first trading day of 2020. Then COVID hit and the stock, well, it just got obliterated. Before it came roaring back in late 2020 and early 2021. But for the next three years, VF Corp was just a miserable performer. Like many other power companies, they got caught with their pants down when the world went back to normal and consumer tastes changed. In mid-2023, when the stock was back down to the teens, the board finally brought in a new CEO.

24:53Bracken Darrell, old fan of the show here, who created a tremendous amount of value in the long tenure at Logitech International, which is what he always came on for. However, even a great CEO can't turn around a damaged business overnight. First, first couple of years, he was just trying to stem the bleeding, clean up the balance sheet by selling off underperforming brands. Just when it looked like VF Corp had found its footing, they got brutalized by the president's tariffs in the spring of last year. But the real problem here has always been Vance. This skateboarding sneaker brand fueled the stock's incredible gains in the 2010s.

25:25But Vans peaked years ago, and it's been losing market share ever since. In 2023, its constant currency sales growth was down 8%. 2024, down 25%. In 2025, it was down 15%. In the 2016 fiscal year, and in March, it was down 11%. By this point, Vans sales have been nearly cut in half from the peak in fiscal 2022. too. Meanwhile, the North Face has been growing consistently for the past several years. Timberland's been putting up good numbers for a couple years now, too. But the weakness in Vans is an albatross around their neck. The last time VF Corp reported in July, Vans was still down 9 % on a constant currency basis.

26:07I bring all this up because when Truist and Piper Sandler upgraded VF Corp on Tuesday, they both cited an improvement from Vans. And remember, Piper's upgrade came from that all-important teen survey. Teens are wearing Vans. Why are they so confident about this long-suffering sneaker brand? Piper's teen survey showed that non-athletic brands are growing in popularity. The age of athleisure, it's over. For Vans specifically, after years of sinking in the race, it stabilized the number seven footwear brand for male teens in the latest survey and it moved up from number 10 to number nine among upper-income male teens.

26:43Meanwhile, PacSun, a key retail partner for Vans, came in as the number four brand among upper-income teens, out from number eight last fall and 13 in the spring of 2025. And the skaters may be making a comeback. Of course, VF Corps is more than just Vans. Tim William broke into the top 10 athletic footwear brands for all upper-income teens for the first time in the survey's history. Important. Finally, the North Face made the top 10 athletic clothing brands for upper-income teens for the first time since the spring of 2024. It came in at number nine in the category. Beyond the teen survey, Piper called out two things.

27:15First, all three of VF Corp's top brands saw strong web and foot traffic in September. Second, they see Vans' wholesale business improving in recent weeks thanks to a strong set of new products. Wholesale was horrific for Vans when VF Corp reported in July. Put it all together, and the Piper analysts, led by Anna Andreeva, think that it's time to buy VF Corp, which they say is, quote, off the lows but is still under-owned, end quote, by elevated shortages to boot. People will be betting against this thing. That sounds like a real mistake. All right, how about this truest upgrade? They make a similar argument just without the hard data from the teen survey.

27:51Both firms called out the valuation, which makes sense since VF Corp trades at just 16 times this year's earnings estimates, well below the S &P 500 in the aggregate. In the end, if Vance is finally improving, then this one's definitely a winner. Bracken Darrell, we think, in himself, is indeed a winner. All right, now let's talk Contour Brands, the denim business that was actually spun off by VF Corp in 2019. They own Wrangler and Lee jeans, although they're selling the Lee brand for up to a billion dollars, not too distant future. Last year, Contour bought Heli Hansen, the outdoor workwear brand that I call Heli H.

28:27Yeah, I was a big fan of that show. I love the raincoats. Real thick slickers. Once again, this used to be a great stock before it peaked in early 2025. Ever since, the stock has struggled to find its footing, bouncing back and forth between the 50s and the 80s, the 50s and the 80s. Jeffries' upgraded contour is part of a broader bullish call in the denim category, which has suddenly accelerated. I mean, Levi's is a better trade on that, though. The analysts at Jeffries think this is a new fashion trend that has legs. Similar to what we see with the recovery in Vans, athleisure is out, casualization, and 90s nostalgia are in.

29:00They see Levi's trows and Contours are the big winners, which is why they upgraded Contour from hold to buy, raising their price target from 82 to 89. Pretty good for a stock that's trading in the low 70s. Jeffries likes the Wrangler business here, and they love that Contour plans to do a$400 million accelerated buyback. That's equal to about 10 % of the market cap. With the stock at just under 14 times earnings, that's a smart investment. I throw in that Heli Hansen is a fantastic growth brand, totally unexploited, that will become a larger piece of the pie the moment they close in that Lee Jeans sale.

29:30Normally, they hesitate to recommend apparel stocks at this point in the business cycle. But VF Corp and Contour, they've come down dramatically from their highs, and they're trading at depressed valuations. I think the environment's baked in. Their special situation was immunity to the typical power cycle. They're the kind of stuff that went up today. So here's the bottom line. These upgrades have changed my mind about VF Corp and Contour. Down here, I think they're both buys. All right, let's take some calls. Let's start with Lou in California. Lou. Hello, Jim. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it.

30:01I followed you for years going back to your insightful commentary in 1996 in the street. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I was a longtime subscriber. Thank you. My question, though, is you're welcome. My question, though, is more about people than profits. Yesterday, Netflix announced layoffs of nearly 1 ,000 employees, roughly 6 % of its workforce, which is a big number, after already laying off some 450 people in 2022. too. Jim, especially in these difficult times, how do you justify the devastating impact these layoffs have on loyal employees and their families? And at what point does maximizing shareholder value become more important than the lives of the very people who helped create that value in the first place?

30:47Well, I'll tell you, Lou, having started a lot of business and unfortunately having laid off a lot of people and also hired a lot of people, sometimes you have to do it. I think that Netflix, they've got different technology. They're a very smart company. If they feel these people can be replaced, I think they're going to do it because their stock's down and because people feel they haven't been doing that well. I hear you. I mean, the number of times I've had to fire people because I had to save the institution because the institution had to be preserved is great. You may say, well, Netflix, come on, they're making a lot of money.

31:18But they're under pressure like a lot of other companies and they're doing what they think is right. I hope they gave the people great severance packages. That could be the saving grace. I hear you. You've got a big heart. Let's go to Sal in Florida, please. Sal. Jim, I want you to know you have the most knowledgeable and best show on television today. I have the best staff on television today, and they make me look knowledgeable, but I thank you. I'm going to tell everyone and the staff that you said that, and I really appreciate it. How can I help you, Sal? Jim, on October 28th, Jersey Mike's Has their earnings.

31:52I purchased it when you had the CEO on TV. The stock was around twenty four dollars. It's come down a lot. Should I add more to my position now or should I wait? I believe in Charlie Morrison. This has been a bad tape, but suddenly the restaurants have caught fire. Texas Roadhouse, Cheesecake. Yum. I'm sticking my neck out. Oh, my God. But, yes, I think you should buy some before they report. I think it's a very, very good company. I'm going to go to Walter in Texas, please. Walter. Hey, Jim. Booyah! Booyah, Walter. What's going on? You got the whole Lindsey family here, Jim. We're first time long time with big fans.

32:39All right, bud. Let's hit it. All right, buddy. In the spirit of high quality diversification, we have a retailer who's been holding for a while. I just need to know if we need to keep holding it or transition to something different. That would be Home Depot. All right. I want you to keep holding it. I know that it's been a source of pain for me at my travel trust. I was able to sell something much higher. It's been doing nothing of late, but it did have a good day today. It yields 3%. We get rates down. You saw what happens if rates come down today. You saw what can go on. This stock went up 4.5%.

33:10I think much better things are ahead for Home Depot. All right. Both VF Corp and Contour have come down usually from their highs. I think they're both. Buy, buy, buy. There's much more made by it. I think some analyst upgrades are on the way from one former CPG darling. I'll explain why I think you should get in on the stock ahead of them. Then we didn't get all the questions we wished when we were doing that investing club meeting today. So I'm taking some more market queries from club members. Hey, by the way, go to letter X under my name. You'll see the whole thing. And all your calls, or you can sign up for it, all your calls rapid fire tonight's edition of the Lightning Round.

33:45So stay with Kramer.

33:55Let me tell you the way Wall Street analysts work. Wall Street hires analysts in order to get stock business and investment banking business. Analysts cover groups of companies making often powerful calls on what they think are the best ones. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I actually think the analysts do a pretty good job. They keep you up on company, especially when they report earnings. If there's a weakness, it's that they feel compelled to stay relevant. What does it mean to stay relevant in an investment analyst? You need newness. You need somebody that can grab salespeople and get them to make calls to customers, both the regulars and the people who've been lukewarm to the firm.

34:26Their calls can help you open accounts, too. It's something newsworthy to talk about. So if you're an analyst who wants to boost your career, you find a stock that no one of any import is sponsoring, and you pound the table on it. You make it yours. I bring this up because I think that's about to happen with the stock of Kimberly-Clark. For years and years, Kimberly-Clark, not Procter Gamble, not Colgate, was the star of what we call the consumer packaged goods cohort. It was an innovator, a catering killer, ever heard of Kleenex, and a serial dividend booster. But over time, this company lost its way and became a much less competitive force with a not-so-beautiful balance sheet and an unwieldy international strategy at a time when the rest of the industry was killing it overseas.

35:03Then seven years ago, Kimberly Clark appointed Mike Shue, CEO, giving him a mandate to clean things up and get some growth going. It took a long time because there was a lot to fix. But even then, the company didn't have the growth that Wall Street was hoping for. Then in 2025, Shue decided to buy Kenview, which is J &J's old consumer health business. He got a great price because Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kept claiming that Tylenol, one of Kenview's biggest brands, may be linked to autism. As far as I know, there's zero evidence for this, but Kennedy just wouldn't stop.

35:30Stock got hammered. And that's when Kimberly Clark stepped in, getting a great price, especially since they're primarily paying for Kenview with their own stock. The two companies agreed to the merger almost a year ago, but it's been held by regulators across the globe. One by one, they've been satisfied with China just giving approval yesterday. Brazil gave it unconditional approval this evening. That's the last big one left. I think this deal is actually now within, I got line of sight for maybe a couple of weeks of closing. Kenview's stock will disappear in two weeks or three weeks. I think that's when it's going to happen.

35:58and then you can own these well-known brands under the Kimberly umbrella. Why do we like this deal? Because J &J didn't really care for its slower-growing consumer products. Who cares about Tylenol when you have so many fast-growing prescription drugs? You know I like J &J. And that is why J &J spun off Canview. But the newly independent company didn't really have a club score or e-commerce strategy, which caused it almost immediately to be attacked by multiple activist shareholders who campaigned successfully for a sale. For Kimberly, Clark is a perfect fit. That's why shoes swooped in. Now that the deal's on the verge of closing, I think the analysts will fall all over themselves to recommend this newly exciting company with great brands that everybody knows, probably in your medicine chest.

36:39There's a lot of runway among the analyst community here. There are seven analysts with a hold, one with a sell and only three among the large firms that recommend buying it. That is perfect analyst Tinder. Plus, the company reaffirmed its guidance today, cementing that there won't be any more disappointments like we've had. The last three quarters have just been okay to not that great. And that's why the stock fell to the mid-90s. Close today at 104. It traded 123 a year ago, so I don't think you've missed much. Still yields about five. That's why we pushed investing club members hard on Kimberly Clark at our monthly call today.

37:13I'm all set to hear the whiffless sound of, Hold the mic, Kimberly! I'm betting the salespeople will love it, too. They'll finally have a new name to replace Procter & Gamble, which just had a monster run. At this point, they want something fresh that's also cheaper. Kimberly's waiting for a champion. I think it will find one within the fortnight. Here's the bottom line. This is just how the street works. Now, go try to make some money from it. Not as a trade, though, as an investment, because I'm confident these Kimberly-Cark upgrades are coming, and you want to get in ahead of them. Mad Money's back after the break.

37:47Coming up, he's the fastest mind on Wall Street, so we're putting him to the test with your help. Bring on the lightning round next.

38:11And then the lightning round is over. Are you ready? Ski Dax on the light round. Start with Rich in Texas. Rich. Hey, Jim. The market punished this company for losing unprofitable traffic from Google, but I think it should be rewarded for its profitable monetization of its native user base. Is it time to sell or double down on Reddit? I want to buy Reddit. I think the stock was inexpensive. The stock's down really badly this year, and I think it's at a great price. Let's go to Mary in Idaho. Mary. Hi, Jim. How are you this Thursday? I am doing well. How about you? Not too bad, thank you very much.

38:48The stock I want to ask you about is one I've held for four or five years and have watched it go up and a little down and a little more up. Okay. But I'm wondering with the market's volatility and instability right now, if I should continue to hold on to it, I might be better off somewhere else. It is Exxon. Oh, Exxon. Okay, I think Exxon's good. I think Chevron's better. I would make that swap unless you have some tax implications. CBX is the better way to go. Let's go to Robert in Tennessee. Robert. Jim, appreciate you taking my call. My question's about RockLab. After yesterday's announced neutron delayed in 2027 and the most recent sell-off in the last two weeks, does the success of the Electron rocket, Arreddit of acquisition and$2.3 billion launch backlog still justify purchasing right now.

39:45Well, I thought that that launch, the failure to launch, would have hurt it more. And I think you're getting a great opportunity to. All right, let's go to Bob in New York. Bob. Jim, now that we're entering a rising rate situation, and last night you said if the war in Iran ends, oil would drop down possibly to$50 a barrel. My question is, why do I want to keep this stock rather than selling it right now? And that's enterprise products. Because they do natural gas liquids. They do fractionate. They are the other part of the equation, not oil. You're fine on that one. As a matter of fact, I think that that one is yet to take advantage of because it's getting hit as if it is going to get hurt.

40:28It's not. Let's go to Mike in Florida. Mike. Hey, Jim. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How about you, Mike? Good, good question. SITM. They just recently got through acquisition, new product line, and in demand. What's your outlook on them? All right. Look, it's expensive, and I'm not recommending expensive stocks in tech or out of tech. And I think that even though I think it's a very well-run company, I just can't support a high multiple stock in a rising rate environment. Let's go to John in Texas. John. Hey, Jim. Thanks for taking my call. I just wanted to say, Joe Bird, this market's kind of treating me like the Eagles, right?

41:05Well, they've got to find some players. That's a key thing. They have a quarterback. They need a running back. They need a wide receiver. Otherwise, they're fine. Oh, no, they need a right tackle. They need a left tackle. They need a center. Just a sec. They're okay. But maybe a second. I think in the second, you know what I'm talking about. How can I help you? It only gets worse. But I'm a newbie. I was kind of impressed with Coherent stock. I bought the dip. I think I got the wrong one. I was up. No, no. No, Coherent's good. Coherent is good. Lomentum is good. And Quirny's best. Don't feel like that.

41:33Look, right now we're in the midst of a scare about what's going to happen at data center. But there is no doubt about it that copper is going to be replaced by fiber. That's just an evolutionary change that your company is going to benefit from. Let's go to Ann and Indiana. Ann. Yeah, Indiana. Not one of those other I states, Jim. Yeah, no kidding. I hate those states. Now I got distracted. Okay, I have a Valero just as a trade. Never got a full position. Now, Valero, you understand. This is the riskiest trade in the world. This thing is a double or nothing trade from here. If you continue to get this big crack spread because of the war, you're going to make money.

42:13And if you don't, then Valero is going to go back to what it always used to be, which is kind of a stock that does very little, if not nothing. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the Lightning Round. The Lightning Round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. coming up did kramer not get to your question at today's club meeting fear not he's answering some more next

42:47over the last week the ai and data center rally has been put on pause with all this volatility especially in tech we're going to take a step back and answer your questions concerning this market in your portfolios. Now, earlier today, we held our investing club monthly meeting. That's where Jeff Marks and I get together to walk club members through our decision-making process for the portfolio. It's so exciting. I'm not kidding. We discuss our current holdings. Then we take questions from club members. My favorite part of the meetings is taking questions from you. But since we never have time to get to all of them, I'm going to give you an inside look right now at what happens at that monthly meeting.

43:20We're also going to throw out some much-needed marketing advice. By the way, if you want to be a part of the next monthly meeting, and I really do want you to join the club. Just scan this QR code behind me or go to cnbc.com slash investing club. I am passionate about this, people. Let me help you be the best investor you can be. Why don't we start with Al, who says I've been a founding member. I love this club. Hey, thanks, Al. Given bond yields are rising, what is the best way for us individual investors to buy bonds? Okay, well, We are stock people. All right. And when buying yields are rising, I buy I actually go buy bonds, but they're actually sizable.

44:03And you what you're really going to do if you just want to get to track this is you have to want to get the cash reserve. And I'm not going to be any more specific than that at a typical fund. All right. Because you're not going to get the same rate, but you're going to get near it. There are CDs. Your bank may have CDs that have that rate. That's the single best way, but you constantly have to check because they go back and forth. And sometimes they have and sometimes they don't. It's not my fault. But I got to tell you, I think CDs are terrific. Next, we have Bernie from Ohio. This is Buckeye Booyah to you, Jim.

44:34And kudos to Jeff and the club staff. Thank you. On many occasions, you have mentioned Builders First Sources as a top tier player in the home builder space. With Builders crushed by rates and Builders First Source down 60 percent, Is it time to shovel up some builders as it digs a new sub-basement in your 50? No. No, it's not time. Because if you really think that the Fed is going to change its view, you want to buy Home Depot. And that's what I said at the meeting today. I said Home Depot is the single most levered to rates stock I have ever found. You get a yield while you're waiting. It's a well-run company.

45:05Home Depot. Go buy it. You're not going to make any money until rates change. But then when they do, in two or three days, you'll make everything you're going to make for the whole year. Now we have Jeff from New Jersey who asks, when does a speculative investment become just an investment? What metrics should we use? The reason I'm asking is I have two speculative investments, Hinge Health and Kaba, both of which I've taken out 110 % of my original investment. So I'm playing with the house's money. First, congratulations, Jeff. That's exactly one. Okay, Hinge is actually not speculative at all.

45:34It's just a fantastic business model. And I think the stock is headed much, much higher. I really like them. I think Kaba is really good. But remember, it is restaurants and restaurants are inherently more speculative than something like Hinge, which has this great recurring revenue. Kava goes up and down and up and down. That said, I think Kava for the long term is going to do fine. Neither one of them is speculative from the sense that I think I'm worried about the balance sheet. Now, how about we go to Ellen from Georgia, who says, thanks for all you and the team do. I white knuckled the SaaS apocalypse with Microsoft as bad year, with the stock up more than 50 percent from its June lows.

46:07But analyst price targets still indicating further upside potential. How would you recommend managing this position heading into earnings? This stock is barely up, okay? And it's incredibly well run, and I expect very big numbers, particularly from Azure. Here's how you handle for earnings. Just let it run. Last but not least, we have Walt, who asks, I'm retired and have owned Oracle for several years at a game. Is it time to pull the plug and sell? This stock's been highly volatile lately, and I'm just not sure Oracle will remain a major AI player a few years from now. Thanks. P.S. My wife says that if we ever get a cat, we name it Kramer.

46:35Is that okay with you? Eh, it's suboptimal. All right, so listen to me. tomorrow you're going to sell 50 % of the Oracle. The stock was up really big. I can't even believe it was up. You got really, really lucky. You let the rest run. If it does go up, I think, you know, God bless you. But this is not a stock that I think you should own. I like to say there's always a market somewhere at Palm Street. I find it just for you right here on Mad Money. I'm Jim Cramer. See you next time. All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Cramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC or its parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by Cramer on television, radio, internet, or another medium.

47:07You should not treat any opinion expressed by Kramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money Disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com forward slash madmoneydisclaimer.

47:35Nassau and Paradise Island is home to the world's clearest turquoise waters and white sand beaches, where families can explore our vibrant culture, taste local flavors, and dance to Bahamian rhythms. All this and more is just a short flight away. This holiday season, plan your escape at NassauParadiseIsland.com. We'll be right back.