Jim Cramer says to prepare for further stock declines but be open to opportunities

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The stock market just closed out a rough week — and according to CNBC’s Jim Cramer, the pain is unlikely to end anytime soon.

With little on the calendar in terms of major corporate earnings or economic data next week, the inverse relationship between oil and stocks will take on even more importance. It’s been pretty much a given of late that when crude prices surge, equities sink. It’s been that way since the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran nearly three weeks ago.

Cramer said the war has taken on an “unrestrained nature,” as President Donald Trump flips from talks about winding down military operations in the Middle East to reports of deploying thousands of troops to the region.

The market has been hanging on to every development in the region. During Friday’s session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq dipped into correction territory, which is defined by a drop of at least 10% from recent highs. They both closed sharply lower but above that threshold. The S&P 500, which also sank Friday, has fared somewhat better recently — down 7% from its latest highs. All three benchmarks logged four straight weekly losses.

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Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 YTD

International oil benchmark Brent crude rose more than 3% to $112.19 per barrel on Friday for its highest settle since July 2022. It was up another 8.8% for the week.

“Given how fast oil can rally, it’s mighty hard to figure out what to do with stocks. You don’t want to throw away good companies’ stocks, though, on something that theoretically could end with a phone call,” Cramer said on “Mad Money” on Friday evening. “But if the goal is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, [that] isn’t going to be easy to do. That’s going to require either a tremendous escalation or a diplomatic breakthrough. And, I think the latter seems unlikely.”

“We have no idea what’s gonna happen here. We know the war is bad for stocks. The economic impact is global. Every positive seems to be met with two negatives, and all the positives seem to do is keep us from getting oversold enough to have a legitimate bounce,” Cramer said.

With that set-up, Cramer turned his attention to corporate earnings for the upcoming week.

• KB Home, a national homebuilder, will report earnings on Tuesday. Cramer said it should give investors a read into the beleaguered housing sector. With mortgage rates still high, he expects “a tale of lukewarm sales” for the quarter. “The weakness in housing is a major reason why I believe the Fed should keep rate cuts on the table despite inflation caused by higher energy costs,” Cramer said. “There simply aren’t enough transactions occurring, and home sales can play a big role in giving this economy the oomph it so desperately needs now.”

• Wednesday morning brings quarterly results from uniform supplier Cintas and payroll services firm Paychex — both of which Cramer described as high-quality companies with poor-performing stocks. Cintas stock should rebound after it finalizes its acquisition of UniFirst, he said. Paychex shares have been under pressure ahead of earnings due to artificial intelligence disruption concerns. “The longs are shadow boxing with the shorts on this [stock], and I can’t tell who’s going to win,” he added.

• Carnival earnings are on Friday. While an underperformer, Cramer said that Wall Street appears to be growing more positive on cruise lines. “The stocks have been hammered, and they aren’t helped by these higher fuel costs, but Carnival’s considered a value vacation, something that seems rather rare these days,” he added.

Cramer said the bottom line, as investors look ahead to the new week, is that a tough market can also present an opportune time to selectively buy. “I will say that we’re beginning to get lower prices in some industries: the banks, the foods, the drugs, the retailers, and in some cases, large tech companies. So as oil works its way higher, you have a very good chance to buy some high-quality stocks at reasonable prices,” he concluded.

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