Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, told viewers on Monday that investors should prioritize owning high-quality stocks and holding onto them, instead of constantly jumping in and out of trades where prices can swing wildly based on headlines.
“After 20 years of Mad Money, tonight, let me lay out my 2026 game plan for you. I want you to manage as much of your own money as possible as I lay it out in How to Make Money in Any Market, my new book about how the market really works. Along with an index fund, I want you to own individual stocks, not trade them, own them, and let the power of compounding do its work. Most important, I want you to stick with those great stocks because that’s where most people go wrong. They get shaken out of their long-term winners. Buy, sell, stop it.”
READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Shared His Takes on These 11 Stocks and 7 Stocks That Were on Jim Cramer’s Radar.
Cramer said that instead of spending so much attention on Venezuela’s rapidly evolving political situation, investors should focus on opportunities that may actually generate returns. He said he prefers watching stocks that open flat or move lower early in the session, since those conditions can offer a chance to buy at lower prices. He explained that he actively looks for declines because that is where bargains appear, adding that several drug stocks fell into that category on the day he spoke. He also highlighted the importance of looking at the price-to-earnings multiple. He emphasized that it keeps drawing him back, and said that in 2026, he plans to spend even more time teaching investors why valuation through the P/E ratio matters, as that is where much of the upside is found.
“Bottom line: If you can get the stock of a terrific company at a discount, not a premium, as so many were willing to do, then Venezuelan incursion that I’m telling you I think will be ill advised, then you’re investing well instead of trading badly. And history shows us that’s how big money is made, not theoretical, not endless trading, but actual investing. And that is what 2026 will be all about.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 21 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on January 5. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 978 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Commented on These 21 S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Stocks
21. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) is one of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks Jim Cramer commented on. Cramer highlighted the stock’s valuation during the episode, as he commented:
“Finally, the fifth-worst performer in the Nasdaq-100 was a real conundrum, PayPal. It was down more than 31% last year. PayPal’s classic payment offerings have mostly become commoditized, and the company’s been late to new technologies like buy now, pay later or stablecoins. That said, PayPal just keeps growing, and the stock’s gotten very cheap. You know, this thing only sells for 10 times this year’s earnings estimates. So far, that hasn’t mattered much to date, but maybe 2026 is the year when PayPal becomes too cheap to ignore. I am flabbergasted about how poorly the stock has acted under not just one, but two different CEOs for multiple years now.”
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) runs a digital payments platform that lets consumers and merchants pay, send, and receive money online and in person. The company’s services include payments, checkout, credit, and money transfer products. A caller asked about Cramer’s opinion on the company’s CEO during the October 22 2025 episode, and the Mad Money host responded:
“No, no, no, no, no, no. He has gotta start delivering numbers. I mean like I can’t, hey… the guy’s gotta start delivering numbers. That is often the case. It’s kind of like, you know, an NFL team. If they’re not delivering numbers, I’m not going to come here and say, boy, how about them Titans?”
20. Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 59
Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) is one of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks Jim Cramer commented on. Cramer highlighted the stock while discussing the worst-performing stocks, as he said:
“Fourth worst performing in the Nasdaq-100 was a, really for a long time, very reliable company called Copart, which helps insurance companies, banks, and rental car outfits to process and sell salvaged vehicles mostly via the internet. Copart tumbled roughly 32% last year because they’re losing market share. Is it salvageable? Look, with a stock trading at over 23 times this year’s earnings estimates, no bargain, too soon to stick your neck out.”
Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) runs an online vehicle auction and remarketing platform that helps sellers process and sell vehicles through virtual bidding and digital auction tools. Qualivian Investment Partners stated the following regarding Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:
“We sold our position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) and initiated a new position in Brookfield Corp. (BN). Copart Inc. (CPRT) provides online auto auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers vehicle sellers, mostly comprised of P&C insurance companies, a full range of services to process and sell vehicles (usually autos involved in a crash and deemed a “total loss”) primarily over the internet through proprietary online auction technology. The online auctions sector is a duopoly in which CPRT is the larger and better managed player. The other main player, IAA, was purchased by RB Global (RBA). Armed with RB Global’s deeper pockets, IAA has been more aggressive in the past year with its pricing to gain market share from CPRT and it succeeded with a national insurance carrier switching to IAA. Furthermore, the spike in auto insurance over the past 4–5 years has resulted in an increase in uninsured and under-insured motorists, which has resulted in lower volumes coming through CPRT’s insurance vertical (80% of revs), resulting in CPRT’s revenue and earnings growth decelerating to just below 10% in the past 12 months. With less rational competition and a weakening fundamental backdrop, we decided to exit CPRT and redeploy proceeds into Brookfield Corp.”
