Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, on Friday, talked about what he believes investors should pay close attention to this week, including the upcoming nonfarm payroll report and earnings announcements from various companies.
“Thursday, we get a raft of data, aggregate car sales, weekly jobless claims, durable goods, all important, but everything pales in comparison to Friday’s non-farm payroll report. As I’ve told you from day one of this show, more than 20 years ago, I don’t pay much attention to any of these numbers because it’s the Fed that’s scrutinizing this.”
READ ALSO: 16 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar Recently and Jim Cramer Commented on These 10 Stocks Recently.
Cramer explained that if the payroll data indicates wages are rising too quickly, the Federal Reserve could decide to hold off on cutting interest rates, choosing instead to wait and see whether inflation cools on its own. In that scenario, he warned, “a hot number will put Jay Powell back in the box.”
Cramer went on to note that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is in a complicated position. On one hand, he faces ongoing public criticism from the President. On the other hand, Powell is dealing with a mixed economy; there are signs of a slowdown in some sectors, but also areas of rapid growth, especially those linked to the data center construction surge. He added that the data center activity is not being driven by borrowed capital.
“But the bottom line: The employment number lords over all other entries here. Call me concerned because I know that some parts of the economy, anything connected to this data center, are overheating. But another part, autos, homes, retailers, are dreadful. Can Jay Powell save the rest of the economy without taking the data center economy to a boiling point? Well, you know me, I think he’s done a pretty good job so far, let’s hope he can keep it up. And I am an optimist.”
Our Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 15 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on September 26. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the second quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 900 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Jim Cramer Shared His Recent Takes on These 15 Stocks
15. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 91
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer shared his take on. Cramer highlighted the stock’s return compared to the S&P over the last two decades. He stated:
“Costco’s stock got crushed today, down more than $27 for what I think is actually a pretty silly reason. Its membership increased in the quarter, but not as much as the market anticipated… It didn’t matter that the sales and earnings and same-store sales were all better than expected… The thing is, Costco’s membership fees went up big with no real attrition. And we’re beginning to see a lot of younger members, which is very important because my only real fear with Costco was an age out. Plus, the company was able to mitigate prices on tariff goods…
Past 20 years, Costco’s delivered an annualized return of almost 19% compared with 11% for the S&P 500. Given that nothing’s really changed in the company, even as the stock’s now selling for under 46 times earnings after this pullback, I think you know what? [Buy, buy, buy]. I think it’s cheap for Costco at $915, and well, let’s put it this way, it’s heck of a lot cheaper than it was at $1,078 back in February.
In retrospect, if you’re going to sell, wasn’t that the time to do it? But not us. We’re not going to sell the stock… Costco, always cheap to shop, never cheap to buy. If you can get the stock flat for the year and below its typical price-to-earnings multiple, I think that’s about as good a bargain as you’ll find in any of their stores. If you don’t own any Costco, it’s time to start buying the best retailer on earth.”
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) operates membership-based warehouses providing a wide selection of branded and private-label goods, including groceries, appliances, apparel, and home essentials.
14. ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44
ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer shared his take on. When a caller asked if they could buy more of the stock during the lightning round, Cramer said:
“Absolutely. Walter Hulse, CFO there is doing an amazing job. So is Pierce Norton. I think that’s a buy. I can’t believe it’s this low.”
ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) is a midstream energy company providing gathering, processing, storage, transportation, and export services for natural gas, NGLs, refined products, and crude oil. The company also engages in marketing, blending, and leasing activities while serving producers, utilities, refiners, and industrial customers. Cramer mentioned the stock in a July episode and commented:
“Now, if you’re looking for another natural gas-oriented pipeline company with some growth, there’s ONEOK. These guys have a particularly strong presence, bringing natural gas to the Gulf Coast, which is where most of our existing liquified natural gas export infrastructure currently sits. Now, the yield isn’t quite as strong here. Right now, ONEOK units pay a dividend that yields just over 5%, but with ONEOK currently down over 30% from its highs late last year, this one could potentially have more upside than Energy Transfer.”
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