Cramer’s week ahead: Focus on the Federal Reserve’s meeting

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday guided investors through next week’s notable Wall Street action, telling them to pay attention to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting that kicks off Wednesday.

Cramer said Wall Street “dodged a bullet” today when the government released November’s nonfarm payroll report, which showed a lower unemployment rate than expected and strong job growth. To Cramer, this is a sign of a healthy economy and suggests the Fed will hold interest rates steady.

“You need to remember that we’re in one of those moments where, if the Fed doesn’t even get the message out perfectly, the actual headlines today box them into continuing their hold ’em strategy,” Cramer said. “And that — that, my friends — is just fine for the bulls.”  

On Monday, Cramer will be following Oracle‘s earnings report. He said the software company’s previous earnings report was disappointing, as some investors feared Oracle had paid too much in its $28 billion acquisition of electronic health-care records company Cerner two years ago. But Cramer is bullish on the stock, saying it has been climbing since Wall Street has been enamored of generative artificial intelligence.

Johnson Controls reports Tuesday, and Cramer said he has avoided the HVAC company in the past because it doesn’t have enough growth. But he added investors might want to take another look at the environmental stock because it’s much cheaper than peers Trane Technologies and Carrier Global.

In addition to the Fed meeting Wednesday, Cramer favorite Adobe will report quarterly earnings after the market close, and he said he expects a solid performance. He’ll also be waiting to hear whether the company has made progress in its costly bid to acquire design platform Figma.

Grocery giant Costco and homebuilder Lennar will report Thursday. Cramer said he’s interested in what Costco’s report will say about consumer demand and inflation. He also said he expects Lennar to perform well, especially after peer Toll Brothers recently reported a better-than-expected quarter.

Friday will bring an earnings report from Darden, a company that owns numerous restaurant chains including Olive Garden. Cramer said Darden’s report might provide insight into how consumers are spending their discretionary funds.

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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Oracle and Costco.