Everything Jim Cramer said about the stock market on 'Mad Money,' including coronavirus and corporate earnings, stay-at-home plays

CNBC’s Jim Cramer and the “Mad Money” staff celebrated a milestone Friday. Cramer and his crew rang the morning bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark 15 years of airing the weeknight investing show on CNBC.

The former hedge fund manager took time to reflect on his mission to help individual investors roll up their sleeves, navigate Wall Street news, get insight into stocks and their underlying companies so that the average person has a chance to make money on the stock market, which he calls the greatest engine of wealth creation in human history.

The rapidly spreading coronavirus is weighing heavy on the stock market, despite what the underlying fundamentals of companies are telling investors, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Friday.

The number of cases outside of China, where the novel disease is believed to have originated in the Hubei province, are growing exponentially and Wall Street players are concerned about how it could impact world commerce. That contributed to another week of chaotic trading days.

“We just got through a rollercoaster of a week marked by the emergence of some terrifying sector bear markets,” including oil and gas, travel and leisure, retail and the financials, the “Mad Money” host said.

The plunged almost 900 points in Friday’s session, though the 30-stock index finished down about 257 points, or roughly 1%, to close at 25,864.78. The S&P 500 and  swung more than 4% to their lows of the day before closing down less than 2%.

The major indexes all finished the trading week in the green, however.

“Pay attention to what these companies have to say next week, but don’t forget that — at least for the moment — COVID-19 is in the driver’s seat,” Cramer said.

Cramer went on to present his game plan for the week ahead.

The coronavirus outbreak is feeding into the “stay-at-home-economy” and the market impact is opening new opportunities for investors, Cramer said.

“After another panicked week where doom and gloom dominated the headlines, I want to help you identify stocks that are worth buying into weakness and I think these twenty stay-at-home economy plays” are perfect picks for a potential pandemic, the host said.

In Cramer’s lightning round, the “Mad Money” host ran through his thoughts about callers’ favorite stock picks in rapid speed.

: “I actually like AES. It’s a decent, decent utility, but I actually prefer — let’s switch the letter — , which is a more safe utility and that’s the way I want to play.”

: “I bless it for speculation.”

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