Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 9/5/25

Summary

Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer – September 5, 2025
Detailed Episode Summary

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of Mad Money, hosted by Jim Cramer, navigates listeners through the tumultuous investing landscape of early September 2025. Cramer analyzes the latest economic data, previews upcoming earnings and market events, delivers his annual “Fantasy Football Stock Draft,” and discusses shifting consumer sentiment around the market’s hottest stocks through an in-depth interview with data analytics firm HundredX. He also fields rapid-fire viewer questions in his hallmark "Lightning Round" and closes with a deep dive into Lululemon’s stock plunge and the rise of value-driven American consumers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Recap & September Headwinds

[00:23–07:56]

• Weaker than expected employment data:
  • The US economy added far fewer jobs than projected, which, in Cramer’s view, goes “beyond the sweet spot” for hoping the Fed will cut rates and help stocks.
  • “Unfortunately, we got something so weak I didn’t want that... it feels like even lower rates won’t resuscitate things.” (Cramer, 00:58)
• Initial rally fizzles:
  • Dow initially up, then fell 220 points as investors processed the bad jobs report.
  • S&P and Nasdaq ended down.
• Why bad news matters:
  • Corporate earnings may fall; credit could tighten; banks dragged the market lower.
• On housing as economic driver:
  • “Home sales... are currently at a more than 40-year low.” Cramer expects “rate cuts will stimulate the weakest part of business, which is housing.”
  • Contrast with data centers—huge capital but little ongoing job creation.
• Caution for September:
  • “We are indeed in the month of September when money managers look for any excuse they can to ring the register.” (Cramer, 06:47)
  • September is historically weak for stocks; expect profit-taking.

2. Preview of Key Stocks & Earnings

[07:57–10:13]

• Casey’s General Stores (reports Monday):
  • “The kind of out of the way story that could work in this tape.”
• Oracle (Tuesday):
  • Now a “data center kingpin”—stock up on further expansion; possible profit-taking even on good numbers.
• Apple iPhone 17 launch:
  • “As long as that dichotomy [between Wall Street and consumers]... own it, don’t trade it.”
• AeroVironment (defense drones):
  • “Terrific story to tell” but cautious about market reaction.
• GameStop:
  • “Maybe GameStop will once again find a new way to disappoint.”
• Inflation Data (PPI, CPI) Wednesday/Thursday:
  • “Tame numbers could reset the narrative.”
• Kroger (Thursday):
  • Likes Costco and Walmart more but expects a possible rally on good numbers.
• Adobe:
  • Out of favor, possibly vulnerable to AI competition, despite great products.

3. Madison’s Fantasy Stock Football Draft

[10:48–18:46] Cramer draws parallels between building a fantasy football team and constructing a diversified investment portfolio, assigning NFL player analogies to his top stock picks for each “position.”

Quarterback – Apple

• Resilient, foundational, even after a “lost year.”
  • “Apple... is like the quarterback of your portfolio.” (Cramer, 11:04)
  • Analog: Joe Burrow (Bengals).

Running Backs – Workhorse, growth-driven stocks

• GE Aerospace, RTX, GE Vernova analogs for top NFL running backs (e.g., Saquon Barkley, Jameer Gibbs, Derrick Henry).
  • “The commercial aerospace boom remains one of the market’s fantastic secular growth stories.” (12:14)

Wide Receivers – Explosive growth stocks

• Nvidia: “One of the greatest stocks in history... the Jamar Chase of your portfolio.” (16:00)
• Alphabet: “Best long term growth stocks... Justin Jefferson comp.”

Tight End – Defensive growth hybrid

• Southern Co: Growth utility due to surging power demand from AI/data center boom.
  • Analog: Brock Bowers (Raiders).
• “Utilities are classic defensive names... but things are changing with the advent of AI.” (19:01)

Flex Spot – High risk/high reward

• Palantir:
  • “One of the great growth stocks... an army of retail investors.” (21:20)
  • Analog: De’Von Achane (Dolphins).

Defense – Steady, resilient

• Johnson & Johnson:
  • “Their core pharma business is working terrific... oncology franchise medical devices really strong now.” (22:57)
  • Analog: Philadelphia Eagles Defense.

Kicker – Special situations

• CSX (Railroads):
  • "The company is widely considered to be in play... anything takeover related icing on the cake." (24:32)
  • Analog: Cam Little (Jaguars Kicker).

4. Lightning Round

[35:04–39:30]
Rapid-fire buy/sell/hold calls on listener stocks.

• Northrop Grumman:
  • “I don’t like the traditional hardware defense stocks, particularly if they’re up a lot...” HOLD (09:40)
• American Express:
  • “Steve Squery is a remarkable executive... I am hard pressed to criticize a company that hit an all-time high on this very day.” BUY (09:58)
• DraftKings:
  • “Best in show... run by maybe the best in the entire industry.” BUY (25:56)
• TLP (Data Center Construction):
  • “They're starting to trade at a discount. Don't freak out. The business is good.” (35:44)
• Outbreak Systems (Foreign Defense):
  • “That company is very good. I've liked it actually for a couple of decades.” (36:25)
• D Wave Quantum:
  • “We liked them very much... but IBM gives you a lot more than just quantum.” (36:55)
• Intel:
  • “The stock just jumped so much that I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves.” (37:38)
• Energy Transfer (ET):
  • “It's a premier natural gas play pipeline. I think it's sensational.” (38:04)
• Gray Media:
  • “They're survivors... a good spec even at this price.” (39:11)

5. Exclusive Interview – Rob Pace, Hundred X

[27:12–34:33] Cramer and Pace discuss alternative data insights on consumer sentiment for leading brands:

• Reddit:
  • “Future usage... continues to move up and take share from other platforms.”
  • “Real humans helping you make decisions... that’s what’s going to link out [in an AI world].” (Pace, 28:28, 29:15)
  • Cramer bullish on Reddit’s “affinity nature.”
• Robinhood:
  • More feedback as a crypto play than a traditional broker in their data; dominant among crypto investors. (Pace, 30:22)
• Starbucks:
  • Customer perception bottomed in March/April, “now starting... to improve.” Product innovation and speed are keys, but pricing remains a pain point.
  • “They’re going to have to innovate on the product side.” (Pace, 32:32)
  • “Almost all our feedback... is about the beverage. Big opportunity is the dry orders, the food and the beverage.” (Pace, 33:13)
• Lululemon:
  • High quality, but “price doesn’t [feel] justified by the quality. Others have caught up on sizes and fit and products.” (Pace, 33:57)

6. Lululemon’s Plunge & Consumer Value Shift

[39:46–episode end]

• Costco’s rise at Lulu’s expense:
  • Cramer links Lululemon’s lawsuit about Costco “knockoff” products to a deeper shift: Americans are “mad as hell,” seeking value over status.
  • “Have you ever heard anyone say something from Costco is too expensive?... You always feel smart because nobody can tell the difference [from name brands] except maybe [Costco’s] are better.” (Cramer, 40:28)
• Consumer priorities have changed:
  • “Somewhere along the line we started viewing [Lulu’s products] as decent quality products that made us feel like we were dope for paying full price... let the decline and perhaps fall of Lululemon be a sign that Americans want value, not status.” (41:29)
• Big idea:
  • Companies must offer genuine value and not rely on branding alone, or risk consumer backlash and stock underperformance.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[Housing] punches above its weight in the economy... artificial intelligence still can’t hammer a nail or hang a roof.” (Cramer, 03:37)
• “Own it, don’t trade it.” (Cramer on Apple, multiple times)
• “Nvidia... is the Jamar Chase of your portfolio.” (Cramer, 16:00)
• “You need to fill every position with the best that you can get. Play your studs.” (24:38)
• “America decided to go bargain hunting... let the decline and perhaps fall of Lululemon be a sign that Americans want value, not status.” (41:29)
• “If you’re an apparel company and you can’t figure that out, then take your prices down and stop trying to please both Wall Street and Main Street. Because... Main Street makes the purchasing decisions and only determines what Wall Street has to say and not vice versa.” (Cramer, 42:47)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:23 – Opening and Market Recap
• 03:30 – Housing sector versus data centers
• 07:57 – Earnings previews: Casey’s, Oracle, Apple, AeroVironment, GameStop, etc.
• 10:48 – Fantasy Stock Football Draft begins (Apple, GE Aero, RTX, etc.)
• 16:00 – Wide receivers (Nvidia, Alphabet)
• 18:46 – Draft (tight end, flex, defense, kicker: Southern Co., Palantir, J&J, CSX)
• 25:51 – Lightning Round begins
• 27:12 – Interview: Rob Pace, Hundred X (Reddit, Robinhood, Starbucks, Lululemon)
• 35:04 – Lightning Round continues
• 39:46 – Lululemon deep dive: what the plunge means for value versus status in consumer markets

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Summary Flow Note

Cramer's fiery, opinionated, and fast-paced style dominates the episode. He balances analytical market commentary (especially on September’s unique risks), actionable stock picks through an annual “fantasy draft” metaphor, and alternative data about consumer sentiment. The episode closes with sharp insights on changing U.S. consumer behavior—a warning for brand-centric companies in a value-hunting era.

For those who missed the episode, this summary distills Cramer's key market perspectives, stock insights, and broader consumer trends, delivering a thorough cross-section of the September 2025 investing climate.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, I'm Kramer. Welcome to MEV Money. Welcome. Welcome to Craig America. I'll be with friends. I'm just trying to make a little bit of money. My job is not just to entertain you, but to educate and teach you. So call me at 1-800-7-for3 CBC tweet me. Jim Cramer. On Wall street, we've all been conditioned to believe that good news is bad news and vice versa. If the economy's too strong, we can expect the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates bad for growth. And if economy is weak enough, the Fed will cut rates good for growth and the stock market. But sometimes bad news really is bad news. Like the very weak employment numbers we saw this very morning. Something shows the economy is producing far fewer jobs than expected. Like many others, I was rooting for a weak labor report in hopes of lower rates, which usually means higher stock prices. Unfortunately, we got something so weak I didn't want that that it feels like even lower rates won't resuscitate things. Which is why the Dow went up initially with them. When people looked at numbers and they realized they weren't so good and it lost 220 points, SB shed.32% and the NASDAQ declined 0.03%. And that's what happened today when we discovered that this gigantic economy is simply not creating jobs in any meaningful quantity. And the Fed may not be able to stem the tide with just a quarter point cut, which is what's expected. If that's true, then corporate earnings may be coming down and credit, which has been robust, might get tighter, leading to rise and defaults. Hence why the banks led the entire market lower today. Sell, sell, sell. Now, before I talk about what's coming next week, let me put it a little ray of sunshine in the equation. I still think bad news is only going to be good news because unemployment isn't really spiky. We have lackadaisical job growth. And rate cuts will stimulate the weakest part of business, which is housing. I always say that housing punches above its weight in the economy because when you build a house, a lot of things happen. Beyond hammers, nails and wood, the process of buying a home entails endless different kinds of transactions of the financial retail variety. Home sales, by the way, are currently at a more than 40 year low. Conversely, a billion say of dollars being spent on building data centers, they can be erected. That puts some people to work, but once they're up, only takes a handful to run them. I've been in one. Sure you'll use A lot of chips from Nvidia and Broadcom. What a stock. And tons of metal racks and concrete, some cooling equipment, plumbing. But beyond that, not much at all. Homes, on the other hand, allow all sorts of companies and all sorts of people skilled and unskilled to be put to work. After all, artificial intelligence still can hammer a nail or hang a roof. So I'm not going to be a doomsayer here. I will say though, that lots of stocks have moved up a great deal and sometimes we forget that we are indeed in the month of September when money managers look for any excuse they can to ring the register. That in mind, let's take a look at what's on tap for next week. Okay. We're going to start Monday with one of the best retail concepts around. And you may not know it, but I want you to learn about it. It's called Casey's General Stores. This company has 2900 convenience stores in 20 states and a breakfast pizza that's more than just a gimmick with we love these guys. Now we can make a ton of money owning an Apple like Casey's that dominates in the smaller towns that it operates in. You know, we had Casey's on back in June and I was stunned at how loved their stores were and I was stunned about how much I like the breakfast pizza. And we were thrilled to hear that the regional going international story is alive and well. They report at the close. I'd be willing to buy some both before the earnings and after. It's just the kind of out of the way story that could work in this tape. The not worried about tariffs here Tuesday, Oracle reports. And for the longest time, Oracle could do nothing right as a software company. But ever since it reinvented itself, or more accurately, ever since Larry Ellison and Safra Katz turned the place into a data center kingpin, it's been doing nothing but net. You saw some of that excitement today when Oracle stock jumped more than nine bucks on news of a further expansion in their data center strategy. Remember, right now the markets turn fickle. So it's entirely possible that a good set of numbers will spur profit taking. Oracle smoking hot stock. Unless the results are truly incredible, like the aforementioned Broadcom, which delivered amazing numbers last night, it may not be enough to move the needle. Now here's something that could move the needle though. Apple. Yes, Apple's rolling out the iPhone 17 line of products. And I like what I'm hearing, which is crickets. Yes, it's supposed to be what's called an all dropping event. But like so many things that Apple does these days, nobody on Wall street seems to care. Good things. The rest of the world does feel differently and does care. Apple remains a maligned company with the best pure products in history. As long as that's dichotomy, well, you probably know exactly to say own it, don't trade it. Here's one worth watching. Drone maker Aero Environment which reports Tuesday after the close we had the moment they reported last okay, and I love what I heard, but I felt like I was alone. Stock was doing not nothing even when dipped. Then obviously when I talked it up on Squawk on the street, the darn thing levitated and it never came back down. I said right here and you can see. Nice move. The defense budget is rapidly evolving. We recognize that drones are a more efficient way to make war than other let's say that have about $100 billion fighter planes. Again, like Oracle, good number could be met with profit taking. But I'm mindful that our environment's got a terrific story to tell. You know what doesn't? GameStop? Its chief claim to fame is its surly Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen maybe has something to say. Maybe his accolades and minions will care. Or maybe GameStop will once again find a new way to disappoint. If this market's going to shrug off today's bad is bad rubric, we'll have to see some good news on the inflation front. Something that will allow the Fed to cut interest rates more aggressively than we think they're going to cut right now. I don't know if that's possible given the fluid tariff situation, but we will know when we get the Producer Price Index on Wednesday morning and the Consumer Price Index on Thursday. Tame numbers could reset the narrative, but again, I caution that there's nothing bullish that really happens throughout much of September, just sporadic moments. On Thursday we hear from Kroger, the supermarket giant, and it's a much like story, in part because it's been able to hold prices down for the consumer. I'm more keen on Costco Walmart as you probably know, but Kroger has been known to rally on good numbers and and I think deliver again. This time around, however, I am not sure about the stock of a one time favor of mine, Adobe, which has fallen dramatically out of favor. Not unlike Salesforce, which reported a big upside earnings surprise this week, but it meant nothing for the stock, ostensibly because it didn't lift guidance enough, but more likely because the Wall Street Fashion show has turned against their Software as a service business model like Adobe has. Why? Because money managers are under the impression that this kind of model is vulnerable to artificial intelligence competition lost in the shuffle. Adobe's got the best product. I no longer think that may be enough to propel a stock higher come Friday. Well, this is what typically happens. We most likely have to get back into the habit of expecting tariff news, perhaps the long awaited semiconductor import duties. It's been hanging over us. Maybe we'll get deets. The sooner we're finished with the tariffs, the better. But perhaps the only decision nullifying most presidential tariff forays by the Supreme Court will ever let that happen. The bottom line as we head into the next week, keep in mind that we're stuck in the month of September, a historically terrible month for the market where bad news is bad news and good news is fleeting. It's not the end of the world, people, but it is an awful stretch of the calendar. Can we go to Leslie in California, please? Leslie, Jim, club member often. Easy question for you, Jim. Northrop Drummond, Buy, sell or hold? I'm going to say we cold. I don't like the traditional hardware defense stocks, particularly if they're up a lot, which happens to be the case of Northrop Grumman. So I'm a little profit taking there. It's a little market above the market multiple. Let's go to tie in Arizona, please. Tie. Hey Professor. Booyah, booyah. Right back. Thank you for giving me tenure. How can I help? I'm a little bit worried about this company. I've owned them for a long time. They aren't growing, in my opinion, at the right rate. They're not doing much. I just don't see the leadership behind this, in my opinion. Doofus. Steve Squeery, what do you think about American Express? Oh my God. I think she's. I'd have to. I don't like to come out against our viewers, but I'm going to have to be 100% against you on this. I think Steve Squery is a remarkable executive and I am harsh. I am hard pressed to criticize a company that hit an all time high on this very day. So I'm saying, all right, going in next week. Remember where we are at this point in the calendar. September is historically a bad month for the market. And while it's not the end of the world, it's usually a real tough stretch for stocks. Kind of keep that in mind. Well, man, money football season kicked off last night with my beloved, beloved Eagles beating the Cowboys and every year. We like to start the season with a fantasy football stock draft of our own. I'm sharing the players and the stocks that I'm picking. I'm a little longer on the stocks on the players in the stocks tonight. Okay then, Reddit and Robert are just. Robert, by the way, just joined. The S&P 500 have been hotly debated on Wall street. But how is the consumer feeling about those two names? I'm getting the latest from the data company 100x and Lulu Lemon got crushed today after earnings and I think that was really a sign that could have been predicted. Well, I'll reveal what it was.

[B]

Stable Kramer, don't miss a second of Mad Money. Follow imKramer on X. Have a question? Tweet Kramer Madmentions. Send Jim an email to madmoneynbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-CNBC. Missed something. Head to madmoney.cnbc.com.

[A]

With the Football fantasy season officially kicking off last night with my beloved Eagles beating the despised Dallas Cowboys who, well, not my faves, aren't worth spitting on, that means it's time for a Mad Bunny fantasy stock football draft. We do this exercise every year because, look, I just think it's a great way to educate you. Building a great portfolio has a lot in common with building a great fantasy football team. Plus we have a terrific track record with these picks. Out the 11 stocks I recommend as part of last year's draft are now roughly 55% on average, absolutely trouncing the S&P 500. But enough looking backwards. Let's get to this year's pick, starting with the all important quarterback position. Now from a fantasy football perspective, what you want from the quarterback is steady production. In most fantasy leagues, there's only one active quarterback on the roster. So they need to have a solid performance week in and week out. And that's why I've long said that Apple, the original own it, don't trade its stock is like the quarterback of your portfolio. Now Apple ended up being one of our worst performers in our fantasy football stock basket over the past year with a measly mid single digit gain barely trail the SB 500. But you know what? I'm not going to be easily shaking off Apple that it doesn't bother me. The stock's in fantastic shape again. It's up over 41% percent from its April lows. The company seems to be back in the good graces of the Trump administration. The judiciary hasn't blocked them from taking billions of dollars to make Google their default search engine. And Apple sales are growing again. That's why it remains a huge position for Travel Trust. As long as they can keep doing pay to play with where you don't have to worry about the company's AI strategy, well, they'll just do what they did with search and make a fortune in the process. Maybe it's more than 20 billion a year for Google. So who's the NFL equivalent of Apple this year? I've got it outside the box pick this time. Yes. And I was drafting for my own league Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He fits the bill with the potential to fully realize his up what I think could be MVP conversation, let's say conversation. There's a lot of good quarterbacks. Now. Burrow finished last season with nearly 5,000 yards and 43 passing touchdowns leading the league, you know, in both categories. But I think the analogy fits because Burrow had so much noise to his story last year. Top target Jamar Chase More him in a second missed training camp last year. Team started the season very slowly. Bengals defense stunk all year and so the team is scrambling to try to make the playoffs, only falling short. In other words, the Bengals had a lost year just like Apple did. But in the offseason, the Bengals reached contract extension with both Chase and their other top receiver, T. Higgins. Teams playing more of their starters this preseason avoid another slow start and it finally feels like everything's coming together for Burrow to have both another strong season. That's why I think Joe Burrow is Apple this year. I'm expecting big things from both of them. Although when I met Burrow last year at the Super Bowl, I got to tell you, would it kill the guy to smile periodically? Now next, let's talk running backs, which are the workhorses of your fantasy team. You want steady production from your backs, including lots of touchdowns, no matter what defense you're playing or what the weather's like. But I've said before, this position is inherently kind of boom and bust. Running backs get hurt all the time, and the best running backs often changes from year to year. But the running back position has also changed in recent years as pass catching running backs are now the top options for fantasy teams. That's sort of like what we're looking for in our stop is for past catching abilities, like a secular growth theme for a set for a secular company. And that helps to keep staying if I say the Fed doesn't cut rates fast enough. So what are the analogs here? Well, last year I included GE Aerospace and that turned out to be a great pick. Thank you. Larry Culp up 70%. The commercial aerospace boom remains one of the market's fantastic secular growth stories. So we're going to stick with the pit. But what's the NFL equivalent of aerospace this year as we're spending as much time on the players because it's just like, what can I say, it's our season. Let's keep things going, keep it simple. The league's best running back is Philadelphia Eagles owned Saquon Barkley, who finished last year with over 2000 yards rushing. Tops of the league added plenty of catches. It was better last night running than catching. What's the analog here? Well, come on, you know Tenerospace company and Barclay can fly. How about some other running backs? Remember, we're looking for industrials that have exposure to secular growth drivers. So what about rtx which is the old United Technologies aerospace business. It's been merged with the old Raytheon Aerospace. Defense are both working here with Trump's bill including $1 trillion of defense spending. Maybe we should say war spending. Go at call it the Department of War instead of Defense. What's the NFL's analog for RTX? Let's go with Detroit's Detroit Lions running back Jameer Gibbs, who is so good he finished the season as the top fantasy running back last year. Why he may have trailed Barkley by nearly 600 yards rushing, but he finishes the top running back because he also added 500 yards receiving and four touchdown catches. And that's why the comparison works. RTX has two growth themes. Gibbs can hurt opposing defenses in two different ways. Finally, unless you've been living under a rock, you know that all we got we got this gigantic bull market electricity production to keep all these data centers run. And that's why we're looking at GE Vernova, the power business of the old General Electric makes huge turbines for power plants. They pronounce the turbines so I do too Best performing industrial in the SB over the past year by wide margin. This charitable trust name has been walloped of late ever since the president came out hard against wind subsidies as Renova has a wind division but it's chiefly a natural gas play for what you that's why you own it for maybe it'll bottom as people realize that's the let's say the salient division. And if you want power the NFL comparison is obvious. We're talking about Baltimore Ravens running back Derek Henry who quietly finished not far behind Barkley last year. Over 1900 yards rushing. The rest with G Aerospace is that you're too late, right? I mean the risk to Henry is that Tom will catch up with the 31 year old running back, but I think both are worth the risk. I really like the Ravens here this year too. Finally, how about the wide receiver position? As I tell you every year, wide receivers are all about growth. When they hit big, they really hit big and you can make your whole week in fantasy. Just that's why you have to go for a stud wide receiver at the top. No matter if you don't want to. Good growth can make your years part of your portfolio. Nvidia therefore has been the stalwart even though it's down five of the last six days. Oh boy. I guess, I guess it's times of past for Nvidia. But you know what? I don't care. I say ain't broke, don't fix who's the NFL equivalent for one of the greatest stocks in history, I can only mention the aforementioned Jamar Chase as the Nvidia of your fantasy team. He cemented himself as the best receiver in the league last year, which is why he's now the highest paid non quarterback in league history. So Chase is now expensive, just as Nvidia seems expensive at any given time. But when you look back, I bet they'll both be worth the price. Meaning that the price range multiple turnouts but not that high as the earnings continue to ramp. Next up, I like Alphabet, one of the best long term growth stocks that you could have owned over the past two decades. The copier is Justin Jefferson is the Vikings receiver that finished as the second best fantasy play at the position last year. I will not do a dance that users have to take my word that I like them. I think of both Alphabet and Jefferson is known commodities with major new questions. For Alphabet, Google's the worry is how how's the advent of AI going to impact the core search business? So far so good. Though for Jefferson, the concern of how he'll do paired with second year quarterback J.J. mcCarthy who missed the entirety of his rookie year with a knee injury. Both concerns are legitimate but probably overbone. I think they'll both be just fine. Here's the bottom line. Now that you've got your quarterbacks and your running backs, your wide receivers, stick around after the break for the rest of your fantasy stock football picks. Bad money is back after the break.

[B]

Coming up locking those picks from special teams to tight ends. Kramer's rounding out the roster for his fantasy stock draft Next.

[A]

Earlier in the show, we kicked off our annual fantasy stock football trip where I try to show you that putting together a diversified portfolio is a lot like putting together a fantasy team. I've already covered the quarterback, running back and wide receiver positions. Now it's time to fill out the rest of the roster. Next position, we got to have a tight end. It's kind of a hybrid position. Tight ends are part blocker, part receiver. That's why to fill this spot we want a stock that has defensive characteristics but also has some growth potential. Typically I go with something health care here, but that group is down the dumps right now. So instead I've got a kind of a new one. A growth utility. Southern Co. That's right. Utilities are classic defensive names. Even in a softer economy, everybody has to pay their gas and electric bills. Usually these are slow and steady stocks with generous dividends. But anyone who's been paying attention over the past couple of years knows that things are changing in the sector. With the advent of AI and the great data center build out, we're seeing tremendous growth in demand for electricity. So suddenly many utilities are traded like growth stocks. And that includes Southern Company with regulated electric utilities serving about 4.5 million customers in three states. Regulated gas utilities serving roughly 4.4 million customers in four states. At the same time, this is also a competitive power generation company and a leading distributed energy infrastructure company. Just explained this. For years Southern Company had an overhang from a gigantic nuclear power plant construction project in Georgia. Used to just the overruns were outrageous. Billions and billions of pounds of dollars over budget. But that project was finally completed a year and a half ago. Ever since then, the stock's been on fire. Especially the Southern Company is all about the Southeast where we're seeing a lot of new manufacturing. It does not place 3.2% yield. So what's the NFL tight end equivalent for Southern Company? Oh, well, that is easy. It's Las Vegas Raiders. Brock Bowers, who's as a rookie last year finished at the top tight end in fantasy as a rookie compiling 112 receptions, almost 1200 yards and five touchdowns. While Bowers is entering his second reason season with the Raiders. I'm sorry, don't forget that he went to the University of Georgia. That's the somewhat tenuous connection to Southern Co. Where he won two national championships in three years for the Bulldogs. I'll go one step further. While Southern Company had the overhang of a long running nuclear power plant project, Bowers has the distinct distinction of a distinctly suboptimal hairline that belied his youth and athleticism. But just as Southern company removed his overhang by completing the nuclear plan project this year, Bowers has resolved his overhang by arriving to training camp with a new haircut. Brock, listen to me. Bald is beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you different. The final offensive position on most fantasy football rosters is the flex spot, a unique concept of fantasy football which can be filled with a running back, wide receiver or a tight end. The goal? Just get as many points as you can, however you can. With that mandate, you got to fill this flex spot with the most controversial stock maybe of our era, and that is Palantir. It's also one of the great growth stocks of our year. After pulling back in recent weeks, it's still the second best performing stock in the S and P, more than doubling year to date. And the stock is an army of retail investors who seem inclined to view every dip as a buying opportunity that's been stuck in the 150s for a little bit here. The NFL equivalent is is Devon Hin. Yes, that's the running back for the Miami Dolphins, and not just because many people struggle to pronounce his name, including me. Now I like the comp because as H and finished as a top 10 point getter among a large pool of options for the flex spot last season, it did so with both rushing and pass catching. And that reminds me of Palantir. Regular viewers know that when we talk about this defense and enterprise software company, it is one of the best rule of 40 scores, if not the best ever. This unique way to measure software companies Palantir and Palantir's numbers are stunning. Now both Palantir and HN have risks. For Palantir, the risk is that the stock's nosebleed valuation will catch up to it. So people feel that's happening right now for hn, the worries that the Dolphins quarterback gets hurt again and their offense goes stagnant. But I think both are attractive as a high risk, very high reward options for your portfolio or fantasy team. Let's round out the roster with a defense and a kicker. In fantasy football, what you're looking for from a defense is consistent quality because you can lose points if your defense gives up too many points in their game. And you also want upside, which comes from points earned for sacks, turnovers and ideally defensive touchdowns. Pick six. Call me a homer if you want to, but I'm going with the Philadelphia Eagles defense this year. Last year the Eagles D finished first in the league in points allowed, but it was only the fifth best fantasy defense because it lagged some others in upside categories. Right now so far it's ahead in penalties. So if the Eagles can keep the same stout defense against yards and scores, but just maybe add a few more sacks, takeaways, touchdowns, they're likely to finish the top five again this year. For the comparison, we're going to keep it local, all right. We're going to make a J&J New Jersey zone, which if you haven't noticed has been on Fire lately. JJ is up roughly 23% year to date. I couldn't believe it. So it's like 180 is amazing. Weak action throughout most of health care not affecting these people. Their core pharma business is worrying terrific. Oncology franchise medical devices really strong now. It's why JJ keeps putting up good numbers and they don't have that lawsuit as much as it used to be front and center, it's not anymore. Now both the Eagles and JJ do come with some risk. The Eagles lost some depth at the cornerback position the season. In theory they could lag again in sacks, turnovers and touchdowns. The cornerback situation is really bad. JNJ the company still not quite clear of all the task litigation headaches, but at the end of the day I expect the overall quality of both franchises to win out. Eagles got to get a better quarterback well finally let's let's round out our team with the kicker. This time I'm taking a trendy pick. The Jackson Jaguars kicker Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little, a six round draft pick last year. It's rare for a kicker to be drafted especially so early. He had a decent, not spectacular rookie campaign, making all 27 of his extra point attempts, 2729 field goals. But he only finishes the 18th best fantasy kicker, largely because the Jags offense was so putrid they didn't even have enough attempts. But Little turned heads a couple of weeks ago when he connected on a 70 yard field goal in the team's first preseason game. With just a little more quality play for the Jags offense, I think Little could be in for a stellar season. Not bad. As for the stock market equivalent to Cam Little, how about csx, the railroad company? I'm not saying this because CSX is based in Jacksonville, but because the company is widely considered to be in play, the merger friendly Trump administration looks ready to approve transcontinental railroad deals. Union Pacific already trying to buy Norfolk Southern and now many speculate the CSX could be doing the same thing. Canadian Pacific or Berkshire Hathaway's Burlington Northern. Now we know there's an activist shareholder pushing for some kind of deal which would be like a 70 yard field goal for ours as far as I'm concerned for CSX shareholders to be sure. I like CSX because I think Joe Hendrich is running a great railroad. Right. Anything takeover related, icing on the cake. Bottom line, that's your full fantasy stock football portfolio. Just like in fantasy, you need to fill every position with the best that you can get. Play your studs. And let's go to Josh in Vermont. Josh.

[B]

Booyah Jim.

[A]

Booyah Josh. What's going on? Congratulations on the Eagles win. Thank you. W is a. W is like to tell myself when they're not that pretty. How can I help? Awesome. I have a small position in DraftKings and with football season upon us I was wondering if it is a good time to buy more. Yes. The answer is yes. I think this is best in show. I think that the stock could have a look. It's up 25%. I think you can go even further. It is profitable and it I think run by maybe the best in the entire industry. Jason Robbins, Good choice by you. The mindset for drafting a fantasy football team and creating an investment portfolio, I find pretty similar. You need to go out and you got to find the best companies in every sector just like you would for every position on the football field. Much more mad money. From Starbucks to Reddit, I'm hearing how the consumer views some of the market's hottest stocks. With data company 100x then seeing nearly 20% just today alone. What the heck happened this quarter? I'm telling you as I see it. And of course oil calls rapid fire. Tonight's edition of the Lightning round. So stay with Kramer. With so many expert voices right now offering totally contradictory opinions on this day to the consumer, sometimes I like to get a more unique take from alternative sources of data that I think are very authoritative and that includes Hundred X. It's a privately held alternative data from real time feedback from actual customers on more than 4,000 brands. These guys have great insights because they collect information on purchase intent rather than purely projecting from historical data. There's a reason this company's data has been Featured in roughly 450 Goldman Sachs reports just last July and they recently signed a co innovation agreement with Deloitte to help deliver more strategic products. They're hot. So let's check in with Rob Pace. He's the founder and CEO of Hundred X. Learn more about what we can from the Latest batch of data. Mr. Pace, welcome back to bed. Money. Thank you, Rob. I find you pure joy for multiple reasons. One is because I like to take your information and meld it with my information. Figure out what we should pay for the stock and whether we should pay up for this stock, the P E multiple. And I want to start, start with one that we have liked because we think that frankly the stock is a terrific thing but black people don't believe us. We like the stock of Reddit. People think that, that Reddit is just the kind of crazy stuff on message boards. It's not.

[B]

No. Our, our data, including our latest August data, supports your thesis. So let me tell you why. So first of all, future usage, in other words, I currently use Reddit. Am I going to use it more? Continues to move up and take share from, from other platforms and community. But more importantly Jim, is why. So the why is it's real humans helping you make decisions. So they're 20 points higher on information.

[A]

They'Re 24 points higher versus favorability versus.

[B]

The competitors on, on does it give me relevant information, etc. Now here's why I think your thesis and we're not stock pickers.

[A]

I know that's my job but I need empirical backing or else I feel very, I don't use Wall street research.

[B]

No, no. Here is the melt up strategy, right? So when we stitch together a few things. So real humans helping you make decisions, that's our data. Now people hate search and those dreaded blue link sponsor, you know, sponsored paid search. We see the world moving from sponsored links to customer earned links. In other words, as AI proliferates the answers are going to be who do the customer say is? And that's what's going to link out. And Reddit, if they get a share of that, that's you know, trillion dollar profit pool. So the melt up strategy is the world moves from sponsored links to the truth and ironically human intelligence. Reddit is going to pair with, with artificial intelligence to be the solution.

[A]

Well I know that their affinity nature brings out people who want to help other people within the cohort. That's highly unusual.

[B]

Yeah, that's a, that's a human, human characteristic. Right. And that's why we're pretty bullish that you're not going to replace decision making with machines but rather human beings.

[A]

All right, that's great because I feel better because a lot of people say Jim, come on, it's all the way in 200. I think you can go much further. Now another one that I really really keen on, but your work crystallized why I should have been keen versus just looking at the numbers is Robinhood.

[B]

Yeah. So in our data we now get more feedback on Robinhood as a crypto play than a traditional broker. Now as a traditional broker they do some things very well, their app and the trading, etc. But when we look at them versus the competitors on the crypto side, they're pretty dominant. So if you're bullish on crypto, crypto, you're bullish on Robinhood.

[A]

Now I think that a lot of people look at Robinhood and think that they're just bunch of gunslingers, but maybe it's that gunslingers away. What matters is, is that people regard what they trade there as being more, more authoritative versus say even if they went to our alma mater, Goldman Sachs, if they want to trade crypto.

[B]

Well, yeah, they're sort of a new era platform and I think this is their moment.

[A]

Yeah, definitely. Now one other that, that we regard as a long term that I spent a lot of time on is Starbucks. We own it for the charitable trust. We have no short term expectations other than the fact that we think that it's a little bit faster when we go. It doesn't seem like we like the pumpkin spice latte. We would love to know more empirical than just our own anecdotal that we think is getting better.

[B]

It is getting a little better, but it's, but it's been a long turn. So our data on them bottomed around March or April, meaning compared to the, to the peers, the coffee beers, the breakfast beers, etc. And it's now trading in line and it's starting in terms of customer feedback to improve. So here's what we see in the data and, and obviously you have an elite CEO in terms of track record. So that's the X factor that you factor in.

[A]

Brian Nichols. Sensational.

[B]

Okay, they're making progress on speed, they're making progress on attitude. But we see the battleground in our data is they're a little better in taste in a little better in products, but price is a lot worse.

[A]

So because we need that most fat. You've taught us about mvp.

[B]

Yes, this is the Deloitte introduced framework that we love based on our data. Not there's our data that says do you provide more value for price or not? So here's what we think. They're going to fix the experience. Right. The speed. But we see the battleground is product. So I was very excited when I read, I think yesterday that they're going to do introduce protein. Right Protein drink. So they're going to need to win. Starbucks is going to have to innovate on the product side. Not just the green apron, not just the neighborhood cafe.

[A]

In our good news I think is is that Brian Nicole recognizes that maybe they need to come up as new for the for the day part where there's not much that's exciting or maybe look at pumpkin spike they got to come up with other seasonal drinks and that is would be jiving correctly with what you're seeing. I know it isn't in our pack but were you surprised to see people turn in terms of most valuable player turn so hard against Lululemon?

[B]

Yes. And just one thought on Starbucks to complete your thoughts. Almost all our feedback when we read it it's what we call wet orders is about the beverage. A big opportunity is the dry orders, the food and the beverage. Right. A lot of a lot of opportunity for innovation there.

[A]

Okay so Lulu, I have to just because it was so I know that's because of the three I want to talk about I have to just say that your work would describe if you were to come in here like maybe we see each other next. Is it possible you could ever have a 10 turn? It seems so bad.

[B]

Yeah. So their strengths quality scores are 20 points more favorable. So if we put together a composite like viori and athleta etc. So their strengths the problem is this back to this mvp.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But I price does it isn't justified by the quality. Others have caught up on sizes and fit and products and I thought the CEO was right. I think it's more than tariffs. It's products cycle.

[A]

Yeah. Well I do think that just as you for for a Reddit I totally agree. Okay. I think that Robinhood is very very exciting for many of the reason you talk about and Starbucks is this work in progress. We own that and I feel very good about it but I can't jump up and down.

[B]

So now right to you know what we're seeing. There's four or five of these iconic names that killed it for a while and have fallen out. They've got to not do the old thing. They got to find the new thing.

[A]

I hope Brian's watching because I think he feels the same way. That's Rob Pace, 100X founder and CEO. And you know as a stock picker I love to hear this kind of empirical data that Rob brings because you're out on your own when you buy stocks and when they come down you have to fall back on the stuff that you're talking about because the numbers themselves might be coming in, but maybe the franchise is worth a lot. That money's back in.

[B]

Coming up, Kramer takes your calls. And the sky's the limit. It's a fast fire lightning round.

[A]

Next. It is time. And then the lightning round is over. Are you ready, Ski? Dad's over the lightning round Clan River Tyler store with Sam in Massachusetts. How are you? I'm doing good. How about you, Sam? I'm good. You know, Jim, more often than not, when I see a stock that's trading at a discounted level, I'm curious as to why that is. More often than not, I find that it's cheap for a reason. So I was looking through the industrial sector, given the elevated valuations of some of these companies with the AI Group, and I came across Perform Line Products Company. The company is trading a billion dollars, yet it's doing fantastic. And relative to its peers, I think the stock is undervalued. Okay, which stock? Which stock? Tlp. Oh, now you know what? That's still one more of multiple stocks that are involved in the construction of the data center. And those because there's so many of them, they're starting to trade at discount. Don't freak out. The business is good. I need to go to Ricky in Texas. Ricky. Booyah. Jim. This is Ricky from Crypto Texas. First time caller, longtime listener and proud club member. Oh, thank you so much. We had a good one with that Broadcom today. I love that. What's going on? Hey, my question is about Outbreak Systems ticker symbol. Yeah, I know. I mean, the stock is just a straight up stock and I like it. I typically don't like a foreign stock defense because it's harder to get a read on. But that company is very good. I've liked it actually for a couple of decades. Let's go to Ann in Indiana. Ann. Hey, Jim, thanks for taking my call. Yes, maybe I'm just way too early on D Wave Quantum by. No, no, we actually, I have to tell you, we liked them very much when they were on. But you know what we really liked? We like the Quantum story that Arvin Krishna had to say when we were up at IBM. And that stock, by the way, is very inexpensive where it's been. I think IBM gives you a lot more than just quantum. Let's go to Brian and Rhode Island. Brian. Hey, Jim. Brian, first and foremost, thank you for the last 20 years for educating me and entertaining me. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I hope you like the how to make money in Any Market comes out at the end of the month and it's a compilation of all the new thoughts that I have. Trying to really get young people involved too. How can I help? I'm talking about I want to see if your love has changed for intel after the recent government involved. It's had a very, very big move. Now. I happen to really believe in Lip Bhutan. I think he's absolutely great. But the stock just jumped so much that I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves with Intel. Now we're going to go to Mark in Florida. Mark. Hi Jim. Big booyah from Florida. I've been many years fourth time calling in. This stock has been languishing at $17 a share for over a year. Mr. Market doesn't want to recognize its great value. When will you have co CEOs Tom Long and Marshall McCrae on your show? We are talking about energy transfer. Oh I like that. Get 70% yield. It's a premier natural gas play pipeline. I think it's sensational. I didn't used to think that they were taking down too much debt. That's not the case. For years now they've just been consistent. You got it right. Let's go to Jacob in Alaska. Jacob. Hey Jim, what's your take on this media company that just posted a 7% year over year revenue drop with management going all in on M and A and deleveraging. This company has announced over a billion dollars in new deals this quarter, expanding into multiple markets and building a duopoly to build local boost local ad dollars all while refinancing debt and repaying hundreds of millions. Despite these near term headwinds, the stock has jumped almost 10% in recent weeks and 94% year to date. With the recent analyst upgrades and the announcement of new NHL broadcast rights and a streaming partnership with Google Cloud launching in January. What's your take on ticker GTN Gray Media They're a survivor. They're survivors. Does that mean it's enough to be able for me to pull the trigger? Not after the run it's had. But I've got to tell you they're a survivor for good spec even at this price. At that and that. Ladies and gentlemen, conclusion of the Lightning Round.

[B]

The Lightning Round is sponsored by Charles Schwab. Coming up was Lulu's loss, Costco's gain, Kramer's highlighting a big missed opportunity from the Athleisure company after its disappointing quarter.

[A]

Next if you want to know why the stock of Lululemon plunged over 18% today. Look no further than a lawsuit the company filed against Costco last June for allegedly selling virtually identical knockoffs. Lulu claimed that Costco is mimicking some of its clothes with imitations like the Kirkland 5 pocket performance pants, which can sell for maybe even as little as a quarter of Lulu's very similar product. Look, Louis, a special company that makes special products. But I've never met a soul in the last few years that didn't say within a breath of mentioning something that they liked. Then of course, it's very expensive. Have you ever heard anyone say something that something from Costco is too expensive? Have you ever heard of anyone say that it's not of similar quality to the product that it rivals, if not better? Notice I didn't say mimics or infringers. I said rivals because that's how the American people view the relationship. For the longest time, many Americans actually cared about specific labels like that of Lululemon. They were. They viewed. Well, they were viewed as high quality status symbols. Those days are going. Somewhere along the line, we started viewing them as decent quality products that made us feel like we were dope for paying full price. Again, when you speak about Lululemon, you always seem to hear about how it costs more than the last time you went. But the quality wasn't any better than the the last time you went Costco. You always feel smart because you know that nobody can tell the difference in Kirkland signature and the name brands it competes with, except maybe they're better. Somehow everyone seemed to know this except for Lululemon's management, which is why the stocks had such a sickening slide. Now we can speculate about how America decided to go bargain hunting versus accepting higher prices. Perhaps it's because so many things started costing too much inflation. So we decided to take matters in our own hands by pivoting to cheaper products. Or it could be because Costco perfected the premium private label so we don't care about the brand as long as we're getting merchandise of similar, better quality. Or maybe we just realized that no one knew the difference, including us. To me, companies like Costco and Amazon are avengers. They recognize that we're mad as hell. We're just not going to take these prices anymore. Now, that doesn't mean we won't pay up for premium goods. Do you know that people, I'm gardening this weekend. Okay, I'll probably put on my Brioni. I say that because people make fun of me, because I spent a lot of money and wear Brioni suits all the time. Sure I like the way they look and feel, but you know what I really like the most about them? They last forever. I just wore one on air the other day that I originally bought 30 years ago at Neiman Marcus. You divide the price by how many times I wore it. I got to tell you something, you got a Marshalls like bargain. So let the decline and perhaps fall Lululemon be a sign that Americans want value, not status. Or to be more positive, they want value and the status of not being seen as dupes for paying full price just for a brand name. If you're an apparel company, you can't figure that out, then take your prices down and stop trying to please both Wall street and Main street. Because in the end it's Main street that makes the purchasing decisions and only determines what Wall street has to say and not vice versa. Alex says, as always, the bull market somewhere. I promise I fit just for you right here on Man Money. I'm Jim Kramer and I'm going to see you Monday. All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer on this podcast are solely Kramer's opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, or their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by Kramer on television, radio, Internet, or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Jim Cramer as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a strategy, but only as an expression of his opinion. Kramer's opinions are based upon information he considers reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Mad Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com madmoneydisclaimer.