Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 7/31/26

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Say you always wanted to have a backyard oasis. Here's the thing, if you get smart with your money, you can do things like that.
With Empower, you can start making the most out of your money, so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard? To have some fun with our money? Like treating yourself to something special, or spontaneously doing something extra for a loved one. So use Empower and get good at money, so you can be a little bad. Join their 20 million customers today at empower.com.
Not an Empower client, paid or sponsored.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:30)
Confidence, it's listening to your gut. It's moving forward even when the path ahead is unclear. For nearly 160 years, Pacific Life has helped people keep their promises, building confidence for generations. Whether you're confident in your financial future, or just beginning to envision it, we're here to help. Ask a financial professional how.
Pacific Life, the power of a promise. Pacific Life Insurance Company Omaha, Nebraska, and in New York, Pacific Life and Annuity, Phoenix, Arizona.

**Jim Cramer** (1:00)
My mission is simple, to make you money.
I'm here to level the playing field for all investors. There's always a bull market somewhere, and I promise to help you find it. Mad Money starts now.

**Jim Cramer** (1:18)
Hey, I'm Cramer. Welcome to Mad Money. Welcome to Cramer. I'll do my friends. I'm just trying to make you a little bit of money.
My job, not just to entertain, but to educate, to do some teaching here. So call me 1-800-743-CBC-Tweet me at Cramer. The stock market isn't always a friendly place. It can be volatile. It can be painful. It can just be downright difficult.
There are tons of big picture problems that can derail any rally.
Problems you might not have had any idea about until they hit us. And that's why I'm so adamant about trying to make you a better investor. I want to teach you the tricks of the trade. So when the market turns negative, when it gets hostile, you will be prepared. You'll know what to do.
The same tricks I teach you about constantly when you join the CBC Investing Club coming alive right here. I've spent my entire career analyzing the way stocks trade, searching for patterns of what's worked and what hasn't. And from those observations, I've put together a set of rules. Rules that are designed to help protect you from the worst mistakes you can make in both good markets and bad.
Rules that now make up the club's guide to investing. As much as I sometimes might seem like an unhinged lunatic, the truth is, I'm all about discipline. You're going to make mistakes in this business. It's inevitable. But if you stick to your discipline, if you stick to the rules that should help you minimize your losses, and you will maximize your gains. Stick to the rules, people. So let's talk about discipline. I'm always telling you to buy best of breed companies. Even if you have to pay up for their stocks, I use that phrase constantly, best of breed, best of breed. Why should you try to identify the stocks of the best-run companies with the best prospects in each industry, let me flip that up on his head.
Why is only best of breed even a question? When you're shopping for a car sale, you buy best of breed, or the best you can afford. We pay up for the highest quality brand because we know that a brand, a good brand, signifies reliability. It tells us that we can expect a higher level of service, a quality of ownership that will make your drive safer and easier for years to come. Nobody would ever set out to buy a worst of breed car.
There are simpler ways to put your life in danger. So why is it that so many people seem to feel differently about the stock market? Why are we drawn to the penny stocks that are constantly being talked up on social media, or the endless low dollar meme stocks that get taken up each morning in some sort of shrewd, pump and dump gambit? It's the same reason why people, so many people throw away their money on buying garbage cryptocurrencies. When they could buy Ethereum or Bitcoin, the better known more vetted currencies. Many of us simply can't resist what we perceive as a bargain. Emphasis, by the way, on perceive. Here's the thing. If you're hunting for cheap stocks of low quality companies, it's more likely to lead to losses than to gains. Now, let me be clear. I love bargain hunting, but I only want genuine bargains where the underlying merchandise is actually worth something.