Jim's Quotes from this segment:  

Jim:          No sleep next week. No sleep for the next three weeks. Why? Because were about to enter the valley of the shadow of the real earnings season, and it's mighty dark in there.

Jim:    So let's dive right into the Game Plan! Since we've got so many big companies reporting, I can't waste your time…

Bank of America, Inc.
Starting with Bank of America on Monday morning. The last few quarters have brought this company's shareholders little but grief. This is the bank that needs higher interest rates from the Fed. It needs them the most to get it going, because there's a gigantic deposit base, And it can't make as much money off of it and less the Fed raises rates. Will they pull it off this time? Will they surprise us? Perhaps. It's always a possibility. But Bank of America is no J.P. Morgan.

IBM Corp.
After the bell IBM reports, and the stock has been on a fabulous tear of late. Can it continue? IBM has reported disappointing earnings three straight – not quarters – but years. That's an incredibly long losing streak. The company's been embarking on a major change toward big data and cognitive machine learning. Watson being a terrific example… Watson is real. But the good news has not been able to trump the bad news, of the older legacy business getting weaker, and that's the problem. After that last quarter, I felt that the stock had finally come down enough to tell you to buy it, and that it could bounce. I say that IBM's still got some room to run if it's faster growing divisions can finally become a bigger driver lifting up the company's growth rate.

Netflix, Inc.
Two more very controversial companies come after the close on Monday. It's Netflix and Yahoo. The former acts like death. Why? Because it messed numbers badly in the previous quarter. It's in the penalty box. Nobody's expecting much this time around though. That's a positive. I expect Netflix to get back on track. I think the market cap is too small, for the opportunity. But I don't want to be pinned down on when the reacceleration will occur.

Yahoo, Inc.
Yahoo is a very special situation. We either want to hear that it's breaking up, and it's got some solid bids for its businesses. Or we want to hear that Rick Hill, the save year of Novellus, which made us so much money, is going to be appointed chairman of the board. If the former happens, ring the register. If the latter happens, I would be a buyer of Yahoo. If nothing happens, do nothing.

TUESDAY
Johnson & Johnson, Inc.
Sometimes a stock catches the fancy of investors and it becomes a true market darling. Right now that company is Johnson & Johnson, which reports on Tuesday morning. You know that I've been a huge backer of this stock and all the things that CEO, Alex Gorsky, has done to make JNJ a competitive power house with a dominant pharmaceutical pipeline. It is just performing fantastically. But the run from the low hundreds to the $120s, has given more than a few nosebleeds to the investment community. Me? I just hope that it sells off enough so that people who don't own it yet can buy some at lower prices. Yep, it is that solid a story. JNJ.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc.
You know what company is totally be loved? UnitedHealth, UNH, which gives you its results at the same time as JNJ does. This is going to be an exciting morning for me. This health insurer is benefiting from its huge technological advantage. It's got great data interpretation, as well as a shrewd series of moves are abandoning unprofitable Obamacare insurance exchanges. No sometimes the stock sells off, as the company is extremely conservative in its guidance, and there's a complexity to the quarter. But every pull back… every pull back… has been a buying opportunity.

Goldman Sachs, Inc.
We also hear from Goldman Sachs, and it's amazing that this company has it been able to get its stock hire, at least to its tangible book value, despite having some of the smartest minds around. Yes okay, full disclosure, I am an alumnus of Goldman. No it's not really Goldman's fault. The laws have changed so much, The company is no longer able to take the kind of calculated risks that used to make it so special. That said, I think things are getting better in banking. We heard that from J.P. Morgan. If the stock is under $160, it's a buy.

Microsoft Corp.
After the close Tuesday we have a confounding one, and it is Microsoft. The company's last quarter, after a couple of good quarters, was ugly. I regarded as a nasty shortfall. Now the stock has worked its way all the way back. You have to ask yourself, is this like Sisyphis playing with itself? Is Sisyphis going to punish you again? Or will it lay in a series of moves involving its purchase of LinkedIn that could dazzle? And has the company been helped by a possible turn in personal computers, as evidenced by the upside surprise from Seagate – the disk drive maker – earlier this week? I find myself far from confident about this situation. Because Microsoft paid a lot from LinkedIn I don't know how much growth it's going to really give them.

WEDNESDAY
Abbott Laboratories, Inc.
Now it's hard to fine high quality pharmaceutical companies with stocks that are well off their highs, and still have a decent yield. But one of them is Abbott Labs. My inclination here is that when CEO, Miles White, who is a genius, reports this quarter on Wednesday morning, I'm going to like, and you're going to like, what we hear.

American Express, Inc.
After the close we get results from American Express, the opposite of Abbott, frankly. It's time for this company to put up or shut up, after years of terrible earnings. I am truly worried that AMEX has completely lost its way. And I just don't believe that the company's current leadership can turn things around. Witness that loss of Costco. That was wrong.

THURSDAY
Domino's, Inc.
Thursday morning we hear from Domino's Pizza, DPZ. Last time around this stock was slaughtered, on good, but not great, numbers. Why? Because they weren't up to their usual upside surprise snuff. But the stock has worked its way all the way up to where it was before it reported the previous quarter. And that is a little precarious, right? But I do believe CEO, Patty Doyle, will get Domino's back on track. It actually never really left the track. It's just that the expectations were too high.

General Motors, Inc.
Hey, how about a company where the expectations are very low? With a stock that sells at just five times earnings, and has a 5% yield? Too good to be true? Well welcome to the bizarrely cheap stock of General Motors. There's always been something wrong with the quarter… some reason it is doing poorly… some worries about self driving cars. Hey, how about the end of our love affair with cars? Hey you know, people below 25, they're not even getting licenses like they used to. You know what? I have said, stay away from GM. They yield is tempting but, in the end, I think it's just a bond.

Travelers insurance Corp.
Travelers on the other hand – the giant insurance company – also reports Thursday morning. And this is a very misunderstood enterprise. Travelers has a habit of reporting amazingly good quarters that traders or headline writers just can't comprehend. That's why I think you want to buy the stock on any knee-jerk pullback. We get them all the time, because Travelers is the finest insurance company in the land.

Chipotle, Inc.
After the close we get a trio of stocks that could have a lot of room to run if they get things right. But almost no one seems to think they will. Chipotle, Schlumberger, and Starbucks. Chipotle is still reeling from the big health scare last fall. But as more distance is put in time between then and now, I find Chipotle's stock increasingly compelling, particularly around the $400 level, which is what I've been sticking with consistently the show. I think you "put some on," as they say in the business.

Schlumberger Corp.
How about Schlumberger? The oil service giant took drastic action ahead of everybody else. It cut its workforce when the price of crude collapsed, and it's doing better than everyone else in the service offing. Still, it's in the oil and gas business. So if oil drops before its report, it won't matter. Schlumberger is going to go down too. That said, we own it for my charitable trust, where you can follow along by subscribing to ActionAlertsPlus, and we'd buy more of it if it comes in before or after the quarter.

Starbucks, Inc.
The same goes for Starbucks. Investors have really cooled on this one of late. But I think that's a mistake. I believe Starbucks, though, has plenty of room for growth. But the company had to raise wages. That and fears of a domestic slow down in same-store sales has really hampered the stock. My advice? This one, you wait until you see the quarter before you buy.

FRIDAY
Honeywell Corp.
General Electric, Inc.
Finally on Friday, two of my ultra fave stocks report. Honeywell and General Electric. Both companies have been out and about with their CEOs talking about their businesses of late. My suggestion? If either stock comes down ahead of the quarter, because of some exogenous event, buy, buy, buy! Pull the trigger! They are that good. I'm hoping that GE announces an expanded buyback. And at Honeywell, I'd like to see the soon-to-be retired, Dave Cote, smash earnings in his final year of the job. And I think that's going to be the case.

The bottom line…

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[end of segment]

*Note:  An asterisk next to a stock indicates that Jim owns it currently for his charitable trust.  If you are interested in a particular stock, Jim Cramer recommends that you always do the homework on each stock, and that you wait at least one trading week after his show recommendation to evaluate whether it is a good stock trade or investment for you. 

Market Results today: Dow:  + 10 Nasdaq:  - 5 S&P 500:  - 2     See all of tonight's stocks mentioned on Yahoo! Finance, here...