[Beginning of Cramer's verbatim comments for this segment...]

Jim:    On Monday, we could wake up in a totally different stock market universe...
...one where healthcare reform is passed, and the democrats in Washington feel empowered to push through the other elements of the Obama/Pelosi Polit... congressional agenda. Believe me, I wish we didn't have to focus on Washington on Mad Money at all. I wish we could just talk about stocks all day, and not at all about politics. But, right now, Washington matters to the market more than anything else out there... and certainly any earnings report. And you know that I believe healthcare reform will pass this weekend, and that its passage will reignite President Obama's... let's call it, "less-than-stock-market-friendly Game Plan"... and it will cause a nasty selloff. I think it might dawn on investors that other anti-business initiatives... things like the pro-labor card check legislation, which I told you would hurt Wal-Mart (WMT)... cap and trade climate change legislation, that could hurt the earnings of utilities... not to mention much higher capital gains and dividend taxes.

They will be the new reality if Obama and Pelosi get their way on healthcare...

That means the forecast is for more down days like today... the Dow Jones Average falling 37 points, and the S&P down about a half a percent... not that bad, given the long streak we've had.

Now look... I just need to explain again... This is not about right-wing or left-wing. It's not about democrats or republicans. It's about what I think it's good for the economy and, therefore, good for the stock market. Because, believe me, if this healthcare bill passes, I think there'll be some real ramifications. For instance, small business hiring... small business formation... I think they'll be frozen, because of the inability to figure out new hiring costs. And remember, small business is what creates jobs in this country... and employment is our biggest concern on Mad Money.

I also think that taxes going higher is not a recipe for economic health. It's too soon after the great recession.

Now, there are a lot of reasons, though, to like this market... and one of the reasons why we've been going up for a long time... Washington, though, is a big reason to be wary.

So first, we need a Game Plan to deal with the fallout from the healthcare reform vote that will happen this weekend, and the potential revitalized Obama agenda...

I think you need to build yourself a "fallout shelter" of stocks, and here I'm talking about buying some high-dividend stocks... like BP (BP*), the old British Petroleum, which I own for my charitable trust, ActionAlertsPlus.com. How about old fave, Kinder Morgan (KMP)?... Am I telling you an old name because I think it bores you? No, because it makes you money. Verizon (VZ) started acting better today. Eli Lilly (LLY)... how about a healthcare company? DuPont (DD), after that nifty presentation yesterday and, of course, Altria (MO*)... That's another charitable trust name. And you also want to increase your exposure to foreign stocks, because the U.S. seems to be... well, let's just say... a not-friendly place for stocks in the near future.  Keeping in mind that the Obamacare vote this weekend is the most important event for the coming week, or the coming year for that matter...

Let's just say the Game Plan really is going to start after healthcare...

And, if healthcare's bad... (drawing a red down arrow on the board)... well, you get the picture.

On Monday, we get the total litmus test for how the rich are doing...
...whenTiffany & Co. (TIF) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM) report. These are two places you don't need to go to unless you're feeling good about yourself... unless you're buying expensive merchandise. Now, just as you didn't need to buy $140 sneakers from Nike Inc. (NKE), which delivered a strong quarter this week. You don't need Tiffany's sparkles or Williams-Sonoma cookware. You can go straight to Wal-Mart (WMT)... I happen to like HomeGoods for cookware. You don't need to overpay, so these two will tell us whether the rich are overspending.

On Tuesday, we're going to get the pulse of a different class...
...maybe not as wealthy... We're talking about the people who go on Carnival cruises. This is the travel industry. If Carnival (CCL) does well, then we can bet that even the middle class is starting to feel better again... not just the rich, which is what we'll find out from Monday. And, if the feel-good bookings and pricings have plummeted over the course of the Great Recession, then we can continue to like the retail stocks that you know I do like.

We also get February home sales on Tuesday...
Now, of all the housing numbers, we think existing home sales... the Tuesday number... are the most important... because we're worried about supply. Supply is keeping down pricing. In January, there were 7.8 months of supply on the market. We want to see this inventory number go down because, only when the inventory is taken out, can pricing rise... like we saw in California this week. By the way, this sales number is far more important than the report card we get from an individual company... which is KB Home (KBH), on Tuesday. That's got a very California focus and, as I told you, California is turning.

On Tuesday, we'll also hear from Darden Restaurants (DRI)... That's the big restaurant chain.
Remember, it pre-announced on the upside back in February. Like FedEx (FDX), which gave us a very strong outlook yesterday, and the stock reversed mid-day... you've got to stay watching CNBC... nothing tells you more about the strength in the economy than knowing if Red Lobster and Olive Garden (both owned by Darden) have picked up. They appeal to everyone. This time, though, I want to hear about Capital Grille and Longhorn Steak, which Darden bought at the height of the market... particularly Capital Grille when the rich were really spending... and I think Capital Grille will give us a great read, like Tiffany and Williams-Sonoma, about the high end. Now, the consensus is for a 0.5% to a 1% increase in same-store sales at Longhorn, and a 3% decline at Capital Grille. Those sound grim? Believe me, compared to where they used to be, this would be a Godsend for Darden... Unfortunately for Darden, the porterhouse and expensive Scotch I had at the Capital Grille, after our 5th anniversary show, didn't make the quarter.

On Wednesday, we'll hear from one of the most consistent companies out there... and that's General Mills (GIS)...
...the Big G... It also happens to be the best arbiter of premium-branded foods out there. Remember, we heard from Heinz (HNZ), Del Monte (DLM) and Kroger (KR)... They're all starting to talk about branded foods taking market share back from private label, as people are starting to feel better about themselves. But, a lot of that came from the discounting of premium brands, not a trade back up. If General Mills says things are back, and people are buying more expensive cereal, well that's not good for Ralcorp (RAH), and we will probably recommend profit taking in Treehouse Foods (THS), our favorite private label play that we have been behind literally for 18 points.

We'll also get durable goods orders on Wednesday...
Here we go... We have worried about deflation in these, and the healthcare plan that I regard as deflationary. We would like to see if the durable goods can stay strong, and it rose really strongly in December and January... 2%, and 3%, respectively. The number to beat here is 0.5%. Now, I think interest rates could go higher if they beat that, but interest rates are very low, so we're really not worried just yet.

On Thursday, Best Buy (BBY) reports...
We have been behind this stock but, because it gave conservative guidance after a good quarter... the last one... it got rocked and, quite frankly, we were wrong. Goldman Sachs, which recommended the stock this morning, thinks we'll be getting both good numbers and good guidance and that, at last, all systems are go for a stock that's been stuck at $40 for a long time. More important than the quarter, we want to hear about what's hot in the stores... We want to listen to what Best Buy has to say about Apple (AAPL*)... and 3-D TV sales... Plus, home theater used to be huge when home prices were going up. Is that coming back? How about netbooks? They told us the category was strong, and we recommended Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) off it. This quarter will be a checkup for them too. We also want to know if video games are selling well... confirming what GameStop (GME) told us yesterday. By the way, Electronic Arts (ERTS)... all the way back to where we recommended it, and then some.

Finally, Oracle Corp. (ORCL) reports after the close on Thursday...
...and I think this enterprise software company is about to break out. I expect to hear amazing things about how the Sun (Microsystems) acquisition is shining, along with Cloud Computing, a virtual weather report of technology. That's one of the big themes driving tech. Oracle's got a dynamite chart to boot... perhaps one of the best in the book. I would... of all these situations... the only one I would pull the trigger on, if Monday, the market's down because of healthcare... is Oracle. It's the one I would buy.

The bottom line...

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[verbatim recap]

[end of segment]

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Market Results today: Dow:  - 37 Nasdaq:  - 17 S&P 500:  - 6   2 3 4 5 6 See all of tonight's stocks mentioned on Yahoo! Finance, here...