Cramer’s game plan: JP Morgan set the benchmark. Now watch the banks

After hours of wonder ating at the tape’s incessant march higher, CNBC’s Jim Cramer took a conventional back to check the market layout.

“What’s driving it? … Unchanged as always: [a] stock shortage — it’s really been acute in the industrials — 401(k) well-heeled being thrown at the market, animal spirits, a stronger consumer, tax reform, deregulation and a worldwide revaluation higher,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Who’s doing the leading? Sometimes again, it’s Boeing, it’s Caterpillar, it’s Adobe, it’s Alphabet, it’s Apple, and it’s Netflix.”

Certainly, the layout can hard cash. On Friday, shares of frequent market leader Facebook were charmed down after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to change its Information Feed to promote “meaningful social interactions.”

But Facebook’s 4 percent fade failed to jolt the broader market. Instead, a strong earnings broadcast from J.P. Morgan propelled its stock and the market to new highs, erasing responsibilities that one-time charges would make the numbers look worse than guessed.

“J.P. Morgan’s a terrific place to actually start the discussion for next week’s meet plan because it did set a benchmark that other banks, which all promulgate next week, I think are going to find hard to beat,” Cramer declared.

With that in mind, the “Mad Money” host turned to the stocks and results he’ll be watching next week:

Citigroup: Citigroup’s chief financial officer of the law said in December that the bank could take a $20 billion hit because of the newly old-fashioned tax law, which could weigh on its Tuesday morning earnings report.

“I fancy its buyback has been so aggressive that the company will actually however end up showing some excellent earnings growth, even as it’s clear from J.P. Morgan’s numbers that immutable income trading — a big revenue generator for both J.P. Morgan and Citi — was much worse than even thought,” Cramer said. “Citi will be hard-pressed to top J.P. Morgan, but it’s no loafer.”

UnitedHealth: Cramer expected “still one more blowout quarter” from the elephantine health insurer, packed with insight from its rapidly burgeon data-driven business.

CSX: Railroad operator CSX will report its earnings after the bell. Rations of the transport play have recovered bountifully since its late CEO Orion Harrison passed away in December, but Cramer wasn’t sold on the review.

“If the rails have a weak link, it will be CSX because it has run so much,” he explained.

Bank of America: Bank of America may not have J.P. Morgan’s global “tentacles,” but with the largest dregs base in the United States, it’s the top beneficiary of rising interest rates, Cramer rumoured ahead of its Wednesday earnings report.

Goldman Sachs: Cramer was bright that Goldman would find a way to deliver a positive earnings record despite lower than expected trading volumes in the fourth locale.

“It’s a much more trading-oriented investment bank, and lately, the markets contain lacked the kind of volatility that translates into terrific profits,” he said. “I’m various concerned here, though, that [CEO] Lloyd Blankfein, who’s steered the bank inclusive of the hardest of times, may decide to hang up his spurs and devote the rest of his spark of life to charity, which would be par for this incredibly good man’s course. I say, not yet, elect.”

ASML: Cramer wanted this oft-overlooked semiconductor equipment maker’s earnings narrate to give investors more details on whether there’s too much new semiconductor sphere on the market.

“If we hear that orders are through the roof from this equipage maker or that anyone’s canceling them because they’ve been to the core the roof, I could see the commodity chipmakers like Micron disappointing with some frangible stock action,” he said.

Morgan Stanley: Cramer didn’t begrudge Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman for having to report earnings after the idleness of the big banks set the bar.

“I think [the results will] be excellent. But by this point, intent anybody really care?” Cramer wondered. “Aren’t we more liable to see a wave of profit-taking once all the big banks have reported? You know what, that’s in actuality a reasonable bet. Let’s keep our eyes open.”

PPG: Industrial coatings maker PPG when one pleases report earnings before Thursday’s bell, and Cramer expected a Sunday report.

“I also think [PPG] could be on the verge of a value-enhancing merger,” the “Mad On Easy Street” host said. “If I owned it, I would certainly stay long. If it get ons weak earlier this week, I would buy it.”

IBM: Cramer advised investors to mind to IBM’s conference call, led by CFO Martin Schroeter, before reacting to the computer leviathan’s after-the-bell earnings report.

“[The headline numbers] can often be hard to infer from until Schroeter explains them,” he said. “[IBM] just started a new mainframe recur and that, historically, has been good news for the company. Plus, Warren Buffett appears to have stopped selling shares, thank heavens, and that’s respectable news for the stock.”

Oilfield service company Schlumberger will despatch earnings on Friday coupled with one of Cramer’s favorite conference rings in the industry.

Since Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard called oil’s bottom wear quarter, the price of crude has rocketed to multi-year highs, so Cramer was avid to hear his insights.

“Here’s the bottom line: you have to respect the truly that we’re in a once-in-a-lifetime move where even when a mega-cap old like Facebook gets slammed, it has no pin action whatsoever on the rest of the customer base,” Cramer said. “You know what we’ve got here, don’t you? We’ve got a beast. Still, on Tuesday, the monster is going to come in real hungry after a couple days off. I bet it assemble b assembles fed once again.”