Falling 0. 33 . Nasdaq advancing 2. 61 . But still, quite a contrast to yesterdays very strong performance. Why cant we put together a winning streak . Why cant we go up for more than one day . I think there are a host of reasons why we rarely have backtoback up days anymore. And the reasons are all endemic to 2015. And theyre worth going over tonight. Because i dont know about you, but i find this market maddening first, we know the estimates from Many Companies are just plain too high. It has been such a long time since that was the case. Many years in fact. And we dont seem to be ready for it. Case in point is intel. Last week intel came out and said business was weak in part because of its personal computer sales, and also because of the strong dollar. Amazingly, on the day of that hideous announcement and it was ugly the house of pain. The stock market as a whole reacted as if intel were some sort of minor, unimportant company, as opposed to the Biggest Semiconductor Company on earth. There was no pin action whatsoever. None i was flabbergasted. In fact, the market enjoyed a decent rally that very day pretty much ignoring intel, intel entirely. At the time, i figured, okay so maybe intel, by virtue of its lack of inclusion was merely a victim of the secular kind of pc market. But even if thats the only reason for intels weakness it means there are a whole host of companies that arent doing nearly as well as we thought going into 2013. Sure enough one by one, theyre getting hammered including stocks that have been major market leaders. Consider that micron another Semiconductor Maker thats tied to the personal computer is now down 20 for the year. My micron has been a hugely important stock for this market. It was a gigantic home run. Micron roared from five bucks, five bucks, in november of 2012 all the way to 36 this past december before collapsing this year. Cgate and Western Digital are now down 19 and 13 respectively. Wow everything pcoriented is having a real hard time getting any lift since intels bad news. Hey, same goes for microsoft, where the estimates are too high. Thats another stock uniquely linked to personal computers. Hewlettpackard, which is also hostage to the pc. These stocks they have been slaughtered. Of course, intel gave us two reasons for its shortfall, not just one, the other being currency. And that is a factor with hewlettpackard, but its also a gigantic problem and an unfolding problem for ibm, which, i dont know if youve noticed, has been in a serious tailspin ever since its Analyst Meeting last month and Warren Buffetts endorsement. And the decline has only accelerated since intels lousy numbers. Now, technology is a giant sector in the stock market representing roughly 18 of the s p 500, and on any given day, tech totally overshadows the rest of the market. But the ying of tech can be offset by the yang of finance. As we know the banks do well when Interest Rates rise. So unlike the personal computer stocks, where the numbers remain too high this is a group where were starting to believe a consensus is building, if the estimates are too low. Were on the eve of a fed meeting where many people expect the fed to signal that rate hikes are on the horizon. So if you believe fed chief janet yellen can no longer be patient with low rates, you want to be buying the bank stocks hand over fist. And sure enough that group was strong most of the day, but not Strong Enough to keep the market in the black and it closed weak at the end of the day. Same goes for other stocks with international exposure. Heres a huge group thats getting smacked around quite a bit, because estimate cuts seem inevitable, considering how weak so many foreign currencies are versus the dollar. On the other hand though we keep hearing that europe might be turning. We got some terrific european auto Sales Numbers last night. By the way, the autos were the first sector that turned in the United States coming out of the great recession. Could it be happening again in europe . I think so. So, if the dollar is up on any given day, these International Stocks get sold. Why . Because we fear nearterm earnings reductions. But if the dollar is down we take a look longer term and think, athat maybe things will get better in the second half of the year. That accounts for the see sawing markets one day up one day down behavior. Then theres the gasoline trade. Oil had a huge spike from 43 to 53 not that long ago, and many of the Company Expected it would be doing well if fuel costs kept sinking. We lost the airlines as leaders, and they were terrific leaders for multiple years, thanks to the massive consolidation in the group that made them much less competitive against each other. But oils fallen hard back to 43. And even a little bit below it. Thats right, it reversed to around 42 and change after the bell. And the airlines are going higher although not so much higher. Why . Because now were worried that the strong dollar might be inhibiting tourist traffic from overseas. Makes sense, the dollars too expensive. On any given day, you have an incredibly inconsistent story to tell. Especially a day like today, where oil started down hard then reversed up and then reversed back down leaving everyone confused because we havent had many intraday reversals, let alone two in one session. Then take pharma or more precisely, the two pharmas. You have traditional Pharma Companies like merck and ely lilly. When the dollar depose higher these Companies Get sold sold, sold. But then theres regeneron, up another 16 points today off its new cholesterol drug. Ors or esperrion. Positive Clinical Trial data on that cholesterol pill sent the stock soaring 29 today. An astonishing move. Esperion tweeted it was going to come on, but canceled at the last minute because it filed an Equity Offering to take advantage of the stocks strength. Then theres activist a giant drug company that closed on its acquisition of cramer fave allergan earlier today. The key thing you know about activist, its a growth plan thats not known by the same rules that pfizer or lily play for, which is why it rallied up 2. 50 why the old line pharmas didnt do so hot. Now, again, before this year before this year started, we didnt see this kind of disparity within various groups. It was very rare to see a biotech diverge from the older drug companies, it used to lead them up. But thats not the norm in 2015. Were back at that 43 level, where rich kinder the fave of Kinder Morgan came on our show and said theres actual demand that we could bounce. Last time we bounced and bounced convincingly off this level and the oils rallied hard. Investors were all over the oil stocks today betting that we could rebound again. If 2015 plays out as it has, though, i bet tomorrow is a different story. All of these trends and countertrends keep canceling each other out, causing the market to seem totally inconsistent. Sell, sell, sell. Buy, buy, buy. Hey, look it continues after the close today, adobe, giant tech Company Reported a disappointing number, while oracle reported a strong one. I guess the strife in tech will continue in tomorrows session. We just dont have for horseoarsman rowing together. Some are rowing forward, some are rowing backwards, but theyre all in the same darned boat, which feels like its spinning in circles and going nowhere. Heres the bottom line. Unlike the last few years, there are real cost crunches right now. Trends that are often diametrically opposed in the exact same session the result inconclusive battles get played out every single day. Get used to it. This may be the new normal for 2013, at least until one of these trends becomes dominant. But dont hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Lets go to john in california. John . Caller i am the cramer groupie from sacramento valley, how are you . Hey, john youre calling me up. Were like the kings. Dont go there. Anyway, we need rain. If you have some water or snow well take it. I have some water, but i dont think it will do the job. Caller okay. Well, let me me and the cavemen, we got out of Phillip Morris for personal reasons. It was a longterm play and we made a ton of money on it but we got out, and were going into ge and its been 25 since i rode a tricycle im 62. Would ge but a good play for us . Some guy said to go for it and we did it and as far as the longterm a lot of people have gotten their aarp cards during this period that ge has been at 25. I have to tell you, i think ge yields 6. 63 and i think its kind of a bit of a bond because it has a giant oil component that people arent that crazy about, but it has some other things going well. My case is ge just fits the depiction of the push me, pull you. I think its stuck. I dont know if it can do anything. Lets go to larry in massachusetts. Larry . Caller jim, congratulations and deep gratitude to you and your staff. Kylies a rock star. May you move from strength to strength. Kylie, there you go now shes the national best. Caller jim, a compare and contrast question about three recent secondaries, all priced below the market. All right. Lets go over these, larry. Cyberarcs, its been selling shareholders it would have a nice day today. It took out that price. Larry youve got to think a little more positive. Its one of the best days around well larries, got drowned out by me and my positive nature. I have to tell you that i think this again what larrys talking about, what johns talking about, ge a fight to the finish, and yet where does it finish . Exactly where it start ded cyberarc, do a deal it goes down and comes right back. We arent going anywhere its driving me nuts all right, market seems unable to make up its mind which is why were seeing these inconclusive battles play out. And you know what, its going to remain this way for a while. But mad money has a dynamite show. Actavis sealed a big deal today. Ill see what it means for the stock. Ive gone grin saddlers on the show. And stop putting all your eggs in one bracket. Ill show you a better way to make it rain when i unveil my favorite wall street ballers out of the midwest. Plus party at the pump dont miss my list of names that could soon soar off of cheap gasoline prices. Thats next. I would, if i were you, stick with kraurm . Dont miss a second of mad money. Follow jimcramer on twitter. Have a question . Tweet cramer madtweets. Send jim an email to madmoney cnbc. Com. Or give us a call at 1800743cnbc. Miss something . Head to madmoney. Cnbc. Com. under loud music this is the place. Their beard salve is made from sustainable tea tree oil and kale. You, my friend, recognize when a trend has reached critical mass. Yes, when others focus on one thing you see whats coming next. You see opportunity. Thats what a type e does. And so it begins. With e trades investing insights center, you can spot trends before they become trendy. E trade. Opportunity is everywhere. We are now in a leader versus laggard zone. And that represents one of the most fraught moments in investing. Leader versus laggard is a game big Portfolio Managers play after a colossal run in some very strong sectors. The pms, as we call them are all trying to decide if they want to buy a stock in that redhot group thats already soared, but might be tapped out or too expensive, or if they want something that hasnt moved much at all. Might need to be suspect or sumply left behind for so no good reason. Lets consider the most glaring case where leaders versus laggards is playing out right now. The retailers and the restaurants. All which are beneficiaries of the collapse in oil prices that threaten to take gasoline down below 2 a gallon for most of the country. We should start with the logical one, Urban Outfitters, which i think could be the company with the strongest fundamentals in the Retail Industry right now. Oh this ones a threelegged beast, with three people the teenage apparel, thats always been strong. Anthropology, dont know if you looked at it yet, a fantastic new home furnituring look and urban, a namesake thats gone astoundingly from negative to positive samestore sales, in a very short period of time, helped by a really interesting new set of designs. The transformation i regard it as stupendous. But Portfolio Managers asking has urban stock discounted this transformation . Urban is up an astounding 26 yeartodate besting all the other retailers. If youd buy urban, youd be coming into the retailer with the most momentum in the country by far. But with a stock that you have to believe only reflects a tremendous amount of whats transpired, so lets do the laggard, contrast that with the leader here. Institutional favorite macys. Heres a stock thats done absolutely nothing. In fact you know that macys is down 2. 5 for the year. That is a truly sour performance. Can macys get better . Of course. However, theres no catalyst. It doesnt report again for a while. I dont see any real growth or real turnaround happening. Macys is an underdog that might stay an underdog. So all Things Considered when i play leader versus laggard, with these names, i would rather buy a leader like Urban Outfitters than a laggard like macys even though its cheaper. Because i know that Retail Investing is momentum driven with these chains that have the best Comparable Store numbers, rallying the hardest and the longest, and urban just reported its first set of terrific comps in ages, so therefore, i think there must be more ahead. As for macys its cheap. Darn it, i cant come up with a thesis for buying it other than Terry Lundgren is a real good ceo and will eventually figure it out. That is not enough to make me pull the trigger. Or how about another example of leader versus laggard. Ross stores and tjx. Here are two very similar offprice retailers that are certain to benefit from all the clothing that was stalled in the west coast port slowdown and now must be offloaded, because the season has been missed. And when that happens, tjx and ross get to stock up on out of season merchandise at a huge discount, as people know to shop at these stores for offseason bargains. Now, tjx has put up some terrific numbers over time but in the last quarter, it gave you guidance that wall street didnt like. In the meantime, you have ross stores just delivering and delivering and delivering but ross is up 13 for the year. Its a leader. Tjx is flat. Its a laggard. Ross trades at 22 times earnings, tjx sells at a cheaper 20 times earnings. In this case though i would say you buy neither. Buy neither right now, although if ross store comes down especially off an errant fed statement where they take out the word patient, i would recommend buying this one. Absolutely, on weakness because the company has a lot of room to expand, its only in 33 states and a very easy store to comprehend. What about the Restaurant Group . This is a the toughest leader versus laggard group i know. Theres longtime cramer fave jack in the box, which has been putting out powerhouse numbers from its Namesake Stores and kudocue qdoba. The darn thinged is up 22 for the year. And then theres chipotle. The best of breed, we spoke them last week. This company, though its actually flat for the year. That happened after some down downbeat guidance. How can you not want to play catchup with chipotle. I would go for the ladder, unless jack in the box pulls in very hard. Chipotle can sustain itself has an investment too, which cant necessarily be said about jack. I can come up with a whole host of leader versus laggard comparisons. Cvs versus riteaid. There are really now no easy answers. I would go with the best of breeds here starbucks and cvs. But i respect riteaid as a dynamite but speculative name. The bottom line in leader versus laggard, theyre tough calls. But theyre the decisions that the big boys being paid to make right now. This is whats going on right now, people. Whether to trade down to something that hasnt moved, opening the stock place catchup on any good news or to keep riding the horse. Its all case by case. Thats the way its always been after an epic run. Theres no cut and dry answer. But oddly enough its hard to go wrong with the winning horse, because horses win for reasons. And when they arent winning, theyre very difficult to turn around. Stay with cramer. Coming up mad money madness. The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are 1 in 9 quintillion, but there are better ways for you to make it rain. Tonight, cramers raising your investing game when he scouts the best ballers on wall street. Qo e d8j8j8j you know that i am a man on a mission. For ten years, ive been using everything and anything i can find to help teach you to be a better investor. And every year we get march madness. Filling out your ncaa brackets is not that different from picking names to fill out your stock portfolio. As a matter of fact, this games got beta. As part of my neverending quest to make you a better investor, this year were playing bracketology, mad money style. Were looking at names and using them as a lens to explain why we look some of our absolute favorite stocks. Give you some more speculative names, riskier stocks, that might be able to surprise to the upside. Last too manyime, we started filling out march mad money brackets. In the south region, number one and number two, duke and gonzaga remind me of disney and boeing. In the east nova and they make me feel like 3m and orbital atk. I met the Northrop Grumman guys, like them. In the midwest, the number one seed is Boring University of kentucky wildcats, the least exciting of the wildcats, which happens to be the overwhelming favorite to be the whole darn tourney. If it sweeps the tournament, which everyone says it will it will be the first team to finish the season undefeated since indiana back in 76. If youre betting on kentucky to go all the way in march madness, you really ought to own, not trade, but own, the stock of yeah you got it apple. Just like the university of kentucky, apple is perhaps the best, most dominant company on ear