Cramer Remix: The real story behind Yahoo's deal

Jim Cramer says everyone got the news of Verizon (NYSE: VZ)'s $4.8 billion purchase of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) all wrong.

While many media outlets focused on the story of Yahoo being a once-great company that was crushed by competition and its CEO Marissa Mayer , Cramer saw a different story emerge from the deal.

"I think this need for a competitive edge is the real story, not whether Marissa Mayer stays or goes — I think she goes — or whether she has done a good job or a bad job managing Yahoo," the "Mad Money" host said.

The main story is really about what Verizon had to do to build a competitive franchise, as it faced an oncoming buzz saw from AT&T (NYSE: T), T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and as of Monday, even Sprint (NYSE: S).

When Cramer spoke with Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam back in February, McAdam confirmed Verizon's interest in purchasing Yahoo and marrying the assets under the leadership of AOL's Tim Armstrong.

McAdam shared his game plan, and then executed on it because he had to. Verizon needs Yahoo more than any other company in the U.S. right now, Cramer said.

Cramer is an equal opportunity critic of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump 's policies, and the damage they could do to the stock market. He has some major concerns and refuses to be complacent about them.

"I know many of you believe that at least one of these platforms is right for the country, but I'm telling you that neither would be good news for the stock market. They are, in a word, bad, and I don't think you can be complacent about them," the "Mad Money" host said.

With Trump's recent commentary stating that the World Trade Organization is a "disaster" and discussing the repeal of N.A.F.T.A. at the Republican convention, Cramer was concerned.

"Is he trying to make it so the estimates will be slashed for the majority of American companies that sell products overseas? I've got to tell you, if Trump actually does what he says he's going to do, that's what you will get," Cramer said.

Democratic nominee Clinton also presents problems, but in a different way. Among Clinton's economic plans, she proposed a financial transaction tax to reduce high-frequency trading.

"I am not a fan of high-frequency trading, but I sure don't want any sort of transfer tax. We have enough people exiting the market as it is. Throw in this tax on trading, and it will be one more nail in the stock market's coffin," Cramer said.

With U.S. tariffs now in place to prevent China from dumping steel at lower prices in the U.S., steel manufacturer Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is finally on solid ground again.

Cramer spoke with Nucor 's chairman and CEO John Ferriola, who confirmed that overcapacity still remains a major challenge for the industry.

"But I'll tell you, things are looking better in terms of our ability to work with our allies and with the United States government to finally get something done on overcapacity," Ferriola said.

With the market in the middle of the most confusing part of earnings season, Cramer warned investors to be extra careful.

Kimberly Clark is the consumer packaged goods company responsible for brands such as Kleenex, Huggies and Scott paper towels. It reported what appeared to be a strong beat on Monday morning, but the stock fell, down almost 2 percent.

Cramer attributed Kimberly Clark's cut to its organic growth forecast as the earnings point that spooked investors. He spoke with Kimberly Clark's chairman and CEO Tom Falk, to find out if the market's judgment was too harsh.

"We had a really solid quarter. Volumes were up 4 percent overall, which I think is the right underlying metric to focus on. Currencies aren't hurting us as bad as we thought at the beginning of the year … With that kind of volume growth, we expect to have a pretty solid year here," Falk said.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide also reported a solid quarter last Thursday, with an earnings beat and raise of its full-year earnings-per-share guidance. Marriott is the vacation rental company spun off by Marriott International five years ago.

When Cramer last spoke with Marriott's CEO Stephen Weisz back in October, the stock had just been slammed hard, down 15 percent following a weaker quarter that was impacted by a strong dollar. Since that time, the stock has roared back 25 percent, and is up more than 35 percent for the year.

Weisz explained the strength of Marriott, stating that competitors such as Airbnb have not taken market share from the company. Instead, its structure to move away from a capital intensive business model has reduced the requirement for customers to provide significant amounts of cash up front for vacation ownership.

"Clearly Airbnb has a place in the business world and they are certainly being successful at what they do, but they really don't compete in our space," Weisz said.

In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:

Taser International: "Taser is very, very good. It's a very undervalued company, unfortunately with the conflict going on in so many cities. I'm surprised the stock isn't going higher."

Gartner: "People don't ask enough about Gartner. I think it's doing incredibly well. I think it's very expensive, but you know what? It's got great growth."

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