Cramer’s week ahead: A closer look at housing with Lennar and KB Home earnings

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday guided investors through next week’s most important happenings on Wall Street, including earnings reports from homebuilders Lennar and KB Home, adding that the housing sector can be the “linchpin” of the economy.

“Last night, I bemoaned that there aren’t enough stocks that are compelling away from tech,” Cramer said. “Let’s see what happens next week, and whether we get enough data that’s weak, but not too weak, because it’s very hard to imagine the Fed cutting rates until the fall at the earliest. And this week’s numbers suggest that higher for longer might be too inflexible a strategy for a suddenly gassed economy.”

Lennar reports on Monday and KB Home reports on Tuesday. Cramer noted that there are so many industries tied to housing, including lumber, plastic and retail. He said these companies could indicate whether more houses will be built thanks to strong demand, or if homebuilders will keep the supply limited so prices won’t be able to come down, as has been the case recently.

Tuesday also brings an investor day from Citigroup and an event from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where the company’s CEO, Antonio Neri, will speak with Nvidia‘s Jensen Huang. The government will also report retail sales data that day.

Housing starts data will be released on Thursday, and Accenture, Kroger, Darden and Jabil will report earnings. Cramer noted that Accenture slashed its forecast during its last report and wondered whether the company can turn things around this time. He pointed out that Kroger hasn’t made progress on its acquisition of Alberstons, wondering whether the company should forgo that deal. Cramer said three firms slashed their price targets for Olive Garden parent Darden this week, which usually doesn’t bode well for the quarter. Jabil is a major manufacturer of Apple products, and Cramer suggested its quarter might be able to reveal information about the tech giant’s business.

CarMax will report on Friday, and Cramer said the company might be able to provide more information about whether used car prices are starting to come down, as they can be a key inflation component.

Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.

Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Nvidia and Apple.