Cramer’s week ahead: 3 events will determine if the market’s bad momentum will continue in October

Three key events next week will determine if the stock market will continue into October.

The events are listed here.

• The release of the nonfarm labor report Friday. Cramer said he expects it to show inflated hiring and wages.
• Two speaking engagements by Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who Cramer believes is the primary inflation hawk on the Federal Open Market Committee. “She wants to protect us … from high inflation, even if that means raising interest rates into a recession,” he said.

The S&P 500 ended the month with its worst performance in over a year. The index fell for the month as well as for the year.

Cramer says that investors can protect themselves from the market turmoil if they stick to their game plan.

He believes that a decline in inflation will benefit companies with good balance sheets and high dividends.

Next week's earnings were previewed by him. Earnings and revenue estimates are provided by FactSet.

Helen of Troy.

Helen of Troy was a woman.

• Q2 2023 earnings release before the bell; conference call at 9 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $2.21
• Projected revenue: $521 million

Lamb Weston is a holding company.

• Q1 2023 earnings release at 8:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: 79 cents
• Projected revenue: $1.21 billion

The upside just treads water or goes marginally higher as the downside gets worse. Cramer expects that will happen with both when they report.

Thursday: ConAgra Brands.

The brands that are part of the Constellations are:

• Q2 2023 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 10:30 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: $2.81
• Projected revenue: $2.51 billion

The company's top line is expected to be good.

The brands of ConAgra.

• Q1 2023 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: 52 cents
• Projected revenue: $2.85 billion

Cramer said that the company needs to grow.

There is a person named McCormick.

• Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 8 a.m. ET
• Projected EPS: 71 cents
• Projected revenue: $1.6 billion

Cramer said that the earnings call will reinforce the company's weaker-than- expected third-quarter earnings and full-year outlook cut.

The Norwegian Cruise Line is a cruise line.

• Investor meeting at 10 a.m. ET

Cramer said that he expects Norwegian to perform better than Carnival, which struggled with higher costs in its latest quarter, but it's not clear if that will help Norwegian's stock.

Tilray brands are on Friday.

• Q1 2023 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
• Projected loss: loss of 5 cents per share
• Projected revenue: $169 million

He thinks that this could be a great speculative stock to own during the Biden administration, as he predicts that the company will make a "bold" statement about the legalization of cannabis.

Cramer's Charitable Trust is a shareholder in the company.

Jim Cramer has a guide to investing that you can download for free.