attention to cdc.gov the official website for the centers for disease controlch the organization is responsible for protecting us from the coronavirus outbreak cdc.gov surging and s&p up 1.5 and nasdaq surging 2.10% we don't know through will play out in china are where it started, the rest of the world for that matter and where it is spreading. but the cdc is indeed getting its arms around it and slowing it down. aided by the president's decision draconian some would say to ban foreign nationals from our shores. the result the virus hasn't been able to spread here. not like you would have expected based on what is happening in placed like wuhan. what does the cdc saying i'm going to summarize it. put it in english. they're basically saying that the illness is a medical crisis over there in china. but it is only a public health crisis here in the united states and therefore it is manageable when you don't have a vaccine, need a quarantine and so far our quarantine is working. you see people walking around with masks and carrying purell which does dry out my hands and clorox wipes and that company reported this morning. the remarkable thing here is what i would call the cdc's new level of certainty when they addressed the coronavirus outbreak last week, oh, boy, little certainty about anything from detection to prevention now they make it sound like the quarantine efforts are working and their diagnostic tests is adequate i feel like we're being played it sounds so good. knocking 600 points off the dow and then confident today up another 400 points, 600, 400, almost back. so are we good here? can we stop worrying now i know a lot of people feel that way you think you have to look through the valley of the coronavirus and imagine everything is fine if everything is fine, stocks can surge to new highs as they did today. i'm sensitive to that. i didn't see the rally coming today. but i'm maintaining my cautious stance i have reservations. first the market is saying that china will soon be back online factories will be humming again and that is why stocks with china are roaring like apple which rallied $10. but i worry that is a false sense of security about china because the situation hasn't improved there the cdc tells us in the same rosie projections, that is my word, in their same certain projections that the death toll will keep climbing in china. there is no salas there. it is not in the clear yet it is possible they will be back online and partly sunny possible things get worse before it gets better they have $250 billion, not million, but billion this the last few days and that created positivity worldwide and our markets has benefited big time too. it seemed to relieve the tightness in the bond market which sent yields higher which suggests the fight might be over meaning we're on more stable footing meaning unlikely to have a recession. but let's be real, between the illness and the quarantine, the chinese economy is slowing down so i use this rosie moment to reposition and doing -- consumer and travel and travel and travel, those have downside. third the earnings have been terrific so when you take the virus off the table, not that you could do that, but if you could, you have a bullish picture of the u.s. economy. tech in particular is on fire. i though alphabet reported disappointing numbers last night and i'm getting the feel that people think that that was the only stinker to me alphabet is giving us the opportunity we've been waiting for to pull the trigger. the company finally broke out the cloud and the youtube numbers which should get better so a low baseline. yes. even though the stock was down 2.5% today, it was up this week. and the cloud kings, all of the stocks we talk about the adobe of the world, they're white hot and there is no real reason for that strength. i find this kind of action unnerving. there is nothing driving the stocks up aside from the cessation of new ipos. we're still ringing the register on our high flier with the charity trust and making room to buy them back at lower loefls becauses you got to have some cash fair warning, i hold monthly calls and i'm doing one this thursday at 11:30 and the market has gotten clobbered every single time while i'm holding the call quite unnerving. fourth, we're hearing a ton of chatter about how smaller biotech companies are closing in on either a cure or a vaccine. i don't feel certain enough to share it with you yet. the number of infects remains slow here and the disease slowed down here. it does raise the odds of something worthwhile pans out. the prospects for discovery are much better than previous epidemics because we sequence the entire genome. i could be wrong we did get some encouraging news from the fda they have an emergency test for the disease i thought we already had that, but that is okay and the odds of a massive epidemic seem well and i thought we had that assurance but that is okay and the crux is the coronavirus is manageable. while that is true in the united states, almost every market roared a great deal and yet many of the countries are very unlikely to contain the disease. just because it is manageable for the u.s. doesn't mean it is manageable for them. that is important. that is what the w.h.o. is worried about. that is why i'm surprised to see industrials with major china exposure flying and things need to go right for the china 1% of gdp because the cdc beats down on friday with a ton of short sellers. more on that later we saw a rally in the deserving and the undeserving. finally, while the rest of the world's markets roared, i think some of today's strength, well i think had to do with president trump. whether you love him or hate him, he's great for the stock market between the democratic disarray in iowa, if you saw that, it is palpable and the impeachment will fail and i think that is empirical i'm betting the market gets a boost political implications is what we call it how neutral can you get? implications bottom line, today seems like a relief rally with a sense of relief that we'll make it through the epidemic in tact or much better shape than we thought a few days ago to me, this is an opportunity to do some portfolio reshuffling. yes, you take profits in the ones that shouldn't be up and you buy the ones that should when the market goes down. to bill in florida bill >> caller: hey, jim. this is bill in saint augustine florida. >> nice. >> caller: the question with the recent ferrari where ibm ceo is stepping down after april 9th and she's announced the new ceo arvin cristner, the head of the cloud computing. but all of the recent euphoria is this just a blip or does it look like the ibm is finally turning the corner. >> first, i don't think it should have been down that much but second jenny has crafted a strategy that i think is a great one which is moving aggressively all into the cloud that was part of the reason why the description was named the ceo. and also the reason why jim whiler, they bought red hat so i think that path when you consider how great the cloud is doing with microsoft azure, how terrific it is doing with amazon and how excellent the cloud is doing with the -- the google platform, don't believe the negatives. they're wrong. thomas curran is doing a great job. why not cash in for ibm. there is room for one more i think there is a false belief that china's economy could bounce back quickly from the coronavirus outbreak use today's rally to take some stocks off the table that are levered to china because it is not going to get better that fast i expect those names to be in a house of pain, at least for a little while on mad tonight, after an update on the averages, wondering who is driving this market right now. i'm giving my take and then stay cautious in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, but does that tip today's move does it change the narrative well we have to be unemotional about it and check the charts. and chipotle reported tonight and it still has spice i know the spice i had had for lunch is starting to upset me. i have the exclusive stay with cramer >> announcer: don't miss a second of "mad money." follow @jimcramer on twitter have a question? tweet cramer, #madtweets send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com or give us a call at 1-800-743-cnbc miss something head to madmoney.cnbc.com. >> the global threat of coronavirus, cnbc team coverage on the outbreak. we're tracking the spread and the fear of the growing pandemic as it threatens the united states a special report tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern watch or listen live on the cnbc app. do ynded memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. [ fast-paced drumming ] how much of this huge move today was a gigantic short squeeze. you have to understand so much hedge funds who were poorl they overcompensated by shorting anything related to the coronavirus right into the teeth of the downturn. they took place, those sales in the midst of panic now the shorem on top of $170 b yesterday. all of t prices which rippled around the world more importantly, they didn't imagine that there might not be any sellers, real sellers to speak of instead really only had sellers of the s&p futures and they stopped once we got a i guess y under control. it looks like china will be back to work next week. and there wasn't much actual stock for sale as opposed to short sold stock let's say you bet against the casino like wynn do you know anyone who made the bet was right that the casinos would shut down. but it didn't seem to hurt the stocks when the long and the current shareholders didn't freak out. many of the owners are index funds and they never sell any way and others think the worst is over and either way it is extraordinary that something bad happened to the macau gambling names. and that is new. take nike. this is one that seems like an obvious loser from the coronavirus epidemic one of the largest suppliers and a fabulous market for them and if they are in trouble, nike should be like shooting fish in a barrel, right. talk about an obvious short. then you come in monday and the stock gets not one but two upgrades and the new ceo is coming in to speak to large accounts this week and going on camera with us to explain what is happening in china, i'm sure what is happening around the globe. but mostly i think about the rise of personalizization and [ inaudible ] and questioning everybody. the virus, ah, a good short spoiled. consider ralph lauren. the apparel space had been one of the best shorts kohl's and macy's, target have all been weak and then pvh had a good quarter nobody cared so shorting ralph lauren, talk about layup. nope the ceo has reinvented the business selling more product over the internet and especially via instagram and the for lorne snap and what was once a draw back, the lack of china exposure is a virtue. through don't have a lot of china exposure, the company reported a fantastic number and surged 9%. what they call elevated brands have terrific sell through i was impressed. and then there is one. look at this, still trading like a wild man clorox many analysts have an underperforming sell rating. yeah, sell you could imagine with clorox with ben odor. but when the shorts see that there is a lot of sells and under-performers around wall street they figure they have a nice loser on their hands. and clorox hasn't had the best track record of late oh, but not this time. not this time. the company delivers a better than expected quarter. it is up 5%. the shorts scolded and then the health of course tesla which just keeps flying and flying this is seeming supernatural frankly. it is out of the world up another 14% today since tesla reported a profit two quarters ago busting and it is a short sellers worst nightmare. jimmy chill nailed this about 600 points ago but you say he's late 600 points let me tell you, chill is chill. remember when you short something you need to borrow the stock before you could sell it to someone else but with tesla there is a shortage of stock to find there are so many short sellers so when you hear of a legendary guy like ron barrett on squawk this morning, he's shifting from the get go and using a trillion dollars target and you better believe you'll get a classic short squeeze where the brokers have no choice but to close out business and this is what is known as a buy in and it is happening every day in tesla and you could tell it is up big before the market opens. that is the brokers. the shorts will get squeezed out until natural sellers appear even at $887 it is increase of 107 points but it did trade to $968 interday. where are the short sellers coming from. hedge funds like to have shorts as a hedge against the longs and run a neutral book, okay they've dedicated short money. it means they have to have some shorts and that is where the real damage is done. the shorts are getting annihilated because they have to have shorts and they've become rocket fuel for the market they are desperate tor something bad to happen, anything. they just need panic they're hoping you will panic. but you know better. the natural sellers from last friday suddenly they're nowhere to be found. stick with cramer. with sofi, get your credit cards right by consolidating your credit card debt into one monthly payment. and get your interest rate right so you can save big. get a no-fee personal loan up to $100k. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? get a no-fee personal loan memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. after a spectacularly bullish day, let's not get ahead of ourselves i didn't see this one coming i urge you to stay cautious in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak but i still think caution is warranted and i'm not throwing it to the wind like so many others but in volatile markets like this one i'm a believer of taking your feelings out of the equation so when the action gets crazy tall back on the technicals, the charts because they could give us a less subjective and emotional assessment of where we are so tonight we're going off the charts with carol, a brilliant technician and runs the queen called the fib queen website and one of my colleagues at real money.com where i blog to get her read on the s&p 500 and the nasdaq and so start with the s&p weekly chart even after today's rebound, she's weary of this one. she's throwing a caution flag on the s&p 500. in tact she tweeted on january 24th right before the big coronavirus selloff and her warning stands why does this make her nervous the s&p is approaching critical resistance in terms of price and timing sometimes the interpretation of the charts is straightforward, for example look at the last major rally from february of 2018 through september so this red line we saw a terrific run that lasted 32 weeks. why does it matter because of symmetry. that is the watchword of all of the work the idea that swings in the same security tend to be similar in size and duration and you could be not tell when a stock or index is about to change trajectory and i always check and look back but she has been spot on. so the last run was 32 weeks from june last year through the peak last month, ha, 33 weeks, red line that is why she's concerned about symmetry and figured we were due tor this a week and a half ago nice and when with you look at the s&p big move from december of 2018, that was when the fed saw that it was making mistakes, through may of 2018, well this took us up $607 and keep that in mind and from the most recent swing to june of the last year to late last month, which took us to $609 and the previous rally said we might face resistance around 3336 and sure enough the s&p peaked at 3337. if the rally is out of steam in a bounce like today might not have that much staying power again, i didn't call this rally today. so i am looking at this and saying, yeah, i'm kind of with it how about the daily chart. it is nice to watch the five-day exponential moving average because when the five day is above the 13 day it is a reliable bicycle but last time the s&p was in mid-october and you could see that right here. that is the bullish cross over but on january 29th, what did we get? a bearish cross over where the five-day goes under the 13-day not that it means that the s&p 500 is in trouble but it does mean that the market could be more vulnerable to a downside correction as long as we're on the wrong side of the moving averages, broden urges caution and when all of the daily average are back in favor of the bulls and not just the five-day or the 13-day but you want to see it above the simple moving averages even on days when we aren't there and ifshe's wrong to be cautious, the s&p could take out the resist sans up nearly 40 points from here yes, she thinks it could keep climbing until 3371. or even 3413 that is a 3.5% gain from the levels if you go to the weekly chart, that may be 3503 and within reason and that is a 6% gain and that is pretty sweet if she's right and we've lost the old up trend and thedown side could be much worse than that and there is a floor support at 2829 which would represent a 14% decline. in other words when you think about that, five six, versus 14, i don't like the risk reward but if you look at the daily chart of the nasdaq 100, entirely different index and that is that we know is the faang names. well look at this. this is the composite for a much more enticing picture. ip thought it was incredible and the ndx hasn't had the same breakdown and it rebounded much better today and first we saw the same bullish cross over with the five-day exponential moving average above the 13 back in october. so we go here. this is the first cross over but unlike the s&p, the five-day is still above five day blue is a bove the red line which is 13 day so we've not had a bearish cross over for the nasdaq and that means the nasdaq 100 is escaping from the recent selloff and that is microsoft, that is apple, that's facebook, and it's amazon, okay so, yeah, i mean, get that this pattern holds she expects the ndx to keep chugging along rapz climbing to 9495 so another 2% but if she sees a bearish market with five day below all bets are off. so this is better chart. but there could be downside if it doesn't break out the bottom line, after phenomenal run today let's not get ahead of ourselves the s&p 500 might be vulnerable to a nasty correction although the nasdaq is in better shape. i think it is worth taking the charts seriously even as you might say, you know what, jim, you said it wasn't good to get back in. i didn't tell you to sell everything i just did have to admit, did not see this decline as a buying opportunity. nor did she. paul in arizona. paul >> caller: hi, jim thanks for taking my call. i have been a while back in the dotcom days and you're giving me the confidence to get back in the game again. >> and we did a good job thank you so much. >> caller: you bet i've been increasing my cash position from 10% to 30% by taking my profits from apple and nvidia and those kind of stocks. but this market, was i smart doing so and the next not so much -- my question is -- >> well i think that is too much candidly that is too much. wait for break we took the -- for the club, we took it up to about 15 that is about as much as i want to take it you want to try to get a break and get back in. that is too much on the sidelines. even though i know that there is real issues. don't worry, you'll get some bad news from the coronavirus and be ready with the shopping list there will be things to buy. how about nolan in new york. >> caller: hey, jim, how is it going today? >> what? >> caller: hello >> it is jim what is up. >> caller: how are you doing thanks for taking my call. so i think -- i've been investing since september and using robin hood and i'm looking at dividend stocks and buying shares and using the dividend as secondary source of income so ienl looking toward dividend growth stocks to buy in and hold them for long-term growth and see returns on the growth. >> sounds good. >> caller: what do you think of companies like american express -- >> they had a fantastic quarter. fantastic. they had a lot of selling came in because people feel with the coronavirus you can't own a stock but i think that is wrong. american express is a lifestyle issue. anyone who has been the century on club like in miami, people know there are benefits to owning this card that hadn't thought about before so no, i think that is a good one to be in and don't confuse that with the coronavirus. all right. i don't think we're out of the woods. i think there are still things that could be wrong even after today's rally. market could still be vulnerable so err on the side of caution. much more "mad money" and including with chipotle. i had lunch today with it but that is -- got to know about the earnings i'll tell you when it is time to buy. and then i'm sitting down with the ceo of sentine for the 2020 election and beyond and all of your calls and rapid fire in tonight's edition the lightning round. so stay with cramer. >> the tesla rally, inside of the surge. tomorrow, what is fuelling momentum and should investors go along for the ride "squawk on the street" at 9:00 a.m. eastern watch or listen live on the cnbc app. e forbidden forest and join hagrid to encounter... the rarest of magical creatures. in the epic new addition to the wizarding world of harry potter™. only at universal orlando resort. stay at an amazing universal hotel with rooms starting from $79 dollars plus tax per night. restrictions apply. the number of uninsurising.ricans, the cost of prescription drugs, rising. the threat to people with pre-existing conditions, rising. the good news, so is support for the one candidate who'll do something about it. as mayor, mike bloomberg helped expand coverage for seven hundred thousand people, including hundreds of thousands of kids. including hundreds of thousands of kids. as president, he'll lower drug costs and ensure everyone without coverage can get it. that's a promise. and unlike him, mike actually keeps his. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. right after the close we got results from the best performing stocks of 2019, chipotle and they posted a 13 cents earnings beat, higher than expected revenue up 17% year-over-year and grew at a 13.4% clip and much better than the wall street number and the digital business is exploding up about 28% of the business stocks didn't do much in after hours because it is on a terror. up 250% from the lows a couple of years ago when we said it is time to buy. can the momentum be maintained let's talk to jack heart with the ceo and jack, welcome back to "mad money." >> hey, jim, great to hear your voice. >> two things jump out at me here a loyalty program and adjust started and 19.6% of the sales are already digital. these two initiatives came out of nowhere and i think they're just beginning >> jim, listen, i couldn't agree more we're just getting started the loyalty if you compare our plan to other companies that have had a loyalty plan at the same stage, we're way ahead of thatment we think that is a tribute to the natural loyalty that people have to the brand and the marketing and the awareness building to attract people into the program. the best thing, though, jim, we haven't monetized that and turned that into a one-on-one basis with our customer and so this is more infrastructure building and on the digital the same thing is what we found is that the more convenient we make it for our customers to eat chipotle, whether it is delivery or pick up or not get out of the car, our customers are responding and we're in early days in every element. >> i think people should understand and there was an article today, the costs are up. but the costs that you take up are very small compared to what you get from a newly loyal customer. >> yeah, no question about it, jim. during the year, our margins grew 180 basis points, during the quarter they grew 220 basis points and we do have investments imbedded into the cost structure so we feel like the margins have grown significantly, we think the potential for greater margin expansion if the future as long as we continue to attract more customers into the system and including into the digital system with a higher margin and we think the margin potential only goes up from here. >> one of the things i love with your company is, yes, everybody has to compete on wages. but you're competing with mental health benefits. you're competing with tuition--free and competing with social things this we love and never expected to get from a restaurant >> yeah, jim, it is a tough environment to attract and then to keep great people and what we found as we talked to our folks is, yes, they want a competitive wage and so those are table steaks and you have got to pay what the going wage is but then invest in your people and that means invest to develop them so they could be great in the kitchen. invest to develop them to run a business invest to develop them so they could be great leaders but they do need another helping hand in some cases mental health, not only for our employees but for their families as well. it is something that makes them feel good about being part of chipotle not just the employee but the family as well they feel like they're wanted and needed and appreciated in the family it was a big deal and it it was great for years and we've had tuition reimbursement or assistance but people would leave their college experience with some debt and that could be crippling to some folks so we took care of that as well. so it takes some of the worries that are outside of the chipotle four walls if you will so that when they come to chipotle they commit their whole entire self and that is the best way to retain the best people for a very long time. >> you're doing something new that i just love and a lot would love you're dos a test of new formats a walkup window across from wrigley field. can we see this blown out. that has got to be a big success. >> yeah. i was at that restaurant several weeks ago, jim, the restaurant is fantastic it is a little over 2,000 feet so it is smaller than the normal footprint and the new design and it looks great as soon as you walk in, digital pickup sales are right there but if you don't want to walk on the restaurant and on game day, all you do is order ahead and walk up to the window and it is the first one of its kind in the country. we've got a couple of other sites that we think that we can take a shot at it. i wouldn't expect to see every restaurant with a walkup window but in urban areas where there is a lot of walk-up business it is another opportunity for us to make the experience even more convenient than ever whenever customers respond by saying this is how i want to eat chipotle, we're going to try to deliver. >> are you happy with what the different companies are doing for delivery for you and are you able to be sure and monitor the quality, given the fact that a lot of the delivery companies have the same guy doing 40 different things and it is usually not chipotle style. >> you know, generally we are, jim. with delivery, there are execution challenges and that is both on our side and the delivery company side as well. the delivery experience, we're making the meal without the customer walking down the line, like they would in the restaurant we've got to make sure we execute at a high level so we don't forget anything and have a partner where we get feedback about how the experience is. how was the time, what was the quality of the food and we have to really partner together to make sure when we disappoint our customers, we both have to own that and so far so good and that is we're careful about not just signing up with every single delivery company we did on today's call say we're open to the idea of exploring additional aggregators but it has to be the right partnership not just the business terms and here is what we pay, it is an end to end brand experience we are both proud of. >> one last question a surprising number of new chipotle opening up. some think there is no more room for chipotle but if anything there is much more room for chipotle than we thought. >> we're not even half way there, jim we opened 80 in the fourth quarter and just over 2600 by today's math, we could double that but when they do things like that that creates opportunities for us to go into trade areas that we couldn't before where you could put a smaller restaurant where you have a driveup window and those are looking right now at trade areas that we hadn't looked in the past so as we approach that number of 5500 or so, that number is only going to go up and so, yeah, we're in early days in terms of how many restaurants we can bring to customers. >> and venues that i hadn't thought of or like airports. >> we're in a couple of airports right now. we're open to the idea of getting into more airports they're a little more challenging to get into unless you want to look at a franchise model. we've not franchised any restaurants across the world mainly because we want to make sure that we do have full control over the brand experience we're providing to our customers so customers do want those to appear in airports but we have to work on the right deal and who controls that experience. >> you'll never compromise with we know what others have done and compromised and hurt their brands the cfo of chipotle. and there is a lot more ahead. "mad money" is back after the break. ♪ limu emu & doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >> announcer: lightning round is sponsored by td ameritrade >> it is time. it is time for the lightning round. -- then the lightning round is over are you ready, skee-daddy? garrett in iowa, garrett. >> caller: jimmy chill. >> you got the chill man what's up. >> caller: my friend max introduced me to you last year, i'm a huge fan ever since. thank you for helping us young guys understand the market. >> they don't have to just put money in index funds what is up. >> caller: immune therapeutic just got fda approval for the first peanut allergy treatment first of the kind in the market and predicting huge sales and is this legit. >> i think we're late to the party. it is down three today if you want to get involved yesterday when they got the news but we are late. people should know this well ahead of time. to kevin in minnesota. kevin? >> caller: booyah, jimmy. >> booyah. >> caller: hey, i think you should getting these guys on show sometimes, 800-flowers. >> we've had them on before. i think it is a good solid franchise. i'm not going to say it is going to shoot the lights out. i think it is fine let's go to joe in california. joe? >> caller: hey, jim, thanks for having me, long time listener. >> good to have you have. >> caller: i want to ask you, thanks to you i got back into a company sell side, cvm and i want to know what you think -- >> a big believer in immunotherapy with gene sequency that we are in favor of. to girard in new jersey. >> caller: jim cramer, how are you. >> i'm good. how are you. >> caller: good. thank you. this stock was on a terror and now it is dead in the water. what happened to cvs. >> they have poor issues and a guy that they bought aetna from and not too happy. but i'll tell you the real issue here is aetna expensive and people are fleeing the health care stocks because they're worried about single payer in the democratic party and the acquisition, whether it is too big and too much and i have to tell you, it is an issue. let's go to dave in illinois dave >> caller: dr. cramer. tik tok it is teladoc. >> i'm a believer. we had doctors on demand yesterday. it cuts price of so many parts of the health care system by looking at sun up. they get to teladoc and they have the saving and the money and the health care system and i like that. going to eric in colorado. eric >> caller: booyah professor cramer. >> booyah. professor. i like that. >> caller: first time caller, long time viewer, i've read all of your books. >> fantastic i might be coming up with a new one. what is going on. >> caller: i made some money and i want your thoughts, see if it is time to back up the truck again. my stock is sir rich and branson virgin galactic. >> now coming back up, wait for another time to go back down and do over. that train has -- well that rocket has gone. let's go to joe in south carolina joe? >> caller: booyah dr. cramer the karnack stock -- >> what is up? >> caller: i have a two-fer for you. do you think abbvie is a buy, sell or hold going into earnings and with the recent downgrade of norfolk with goldman sachs would you be a buyer or seller of lockheed martin. >> first one is abbvie, i think it is a good quarter and lockheed martin i think is excellent and don't read anything from northrup i know they're worried about the chart and that is about it and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the lightning round. >> announcer: the lightning round is sponsored by td ameritrade before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪ with time, comes change that's for sure... and when those changes might help more people, especially those in retirement, i think it's worth talking about! so, aag is 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had to spend more on coverage and stock is up 50% over the past four months and the whole time we're following it so can the stock resume its run let's take in with the chairman and ceo of sentine welcome back to "mad money." >> thank you. >> so michael, first thing i have to ask you. do you wake up in the middle of the night and say there are candidates in the democratic party who could basically make it so there is no sentine. >> no. medicare for all is a sound bite you look at what it would cost we can't afford it 33, $38 billion on a $58 trillion -- trillion over ten years. not affordable also the only way a single payer controls cost is to withhold service and i could show you many places where that is the case americans aren't going to put up with that. >> in an exchange, how much service is withheld. >> none. it works our exchange is so successful. we had 82% renew we had a 86% effect rate and 96% effectuation rate and people like it. >> people like it but i only hear about it from you and i wonder why that isn't because no one seems to -- this is going to sound strange, people don't know who centene is you're gigantic. maybe you should change your name or something. >> i don't know how that is. i've talked to people about it. >> you're the biggest. >> we're a 100 plus billion dollars company and -- >> a fortune 20 company. >> we're in the 120 or so internationally. but i'm not worried about that what i'm worried about is our shareholders i was just looking and over the last ten years there has been a 28% cater on shareholder price that is really what counts. >> so a lot of that is bought. but you had really good organic growth this quarter. >> yes it is been good all year we had this past year we had close to $7 billion in organic growth and we're focused on organic growth the well care deal was special >> but do you keep buying or are you done. >> i said on the call today we'll buy capability and that is important. but at the right time and the right place if we see the right opportunity, sure we'll buy it. >> what you said on the call, people want to go to the medical loss ratio and you call it the benefits ratio and you did something glossed over because that is the way our business is done but it has got to stop. you did social health bridge, opening youth challenge, food for today, food for tomorrow these are what i care about. >> it is wholistic. >> let's hear about it. >> we've identified opportunities to help people in a wholistic way and we've been doing this for years long before the terminology for it and we find it takes treating the whole person if you're worried about your food, your health state is not good so by doing this, we find we improve the health state >> now, the president has -- i'm not sure where he stands other than the fact that i know he thinks the changes are a failure, okay. how does he think the chaex inks a -- the exchanges are are a failure because we have the state of the union address. >> there is rhetoric if you look at the success of the program and where things are at, you were talking about this quarter and -- >> we're going to get to that. >> okay. >> well talk about it. because it is a moderate increase in flu related but they were higher than -- your costs were higher than expectations. i'm not used to seeing that in a centene quarter. >> and we spend a lot -- a lot of it was balance billing issues >> balance billing issues. >> somebody goes to a nonparticipating provider so we settle that with the providers and that is one time and part of that settlement was they became providers. >> i see. >> so we took the one time hit for that payment in the quarter. but it is going to benefit us this year and going forward. >> well that is important. so it comes out in the wash. >> it makes sense. >> so there was -- we have maybe this perspective, we've had a horrendous flu season, haven't we. >> it is stronger than it typically is. >> do you think it is cavalier to say we should be thinking about the almost 9,000 deaths that we've had from the flu before we just completely drive ourselves nuts about the coronavirus. >> i've talked about that. that is the average year but the coronavirus, it is captured everybody's attention and i think we need to take steps to protect against it. i was glad to see the fda now has a test for people so they know whether they really have it or not so we need to do what we can to protect people but every year there is a flu. it is a fact of life and unfortunately 8,000 people, 9,000 people in the country die of the flu every year. >> how about if they got the shot, do you think it would be lower? >> i think it helps. we provide the shots and a flu- -- >> a what? >> flu-ention to get your injections. >> well you don't sound scares about the coronavirus. >> i'm concerned but at every generation we have something and we deal with it. as you deal with the facts as you have it today. and we're continuing to do that and that is all you can do and if i want to ensure that somebody has the flu or has an issue, they get the highest quality of care. so long-term is what really counts. >> that is michael nideoff from centene and this is a gigantic company and big in an area that you don't think its doing well but it is good and you heard from michael people like the service. "mad money" is back after the break. make fitness routine with pure protein. high protein low sugar tastes great! high protein low sugar so good! high protein low sugar mmmm, birthday cake! and try pure protein delicious protein shakes apps except work.rywhere... why is that? is it because people love filling out forms? maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports. i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com she is on her way to our house. what? i got it. alexa, start roomba. the lexus es. eagerly prepared for the unexpected. lease the 2020 es 350 for $389 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. as i said at the top of the show, there is still much happening around the outbreak story. and we have it covered up next carl quintanilla has the spreading virus and you cannot afford to miss this. we had an interviewing if you caught when jack hart talked about being able to double the number of chipotle and that could double the numbers that you saw tonight. so i don't want you to think that this move is over there is still plenty of room and if the stock sells off tomorrow, it is a mistake and it is worth buying. there is always a bull market somewhere and i promise to try to find it just for you right here on "mad money." i'm jim cramer, see you tomorrow and the cnbc special report begins now >> the global threat of coronavirus, cnbc team coverage on the outbreak. we're tracking the spread and the fear of the growing pandemic as it threatens the united states a special report next. watch or listen live on cnbc app. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to this special report outbreak coronavirus on this 36th day since the world health organization was first alerted to what has now become a global pandemic. moments ago, china report something new numbers sending the total number of cases above 24,000 worldwide, nearly 500 deaths also new tonight, the fda tho z authorizing a new test allowing local labs to test for the virus instead of sending them to the cdc. a short time ago, japan confirming ten cases on a quarantined cruise ship.