Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: How to Get the Most Out of the Show

Cramer recently did a series on stocks that he thought were great private equity takeover targets, he said. Those six stocks in the series should not have been the takeaway.

Instead it should've been "that private equity funds like stocks with big cash flows and operations they could easily improve by taking the company private -- so look for those characteristics when you speculate on buyouts," Cramer said.

"None of this is to say that you shouldn't listen to my stock picks, which I have total conviction in. But the bottom line is that there's almost always something more important going on than just 'buy this, sell that,' and the bigger lesson is worth focusing on," he said.

Cramer said he truly believes that he is "the most misunderstood man in show business," and he's never more misunderstood or criticized than when he's doing his "Lightning Round."

The worst, he said, is when people take his recommendations from the Lightning Round and equate them with his recommendations during the rest of the show.

Sector Sweetness

While Cramer's advice in the Lightning Round is "sound," it's not as well developed as the rest of the show, he said. "If I spend 5 or 10 minutes pushing a stock at the very top of the show, that means a lot more than if I give a stock a thumbs up during the Lightning Round and move on."