Jim Cramer Blog

Fortress Investment Group, Sears Holdings (NasdaqGS: SHLD) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News)
Cramer comments that Fortress Investments, which will become the first publicly traded hedge fund on Friday, will serve as a yardstick for Sears which is really an investment, rather than a retail, business. Cramer calls Sears' CEO Eddie Lampert "one of the best money managers in history," but because there were no publicly traded hedge funds up until now, there has been no way to gauge SHLD's worth. "Fortress' multiple, which will probably be 17 times earnings, tells us what we should pay for Sears' investment business," Cramer said, and noted that investors will realize that Sears is cheap. While some think that Fortress could also be a gauge for GS, Cramer does not agree, since GS is more than a hedge fund. He predicts that SHLD will rise to at least $237 a share from $180.81.
State Street (NYSE: STT - News), Investors Financial Services (NasdaqGS: IFIN), DST Systems (NYSE: DST - News), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), SunTrust (NYSE: STI - News)
Cramer says that asset management firms like DST "should have gone up huge" when STT made a bid to acquire IFIN. This didn't happen, and Cramer thinks it is "wrong" but would use the opportunity to buy DST, which he believes is the next takeover target. He thinks potential buyers may be BAC or STI, and even if DST doesn't get bought, it had a "blowout" quarter, is still cheap and has good fundamentals. Although DST is not worth as much as Investors Financial, it should increase from $71.94 to $88.
Sell Block: Avon (NYSE: AVP - News), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC - News), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF - News), Circuit City (NYSE: CC - News), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News)
Cramer said he regretted placing Andrea Jung on his bad CEO list, because Avon recently reported a great quarter; "the company showed real growth afte a long time," he said. Although Cramer has liked WFC for "seemingly forever" he would sell since he feels it is expensive. Cramer said it isn't necessary to drop one's entire position, but would swap some into GS. Cramer would take profits in ANF, would sell CC and would buy BBY.
Mad Mail: Altria (NYSE: MO - News), Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS - News), Diageo (NYSE: DEO - News), Level 3 Communications (NasdaqGS: LVLT)
Cramer commented that MO and DEO have solid dividends and do not resemble LVS which is a "high-rolling, conceivably one-month shortfall of a Macau stock." Cramer sees a turnaround in LVLT, which is taking care of its debt, but he suggested doing homework and checking out the company's conference call before buying.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: ANF, AVP, BAC, BBY, CC, DEO, DST, GS, Jim Cramer, LVS, Mad Money, MO, SHLD, STI, STT, WFC

Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX - News) forecast revenue of about $100 million for the fourth quarter. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for revenue of $99.5 million in the December period. The Santa Clara, Calif., biotechnology company plans to release its results for the fourth quarter and full year after the closing bell on Feb. 7.
Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (NYSE:BBW - News) said President and Chief Operating Officer Barry Erdos is resigning. The company named Scott Seay to succeed him.
Cray (NASDAQ:CRAY - News) received an order to provide two supercomputers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CBST - News) reported fourth-quarter U.S. revenue of $56.2 million for its antibiotic product Cubicin, up 54% from the same quarter last year. Full-year 2006 U.S. Cubicin revenue came in at $189.5 million, the Lexington, Mass.-based company said. Cubist shares rose 2.4% to $17.80 in Monday afternoon trade.
DST Systems (NYSE:DST - News) was upgraded to overweight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. The firm said it sees potential for a strong fourth quarter from the company and set a price target of $74.
EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS. The firm boosted its price target on the stock to $16 from $13.50.
General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen & Co.
Hauppage Digital (NASDAQ:HAUP - News) shares rose after the company unveiled a line of four TV tuner products designed to support Microsoft's Vista Media Center.
Houston Exploration (NYSE:THX - News) agreed to be acquired by Forest Oil (NYSE:FST - News) for $52.47 a share. That's 8% above Friday's closing price but below the $62 a share that a hedge fund offered Houston Exploration last summer.
Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ:HGSI - News) said it expects 2006 results to be in line with prior forecasts, including net cash burn of less than $125 million. The Rockville, Md.-based drug development company said it has completed its facilities consolidation program and expects to record a non-cash charge to the fourth quarter of 2006. For 2007, it expects net cash burn to be in the range of $145 million to $165 million. Revenue is expected to increase by about 50% from 2006 to 2007, but total expenses, research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses are expected to remain about flat from 2006 to 2007. Human Genome said it expects cash and investments at year-end 2007 to total in the range of $560 million to $580 million.
IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS. The firm cited improving fundamentals in its core businesses and the belief that acquisitions in the software market will expand growth rates and margin expansion. Analyst Benjamin Reitzes also raised his stock price target for the Dow component to $118 from $100, his 2007 earnings estimate to $6.70 a share from $6.62 and his 2008 forecast to $7.40 a share from $7.25. "After having underperformed over the last several years as it rebalanced its portfolio and restructured, we believe IBM is embarking on a multi-year cycle leverage acquisitions and cost cutting," Reitzes said in a research note. "We also think IBM can leverage trends in information technology spending as corporations need software, hardware and consulting services to help manage an explosion in content."
Incyte Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INCY - News) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $8 from $4.
IntraLase Corp. (NASDAQ:ILSE - News) agreed to be acquired for $25 a share, or $808 million, by Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (NYSE:EYE - News) That's 12.5% over IntraLase's closing price on Friday.
Nautilus Inc. (NYSE:NLS - News) formed a partnership with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. The deal calls for Nautilus to provide research and training support for new fitness products. Financial terms weren't disclosed. In addition, the company was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
NCR Corp. (NYSE:NCR - News) unveiled plans to separate into two independent publicly-traded companies through a spin-off of its Teradata Data Warehousing business to shareholders. The company expects the transaction, which it anticipates will be tax-free, to be completed within six to nine months. NCR said Bill Nuti, its current president and chief executive officer, will serve in the same capacity following the spin-off, and that Mike Koehler will be president and CEO of Teradata. Koehler is currently senior vice president of the Teradata operations.
Network Appliance (NASDAQ:NTAP - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $47 from $43.
Omnivision Technologies (NASDAQ:OVTI - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at American Technology Research.
ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ONNN - News) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman Bros. on valuation.
Quebecor World Inc. (NYSE:IQW - News) plans to close its L'Eclaireur facility in Beauceville, Quebec, impacting about 155 employee positions. The closure is part of the company's plan to consolidate its Quebec-based magazine and catalog printing operations. Quebecor World said it continues to employ about 2,000 employees at seven facilities in Quebec
Quigley Corp. (NASDAQ:QGLY - News) shares advanced after its Quigley Pharma subsidiary said a preliminary study has demonstrated its QR-441(a) compound to be a potential antiviral agent in reducing infectious bronchitis and New Castle disease, two viral poultry diseases. The Doylestown, Pa.-based company said QR-441(a) showed positive results in a study evaluating the compound in embryonating egg and VERO E6 cell test models.
RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH - News) said fourth-quarter net income will rise from the $51 million the consumer electronics retailer earned in the year-ago quarter, but same-store sales will drop.
Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD - News) shares gained after the company said both Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co., two proxy advisor firms, have recommended Rite Aid shareholders vote in favor of plans to issue 250 million common shares to The Jean Cotu Group as part of the purchase of the Brooks and Eckerd drugstore chains. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the proposal in a special meeting on Jan. 18.
Savient Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ:SVNT - News) shares rose after the East Brunswick, N.J.-based company announced late Friday that, as part of its restructuring of its commercial operations, it will discontinue its 19-person Oxandrin field sales force. The move follows the company's launch of oxandrolone, the generic version of Oxandrin.
Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ:SGEN - News) said it entered a license agreement with Genentech (NYSE:DNA - News) to develop cancer treatment SGN-40, which is currently undergoing Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. As part of the agreement, Seattle Genetics will receive an up-front payment of $60 million and could receive milestone payments of as much as $800 million, as well as potential royalties on sales.
Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX - News) lifted its outlook for the fourth quarter to earnings of 28 to 31 cents a share on revenue of between $295 million and $300 million. The Manhattan Beach, Calif., footwear provider previously forecast a profit of 22 to 27 cents a share for the period on revenue of $255 million and $265 million. For the full year, the company now sees earnings of $1.55 to $1.58 a share on revenue of between $1.196 billion and $1.201 billion. Skechers' prior projection for fiscal 2006 was for a profit ranging from $1.49 to $1.54 a share on revenue of $1.156 billion to $1.666 billion.
Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:SWRG - News) said its December sales at restaurants open at least one year rose 5.1% to $14.1 million. Total consolidated restaurant sales for the month increased 9% percent to $15.3 million, the New York company said.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ - News) said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call forecast earnings of 39 cents a share, on average. The St. Paul, Minn. medical device company will report net sales of approximately $864 million for the fourth quarter, an increase of more than 9% compared to the year-ago period and approximately $20 million above current analysts' consensus revenue estimates, the company said.
Syntax-Brillian, (NASDAQ:BRLC - News) the high-definition-television maker, said fiscal second-quarter sales will exceed $240 million, with LCD television shipments greater than 350,000 units. Gross margins will be at the top half of its 15%-to-17% range.
Telestone Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:TSTC - News) shares rose after the Beijing-based provider of wireless services said it has been awarded bids from four regional telecom operators. The company said it was awarded indoor coverage system equipment contracts from the Sichuan Telecom subsidiary of China Telecom; the Guizhou Unicom subsidiary of China Unicom; the Heibei Netcom subsidiary of China Netcom; and the Jiangxi Telecom subsidiary of China Telecom. Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Therma-Wave Inc. (NASDAQ:TWAV - News) agreed to be acquired for $1.65 a share, or $75 million, by KLA-Tencor. (NASDAQ:KLAC - News) The offer represents a 25% premium to Therma-Wave's closing price on Friday. KLA-Tencor, which provides semiconductor manufacturing systems, said the deal will strengthen its customers' access to Therma-Wave's advanced measurement capabilities.
TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO - News) shares rose after the company announced a number of new products and partnerships, including alliances with Music Choice and RealNetworks, and a deal with Roxio to provide joint content mobility product for Macintosh computers. The company also said it plans to maker a presentation at a conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Also, Bear Stearns upgraded the stock to peer perform.
United Surgical Partners (NASDAQ:USPI - News) said it was being acquired by an affiliate of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe affiliate for $1.8 billion in cash and debt. UNCN will pay $31.05 for each United Surgical share, a 13% premium to Friday's closing price of $27.39.

Labels: AFFX, BBW, CBST, CRAY, DNA, DST, EMC, EYE, FST, GD, HAUP, HGSI, IBM, ILSE, INCY, KLAC, NLS, NTAP, THX, Tivo