Jim Cramer Blog

Buy Syngenta (SYT), Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment Monday.
Cramer said the Swiss agriculture company has been welcomed in Europe, unlike American companies. "I always felt that Europe had been very inhospitable to American biotechs," he said, calling Syngenta "one that they embrace." The stock is a "great buy," he said.
Cramer pointed out that Syngenta is off its highs. Because Bunge (BG), Monsanto (MON) and Syngenta all trade alike, "Anytime you get a discount in one, I'd pull the trigger," he said.
In energy, Cramer recommended ABB Ltd. (ABB). Cramer said that presidential candidate John McCain has left nuclear power as "really the only option" he supports. "ABB is the nuclear company from around the globe," he said.
Cramer said that Deutsche Telekom (DT) ought to acquire Sprint Nextel (S). With "no growth" and a 7% yield, Cramer said, Deutsche Telekom should take advantage of Sprint's install base. "They need growth to get this thing energized," he said. "I don't know what the holdup is."
Of BP (BP), Cramer said that American investors are impressed with the company's new management. He said that BP's 4% yield is safe.
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: ABB, BG, BP, DT, Jim Cramer, MON, S, Stop Trading, SYT

Stocks see mild gains on several merger deals and ahead of FOMC meeting this week. Last week saw the major market indices all fall about 0.60 percent on concerns about interest rates. Rising bond yields have pushed long term rates higher mostly due to stronger than expected economic data of late. This week will see several economic reports, but the FOMC meeting will garner most the attention. The FOMC meeting will begin tomorrow, resulting in a statement Wednesday afternoon. With strength in recent economic reports, the feeling is that the committee will keep its focus on inflation pressures. They also are likely to hit on the rise in bond yields and the sharp drop in energy prices. Overall, the FOMC statement shouldn’t have a major impact on trading because it isn’t likely to change from the last one. In merger news, Merrill Lynch (MER) agreed to buy First Republic (FRC) for $1.8 billion. This deal values FRC shares at $55, which has resulted in a gain of more than 40 percent Monday. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007. MER shares have fallen 1.5 percent on the news. In other merger news, Laureate Education (LAUR) shares are up 13 percent after succumbing to a leveraged buyout by Chief Executive Douglas Becker and a group of investors including KKR. Chip giant Intel (INTC) is seeing higher prices Monday, as is IBM (IBM). Both companies’ announced that they are working with new materials for chips that will speed computers up even more. Both are using “high-K” technology that will reduce electrical leakage and the size of the transistor. Intel expects to start making the chips in late 2007. IBM expects to use there new chips starting in early 2008. In earnings news, Deutsche Telekom (DT) cut its forecast for 2007 and this led to a decline of nearly 5 percent for the stock. The company is blaming tougher competition and recent weakness in the dollar. The news was enough to convince Citigroup to move the stock to a “Sell” rating. Later this week, earnings will be reported by Google (GOOG), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Altria (MO) to name a few. Economic news will also get plenty of attention with the release of the GDP report, the ISM Index, personal incomes and the always important employment release on Friday.
-Jody Osborne

Labels: DT, FRC, GOOG, IBM, INTC, LAUR, MER, MO, XOM

Deutsche Telekom Ag (NYSE:DT - News) cut its profit forecast for 2007, citing fierce competition and an erosion in its U.S. revenue due to recent weakness in the dollar.
Giga-Tronics (NasdaqCM:GIGA - News) shares dropped after the company reported a profit of $58,000, or a penny per share, for the third quarter on sales of $5.6 million. Orders booked for the quarter fell to $3.7 million in the latest period from $4 million last year, while backlog as of Dec. 30 declined to $9.9 million from $12.9 million last year.
Origin Agritech Ltd. (NasdaqGM:SEED - News) shares tumbled after the China-based hybrid crop seed supplier said it expects revenue of between $80 million and $90 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
Quality Distribution Inc. (NasdaqGM:QLTY - News) lowered its outlook for the fourth quarter and 2006 primarily due to softer-than-anticipated seasonal demand and an unexpected charge for costs associated with legacy environmental remediation projects. The transportation company said it now sees earnings per share of 3 cents to 7 cents for the fourth quarter, compared with its prior view of 17 cents to 19 cents. For 2006, the company now sees earnings per share of 59 to 63 cents, compared with its prior view of 74 to 76 cents.
Radware Ltd. (NasdaqGS:RDWR - News) shares fell after the Israel-based networking services provider reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $110,000, or a penny a share, down from $2.35 million, or 12 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding stock-based compensation, profit came in at 16 cents a share compared with 47 cents a share last year. Revenue rose to $21.09 million from $21.04 million.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY - News) was in focus following a report that the company could merge with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - News). Lettre de l'Expansion, a weekly French newsletter, said a pre-merger memorandum has even been signed last week, La Lettre de l'Expansion also reported, adding the merger could be finalized by September this year. Both Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers declined to comment on the report.
Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE:SGP - News) said fourth-quarter net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $182 million, or 12 cents a share, from $104 million, or 7 cents a share in the year-ago period. The latest period includes charges of 5 cents a share. Sales rose 14% to $2.7 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 17 cents a share and revenue of $2.5 billion, on average.
Sysco Corp. (NYSE:SYY - News) said its second-quarter net income rose 16% to $236.7 million, or 38 cents a share, from $204.2 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier, boosted by business reviews and marketing efforts. The Houston food-service marketing and distribution company said Monday that sales for the quarter ended Dec. 30, rose 7.5% to $8.57 billion from $7.97 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, had expected earnings of 38 cents a share on revenue of $8.6 billion.
USG Corp. (NYSE:USG - News) swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $100 million, or $1.11 a share, from a year-ago loss of $1.78 billion, or $30.92 a share, as the year-ago period was hurt by an asbestos claims provision of $3.1 billion. In the latest period, the company had 90.1 million shares outstanding while in the year-ago period it had 57.6 million shares outstanding. The Chicago-based building-products company said sales fell 3.1% to $1.29 billion from $1.34 billion in the year-ago period. The company expects lower wallboard volumes and lower average prices in 2007 which will cause profit to decline "significantly" from the levels of recent years.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: BMY, DT, GIGA, QLTY, RDWR, SEED, SGP, SNY, SYY, USG