Jim Cramer Blog

Trish Regan started the show by stating that financials are up today, leading stocks to trade higher. The DOW is down about 5.3% for November. Nasdaq down 7.4% for November. Stocks are on pace for first 2 day winning streak this month. Next, the economy was discussed with Steve Liesman. He says the FED needs to take into account the market, despite dips in the credit institutions; flexible policymaking is required when dealing with volatility within the financial sector. AIG, American Express and IBM are the leaders in the financial sector today. Crude Oil reaches a two week low with a drop of almost 3%; at under $92/barrel. Freddie Mac and CITI Group are among the leaders for finances. The U.S currency index is up almost a point. Next, shareholders vs. the sec; Dan Pedrotty says that the sec is not following through to protect investors. Among these proxy proposals is the stipulation that shareholders, owning 5% or more of the company, can elect new company directors. The objective is to provide opportunities for involvement among the shareholders. Merrill Lynch is expected to have a good day. Next was the real estate market. Steve Liesman of CNBC says mortgage and interest rates are very tight. The mortgage lenders are demanding high equity loans, and those consumers who are aggressive can find the money they need, in the upcoming months. Next, David Fondrie of Heartland Investors says that Cimarex Energy (XEC) and Conocophillips (COP) would be good choices for buying today. Allan Hubbard resigns from his position as economic advisor to the Bush Administration. Keith Hennessey will be replacing him. Hubbard says he is leaving so he can spend more time with his children.

Labels: AIG, Citigroup Inc., CNBC, CNBC's The Call, COP, FED, IBM, MER, The Call, trish regan, XEC

Erin Burnett started today's show with Steve Leisman, speaking of fed rate cut probability, sighting the Wall Street Journal as a source for saying "not a done deal." Portfolio plays were next. Gregory Church says he does not believe there is a "best bet" to beat the fed rate cut possibility. Fearing recession, most correspondents say, Genentech, and Johnson & Johnson are the best bets. Next, was Bob O'Brien from WSJ discussing CEO switching with companies, and the reflection on their stocks. After Nardelli left Home Depot, stock went down 20%. Walt Disney after Ovitz left worked up 54%, and Morgan Stanley stock after Parcell left, is up over 60%. Next topic was Canadian oil with Amir Arif. He says if crude oil drops to $76, companies will see an increase of about 25%. He also added that PetroCanada, Nexen, and Talisman Energy will all see an upgrade in the year to come. Darren Ravell was next, interviewing David Stern. As the NBA begins its 67th season tonight, the commissioner discusses gambling amongst referees, as well as an increase in the global market for the NBA. Sponsorship is up. David mentioned that he believed ratings would be up, and attributed that in measure of consumption. League pass, NBA wireless, ticket sales and propaganda will all be faces of consumption, and rating measurement. He says, despite a "tough" off-season, he foretells, with confidence, this season as being a success and reflection of the history and attitude of the league. The Scandinavian airlines ground their fleet of 27 bombardier q400 planes after crash. Peter GreenBurg says it is due to landing gear failures. Dash 8 landing gears are being investigated for proper inspection. AAR, Continental airlines, Horizon Air (Alaskan Airlines) and Frontier Airlines are all companies that use these sorts of Dash 8 aircraft. John Arnone from Bombardier was next, saying their Q400 landing gear manufacturers; Goodrich, is solid with assurance that their products are "of high quality and closely inspected." Jim Cramer with Stop Trading was up next. Jim says stay away from Goodrich right now. He says buy BE Aerospace and adds; to get out of P&G, and buy Colgate. He also loves Latin America. Shutterfly was the next topic. The digital internet photo company, has seen a great increase in sales, as a result of the wildfires across the country. HP, Yahoo and Kodak now have online galleries for personal photography use. Street Signs ended on a positive note, sighting Elvis Presley earning $49 million this past year. Well ahead of Albert Einstein with $18 million.

Labels: CNBC, Erin Burnett, FED, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, Street Signs, street signs recap

Buy Annaly (NLY), Jim Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment.
Cramer said the mortgage company is well positioned to benefit from a coming series of Fed rate cuts. Cramer also likes Downey Financial (DSL) and FirstFed (FED), calling them "fulcrum stocks" and saying they're too heavily shorted to not rally in a declining-rate environment.

Labels: DSL, FED, Jim Cramer, NLY, Stop Trading

On Wednesday, Cramer said, "For everyone who missed out on the 400-point rally yesterday and today, I have one thing to say: It's not too late, you've barely missed a thing." Proof: Cramer said when the Fed realized the extent of its problems back in 1990, it was a great time to get into the market. Since then: Dow Jones up 10,000 points. People shouldn't pay attention to the "negative Nancies" that have been scared out of the market. Cramer says the rate cut has been great for so many stocks. Including: Kohl's (KSS), Target (TGT), as well as the banks. Also: Wachovia (WB), Downey Financial (DSL), and FirstFed Financial (FED). Cramer is still in the middle on homebuilders. He wouldn't touch Lennars (LEN) or KB Homeses (KBH), but wouldn't short them anymore.
AT&T (T): Cramer spent the next segment telling why AT&T is a good buy. It has a good dividend and has "totally reinvented itself as a growth company" by investing in telco companies. AT&T CFO Rick Linder was welcomed to the show and said the telco industry is resurging. Their wireless data, broadband, and video division are all taking off as well. Their acquisition of Apple's iPhone has been largely successful, especially since its price drop to $200.
Mad Mail: writer commented on Cisco's (CSCO) recent acquisition of wireless solutions company Cognio and asked if all WiFi companies are headed down the bandwidth road to the extent that Level 3 Communications (LVLT) will soon experience explosive revenue and profit growth.
Am I Diversified? Cramer's first caller asked if he was diversified with the following five stocks: Apple, Noble (NE), Potash (POT), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Schlumberger (SLB). Cramer pointed out two pairs with Apple and RIMM, and Noble and Schlumberger. Throw out Noble and Apple and add a defense play like Northrop Grumman (NOC) and a financial like Wachovia. Separately, Cramer said he prefers Deere (DE), Monsanto (MON) and Bunge (BG) to Potash.
His second caller named these five picks: Genentech (DNA), Fuel-Tech (FTEK), NightHawk Radiology (NHWK), L-1 Identity Solutions (ID) and US Gold (UXG). Cramer told the caller she had too much of a gambling portfolio with too many speculative stocks like ID, FTEK and UXG. He suggested getting out of those and into less speculative names.

Labels: ATT. T, CSCO, DE, DSL, FED, Jim Cramer, KSS, LEN KBH, LVLT, Mad Money, Mad MOney Recap, MON, NE, NOC, POT, RIMM, TGT, WB

Stocks were little changed in tepid trading Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's latest take on the economy, which could signal where interest rates are headed. The Dow Jones industrials slipped after two sessions of gains, while other indexes nudged higher.
While Wall Street largely expects the Fed will leave short-term interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent, investors are eager to learn whether the central bank will reveal a shift in its assessment of the economy. The Fed has remained vigilant about the threat of inflation, which it has said remains stubbornly high. However, a softening economy could quell the threat of inflation and, some investors are hoping, open the way for a rate cut.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged at its last five meetings after a string of 17 straight increases that began in 2004.
In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.69, or 0.06 percent, to 12,280.41.
Broader stock indicators made modest gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.80, or 0.06 percent, to 1,411.74, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 3.84, or 0.16 percent, to 2,412.05.
Bonds fell ahead of the Fed decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.59 percent from 4.55 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
While most of Wall Street's attention will remain squarely on the Fed, a few key earnings reports should also draw interest. Morgan Stanley's fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue blew past Wall Street's estimates and FedEx Corp.'s fiscal third quarter earnings came in stronger than expected but the shipping company warned profits in the coming fiscal year could fall below its expectations.
Morgan Stanley rose $2.47 ,or 3.2 percent, to $78.58, while FedEx fell $2.58, or 2.3 percent, to $109.71.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.09, or 0.01 percent, to 793.51.
Overseas, stocks markets in Japan were closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.82 percent and the sometimes volatile Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.83 percent to a new record. A nearly 9 percent drop in the Shanghai index on Feb. 27 helped kick off a global selloff that shaved more than 3 percent from the major U.S. stock indexes and reintroduced volatility to an unusually calm U.S. market. The drop in Shanghai came after the ascendent index, which rose 130 percent last year, had set a string of record closes.
In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.87 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.14 percent.
Published by Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer

Labels: FDX, FED, Hot Stocks, MS