Jim Cramer Blog

Good As Golden Star Resources (AMEX: GSS - News)
Cramer likes GSS as a way to play the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. The company operates in South America and Africa, and is therefore highly speculative, but has a large mine in Ghana, "an island of stability." The bears are worried about a sulfide-processing plant GSS is building in Ghana, but Cramer thinks investors should use this anxiety as an opportunity to buy. He predicts the announcement of a new plant, which will double production and lower costs, will be sooner than expected. With this news, analysts will raise their numbers and the stock will go higher. Cramer also believes GSS may be taken over, and he likes the sector, since gold is moving up. Cramer would not swap out of best-of-breed Yamana to buy GSS, but likes the price at $4.46, and urges investors to use limit orders when buying.
Laser King: Ionatron (NasdaqGM: IOTN), Palomar Medical Technologies (NasdaqGS: PMTI), Syneron Medical (NasdaqGS: ELOS), Cynosure (NasdaqGM: CYNO)
Cramer noted that last Friday's laser pick, IOTN has risen 17% since his recommendation, and he decided to choose a new "laser king." Cramer has liked PMTI in the past and declared ELOS the "czar of lasers" when he was discussing cosmetic laser procedures. Now CYNO wears the laser king crown, since it has doubled while ELOS hasn't moved. In addition, CYNO has 30% growth and is levered to the rest of the world. Cramer added he prefers "a performer that's pricey" to "an underperformer that's cheap." PMTI is Cramer's second-best pick, but is more costly than CYNO, and he likes ELOS, but doesn't see it going up in the near future.
Game Plan for the Coming Week: Fluor (NYSE: FLR - News), McDermott International (NYSE: MDR - News), Foster Wheeler (NasdaqGS: FWLT), CVS/Caremark (NYSE: CVS - News), Dynegy (NYSE: DYN - News), Nabors (NYSE: NBR - News), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News), Parker Drilling (NYSE: PKD - News), Forest Oil (NYSE: FST - News), L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID - News), Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP - News), Six Flags (NYSE: SIX - News), Syntax-Brillan (NasdaqGM: BRLC)
Cramer suggesting looking at infrastructure, especially MDR, FLR, and FWLT which are "terrific" companies and which should benefit from high oil prices. He would establish half a position before their reports and half after, and would buy the stocks on any weakness. On Monday, he would also buy FST. Cramer praises CVS as having "valued itself even further into the health care heaven" with its cheap Caremark purchase, and would buy ahead of its Tuesday report, adding he also likes DYN. PKD, which also reports on Tuesday, may be bought by NBR or HAL which discussed expansion during their conference calls, Cramer commented. His Wednesday picks include ID, PCP and SIX. Since the LCD TV sector is improving, Cramer likes BRLC which reports on Thursday after the markets close.
CEO Interview: Nolan Archibald, Black and Decker (NYSE: BDK - News)
Nolan Archibald says BDK's report was strong because of the company's "great brands and innovative products" which thrive in down times. BDK is featuring new Dewalt brand products including concrete breakers, hammers and generators. Archibald added the company is going to continue buying back shares. Cramer commented BDK is "the real deal" and sees it rising from $92.36 to $100.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: BDK, CVS, DYN, ELOS, FLR, FST, GSS, HAL, ID, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, MDR, NBR, PCP, PKD, PMTI, SIX

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Monday from TradingMarkets.com:
Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) reports earnings on Monday before the market opens; watch for $0.53 EPS. AEE's PowerRating is 5.

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) should report $0.06 EPS on Monday morning before the bell. AMT's PowerRating is 5.
When Flamel Technologies (NasdaqGM:FLML) reports quarterly earning on Monday morning, watch for -$0.33 EPS. FLML's PowerRating is 6.
Analysts are watching for Hansen Natural (NasdaqCM:HANS) to announce $0.35 EPS before the market opens on Monday. HANS's PowerRating is 6.
Sotheby's (NYSE:BID) is expected to announce $0.06 EPS on Monday morning. BID's PowerRating is 7.
Forest Oil (NYSE:FST) and Wynn Resorts (NasdaqGS:WYNN) both report earnings on Monday after the close, so watch for heightened price action and volume ahead of the close. FST's PowerRating is 5, and WYNN's PowerRating is 6.
PowerRatings are courtesy of PowerRatings.net

Labels: AEE, AMT, bid, FLML, FST, HANS, Hot Stocks, WYNN

Stocks Ready to Surge: These are the stocks that today made new 10-day lows that are still in an uptrend as they are trading above their 200-day moving average. They are sorted in rank according to how over-extended they are vs. their 10-day moving average. For example, the top ranked stock is trading the furthest distance from its 10-day moving average on a percentage basis. Historically, these stocks on average have had larger than normal short-term upside reversals.
Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN - News). JWN's PowerRating is 5.
Low-Priced Stocks Ready to Surge: These are the stocks under $10/share that today made new 10-day lows that are still in an uptrend as they are trading above their 200-day moving average. They are sorted in rank according to how over-extended they are vs. their 10-day moving average. For example, the top ranked stock is trading the furthest distance from its 10-day moving average on a percentage basis. Historically, these stocks on average have had larger than normal short-term upside reversals. Please note: All stocks carry risk and low-priced stocks usually come with even more risk. Always use caution.
Mediacom Communications (NasdaqGS:MCCC - News). MCCC's PowerRating is 6.
Pullbacks from Highs: Most successful momentum-based traders and money managers like to buy strong stocks after they pull back. TradingMarkets.com uses a proprietary mathematical model to identify up to 30 (in weak or choppy markets there will be fewer) of the strongest stocks that have pulled back from recent highs. These stocks should be considered potential candidates to resume their longer-term up trends.
Guess (NYSE:GES - News). GES's PowerRating is 7.
Trading Where the Action Is: This list contains the most volatile stocks over the past 50 trading days. These stocks are only for the most aggressive traders who are willing to assume a high degree of risk in order to capture larger gains.
Amrep Corporation (NYSE:AXR - News). AXR's PowerRating is 6.
Stocks Ready to Drop: These are the stocks that today made new 10-day highs that are still in an downtrend as they are trading below their 200-day moving average. They are sorted in rank according to how over-extended they are vs. their 10-day moving average. For example, the top ranked stock is trading the furthest distance from its 10-day moving average on a percentage basis. Historically, these stocks on average have had larger than normal short-term downside reversals.
Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST - News). FST's PowerRating is 4.
Pullbacks from Lows: Most successful momentum-based traders and money managers like to sell weak stocks after they pull back. TradingMarkets.com uses a proprietary mathematical model to identify up to 20 (in strong or choppy markets there will be fewer) weak stocks that have pulled back from recent lows. These stocks should be considered potential candidates to resume their longer-term downtrends.
Safeco (NYSE:SAF - News). SAF's PowerRating is 5.
Explosion List: An inherent feature of all markets is that periods of lower-than-normal volatility are usually followed by periods of higher volatility. These stocks are trading at one-third or less of their normal volatility and therefore have a high likelihood of exploding within the next few trading days.
Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - News). GPN's PowerRating is 6.
PowerRatings are courtesy of PowerRatings.net

Labels: AXR, FST, GES, GPN, JWN, MCCC, SAF

Bulls fought back Tuesday to take the major market indices into positive territory at the close. The Dow ($INDU) ended the session with a gain of 25.48 points to close at 12,423.49. The S&P 500 ($SPX) added 3.13 points to 1,412.84. The NASDAQ ($COMPQ) tacked on 3.95 points to close at 2,438.20. Volume was a bit lighter than recent sessions with the NYSE trading 1.57 billion shares and the Naz turning over 1.93 billion shares. Market breadth was positive by a 19-to-13 and 15-to-14 margin on the Big Board and Naz respectively.Despite the mild gains seen today, it was surprising to not see larger advances given the good news released Tuesday. Merger activity didn’t provide much of a boost, nor did positive comments from Fed vice Chairman Donald Kohn. An upgrade of several tech firms also benefited the tech sector. Nonetheless, there continue to be concerns about how strong earnings were in the fourth-quarter and what to expect in the near term from corporate America.The energy sector continued to struggle today despite a couple of merger announcements within the group. General Electric (GE) announced plans to acquire private oil and gas service company Vetco Gray for $1.9 billion. This led to flat trading for GE. Forest Oil (FST) stated that it would buy Houston Exploration (THX) for $1.5 billion. This pushed FST shares lower by 3.5 percent, but sent THX shares higher by 4.1 percent.UBS helped tech stocks Tuesday on upgrades of several tech firms. IBM (IBM) saw its shares rise 1.5 percent after UBS raised its rating on the stock to “Buy” from “Neutral” and lifted its price target to $118 from $100. IBM shares closed the session at $98.90. UBS also had positive things to say about EMC (EMC) and Network Appliance (NTAP) with the two stocks rising 3.45 percent and 2.97 percent respectively.Mr. Kohn was part of today’s success after the Fed vice Chairman stated that the economy should experience a soft landing and that inflation in 2007 should cool. However, he did note that it might be too early for the Fed to relax its stance on inflation. Later this week there will other Fed members that will speak and it will be interesting to see if their views mirror Mr. Kohn’s. Shares of Alcoa (AA) fell one percent today ahead of its earnings report Tuesday. Alcoa’s earnings release is thought of as the kick off to the season. Earnings are now the focus of traders with the next Fed meeting not for several months. Traders will be interested in hearing how corporate America views the future and this news will be a key as to how stocks react the first quarter of 2007.
Jody Osborne

Labels: AA, EMC, FST, GE, IBM, NTAP, THX

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

Stocks might open higher Monday. One hour before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) might gain 15 or 20 points in early trading. The NASDAQ ($COMPQ) is expected to open modestly higher as well.
The day’s corporate news is mostly positive. IBM (IBM) will help the Dow in early trading after UBS upgraded the stock to “buy” and said it sees signs that the computer maker’s fundamentals are improving. Apple Computer (AAPL) might be active ahead of this week’s MacWorld Expo, which runs through the 12th. There is talk that the company could unveil a new cell phone or a video download device called iTV.
Wal-mart (WMT) is trading lower after Goldman Sachs cut the rating on the world’s largest retailer to “neutral.” The firm also lowered the price target from $53.00 to $51.00 a share and cut its EPS forecast for 2007 and 2008. Earnings will also come into focus this week as Alcoa (AA) officially kicks off the fourth quarter reporting season. The aluminum company and Dow component is due to report profits after the close of trading Tuesday.
A few deals were announced. General Electric (GE) is paying $1.9 billion for Vetco Gray, a supplier of drilling and production equipment. Forest Oil (FST) announced plans to acquire Houston Exploration (THX) for $1.5 billion in cash and stock. Advanced Medical Optics (EYE) is taking out IntraLase (ISLE) for $25.00 in an all-cash deal.The economic calendar is light today and tomorrow, with a lone report on consumer credit due out later this afternoon. Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn discusses the economic outlook in a speech scheduled for 12:45 Eastern time.
Meanwhile, some of the commodities are bouncing back following last week’s rout. After falling $4.75 a barrel last week, crude oil is up 87 to $57.18 amid talk of OPEC production cuts. Gold, which was hammered for a $30.00 lost last week, is trading up $2.80 to $610.00 an ounce. Overall, the day’s stock news is mostly positive and enough to help the Dow recover some of the 82.68-point loss suffered on Friday. However, expectations for fourth quarter earnings have come down significantly lately and analysts now expect S&P 500 companies to report year over year earnings growth of 9% for the fourth quarter, which is well below the 22% seen in the third quarter. As a result, trading might be somewhat cautious heading into the earnings-reporting season, which officially kicks off tomorrow.
Frederic Ruffy

Labels: AA, AAPL, EYE, FST, GE, IBM, ISLE, THX, WMT