Jim Cramer Blog

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Thursday from TradingMarkets.com:
Skechers (NYSE:SKX) missed earnings on Wednesday afternoon, reporting $0.26 EPS versus a cAnalysts are watching for Baidu.com (NasdaqGS:BIDU) to report late in the day on Wednesday afternoon. BIDU's Short Term PowerRating is 3.
Daimler AG (NYSE:DAI) reports earnings on Thursday before the market opens, with traders looking for $1.93 EPS. DAI does not have a Short Term PowerRating due to volume constraints.
When Comcast (NasdaqGS:CMCSA) announces results tomorrow morning before the bell, look for $0.17 EPS. CMCSA's Short Term PowerRating is 4.
Analysts are looking for Goodyear Tire (NYSE:GT) to report $0.42 EPS tomorrow before the bell. GT's Short Term PowerRating is 4.
Watch for Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IRto announce $0.97 EPS on Thursday morning. IR's Short Term PowerRating is 3.
Marriott (NYSE:MAR) is poised to announce $0.62 EPS on Thursday before the stock market opens. MAR's Short Term PowerRating is 4.onsensus of $0.29 EPS. SKX's Short Term PowerRating is 3.

Labels: BIDU, CMCSA, DAI, GT, Hot Stocks, IR, MAR, SKX

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Friday from TradingMarkets.com:
Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) beat estimates on Thursday, with $0.45 EPS over a consensus of $0.39 EPS. MSFT's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Rackable Systems (NasdaqGS:RACK - News) beat estimates this afternoon, announcing $0.09 EPS over estimates of $0.02 EPS. RACK's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Dynamic Materials (NasdaqGS:BOOM - News) beat earnings on Thursday afternoon, announcing $0.58 EPS over an expected $0.50 EPS. BOOM's PowerRating (for Traders) is 6.
Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI - News) reports earnings on Friday morning, with analysts looking for $1.22 EPS. BHI's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR - News) is expected to announce $0.87 EPS on Friday before the market opens. IR's PowerRating (for Traders) is 6.
Waste Management (NYSE:WMI - News) should report $0.59 EPS on Friday morning. WMI's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Analysts are watching for Countrywide (NYSE:CFC - News) to report -$1.66 EPS on Friday before the market opens. CFC's PowerRating (for Traders) is 6.

Labels: Baker Hughes, BHI, BOOM, CFC, Countrywide Financial Corp., Dynamic Materials Corporation, Hot Stocks, Ingersol-Rand, IR, Microsoft Corp., MSFT, RACK, Waste Management, WMI

Bullish Calls:
Honeywell (NYSE: HON - News): [CEO Dave Cote} '... is just the master of Honeywell. He's buying back stock hand over fist. He's doing a great job. ... Honeywell is absolutely a Triple Buy.'UBS (NYSE: UBS - News): 'Has been spindled, mutilated, crushed, whipped, and you know what? It's a great franchise, and it's going to come back. ... The stock is way, way off its 52-week high. ... Let's pull the trigger if we can around here and buy some UBS. ... It's going to start rallying.'Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News): ' ... is now down ... 16 straight points.'The Travelers (NYSE: TRV - News): 'I've got to send you to Travelers. I know that they've got great cash flow, and they take advantage of the absolute chaos.'Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR - News): 'Warren Buffet has been buying this stock almost as aggressively as the company has itself ... is a buy.'Ametek (NYSE: AME - News): 'Precision instruments is a good business. ... I like Ametek.'American International Group (NYSE: AIG - News) ' I think that AIG may be a better bet now that the Fed has blinked.'Goodyear Tire (NYSE: GT - News): 'They did the restructuring, and the stock has been knocked down like every industrial company has ... I think you've got to stick with Goodyear.'US Bancorp (NYSE: USB - News): 'I think Warren Buffet has just bought a ton of USB. Very little exposure to the mortgage market. ... US Bankcorp is fine with me. I would stick with US Bancorp.'
Bearish calls:
Dynamic Materials (NasdaqGS: BOOM - News): 'It has been a stalled stock. Metal-working, welding -- you need a stronger economy for it. ... Don'tBuy Don'tBuy. I say be careful.'Life Partners (NasdaqGM: LPHI - News): 'I frankly don't understand what part of the life insurance business they're really in. ... That's a hard business to understand.'
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Labels: AIG, AME, BOOM, CAT, GT, HON, IR, Jim Cramer, Lightning Round, LPHI, Mad Money, TRV, UBS, USB

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Friday from TradingMarkets.com:
Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI - News) reports earnings on Friday before the bell; watch for $1.11 EPS. BHI's PowerRating is 6.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX - News) hopes to report $2.28 EPS on Friday morning before the bell. CVX's PowerRating is 6.
Clear Channel Communications (NYSE:CCU - News) is expected to announce $0.43 EPS on Friday before the market opens. CCU's PowerRating is 6.
Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG - News) is looking to report $0.74 EPS when the company announces earnings on Friday morning. CEG's PowerRating is 7.
Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO - News) should report $1.44 EPS early Friday. FO's PowerRating is 4.
Anaylsts expect Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR - News) to report $0.95 EPS Friday morning. IR's PowerRating is 7.
When Lubrizol (NYSE:LZ - News) announces quarterly earnings tomorrow morning, look for $1.13 EPS. LZ's PowerRating is 6.
PowerRatings (for Traders) are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: BHI, CCU, CEG, CVX, FO, Hot Stocks, IR, LZ

The Nightmare is Over: Boeing (NYSE: BA - News), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX - News), Deere (NYSE: DE - News), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX - News), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News)
"The crisis - our short national nightmare - is over!" announced Cramer, reminding viewers of his prediction that the Fed would blink and cut rates. He felt that the removal of the line about "additional firming" from the Fed statement was responsible for the rally in the market on Wednesday and says the final third of the market, comprised of minerals, is hitting bottom. Cramer would aggressively buy cyclical stocks right now and named BA, UTX, DE, IR, FCX and CAT.
Gentlemen Prefer Haynes International (NasdaqGM: HAYN)
Cramer notes Haynes brought a secondary offering to the market, will be able to clean up its balance sheet and start moving. HAYN is a high-performance metals company, and is the cheapest member of the "red hot sizzling club" which includes Titanium Metals and RTI. Haynes is a fresh stock for analysts who are starved for a new name, said Cramer; "The demand for its product is only exceeded by the demand for its stock!"
Sugar-Free Danish: Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO - News)
Defensive stocks were performing "fabulously" on Wednesday, and Cramer would keep an eye on drug stocks, but not the American names. Cramer likes Danish company NVO which has 50% of the international market in diabetes treatment. NVO has "some of the best" insulin products, is selling human insulin inexpensively, has patent-protection and is not hampered by competition from generics. Cramer predicts the stock will move from $88.71 to $100.

Shopping for Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT - News) with stocks Sears Holdings (NasdaqGS: SHLD), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP - News), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS - News)
On Tuesday, a University of Texas student made the bullish case for Wal-Mart because of new store design in Plano Texas. Cramer gave his response on Wednesday, and said he is bothered by the fact that Wal-Mart is a stock analysts claim to hate, yet 16 out of 28 still like it. Cramer doesn't see the company remodeling stores aggressively, and while he admits WMT is cheap on a price-to-earnings basis, he can't accept the fact that WMT is so well liked and its stores are boring places to shop. However, he promoted WMT from a triple sell to a "don't buy, don't buy!" and recommended other retail stocks: SHLD, JCP, KSS.

Mad Mail: Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), Nastech Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM: NSTK), Wendy's (NYSE: WEN - News), Tim Horton's (NYSE: THI - News), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG - News)
Concerning Google, Cramer thinks its YouTube acquisition, far from being a sign of overexpansion, was “brilliant" and if it weren't for the Viacom lawsuit, the stock would be sitting at $470 or $480. Cramer would stay with NSTK at $10, noting it is the only company working on autism. When a caller asked about WEN and THI, Cramer suggested selling both and picking up MCD and especially CMG.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: BA, CAT, CMG, DE, FCX, HAYN, IR, JCP, Jim Cramer, KSS, Mad Money, MCD, NVO, THI, UTX, WEN, WMT

On The Up and Up: Boeing (NYSE: BA - News), Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News), Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK - News), American Standard (NYSE: ASD - News), Alliant Tech (NYSE: ATK - News), Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR - News), Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO), VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC - News), Disney (NYSE: DIS - News), Bunge (NYSE: BG - News), Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW - News)
Cramer suggested that one should "buy high, sell higher" and recommnended stocks for which the new law of physics is "What goes up the first day must go up again and again;" BA IR, CAT, BDK, ASD and ATK. Cramer's "best bet" for the coming week is WHR since it has a "near monopoly" but low expectations, and at $92.35, he thinks the stock could go at least to $120. Cramer also likes CSCO, which is also faced with low expectations, and VFC. He added that DIS should see another rally and Bunge is ready for a comeback. In addition, CW should get a bounce from its earnings report on Thursday.
Related: Whirlpool recently sold its Hoover division.
Contrarian Stocks: Yahoo! (NasdaqGS: YHOO), Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), eBay (NasdaqGS: EBAY)
Cramer comments on the seeming illogic of Yahoo and eBay's rise and Google's fall, but explains that it is a case of accelerating versus decelerating growth. Yahoo and eBay are both "broken stocks", but with Yahoo's Panama, there is hope for a comeback. In addition, the fact that eBay was "written off" gave its halfway decent number enough power to attract buyers. Cramer predicts that Yahoo and eBay are not finished going up. Although Google reported a "blowout quarter," its 99% growth last year has dwindled to 40%. However, Cramer says that since Google has a virtual monopoly on page search as well as a low muliple, he reiterates his prediction that the stock will go to $600, but believes it may stop at $450 first.
Related: Yaser Anwar takes a close look at Google's earnings.
New IPO: Switch & Data (SDXC), Level 3 Communications (NasdaqGS: LVLT), Equinix (NasdaqGS: EQIX), Akamai Technologies (NasdaqGS: AKAM), Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) and Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT)
Cramer recommends picking up next week's hot IPO, Switch & Data, which is not a typical broadband company, but provides infrastructure for servers, making LVLT's work possible. Other customers include: Akamai Technologies Apple and Microsoft. Cramer is basing his predictions on EQIX's success, since it provides a similar service and doubled in 2006. He would get a into the stock through the following underwriters: Deutsche Bank, Jefferies & Co., CIBC World Markets, Raymond James, Lazard Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Merriman Curhan Ford. Otherwise, he would buy the IPO for up to $20 and sell at $24.
Mad Mail: NYSE Group (NYSE: NYX - News), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News)
Cramer still likes NYX as would also stick with Halliburton, which he thinks is inexpensive and good.
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: ASD, ATG. ATK, BA, BDK, BG, CAT, CSCO, CW, DIS, Ebay, GOOG, HAL, IR, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, NYX, VFC, WHR, YHOO

On The Up and Up: Boeing (NYSE: BA - News), Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News), Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK - News), American Standard (NYSE: ASD - News), Alliant Tech (NYSE: ATK - News), Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR - News), Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO), VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC - News), Disney (NYSE: DIS - News), Bunge (NYSE: BG - News), Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW - News)
Cramer suggested that one should "buy high, sell higher" and recommnended stocks for which the new law of physics is "What goes up the first day must go up again and again;" BA IR, CAT, BDK, ASD and ATK. Cramer's "best bet" for the coming week is WHR since it has a "near monopoly" but low expectations, and at $92.35, he thinks the stock could go at least to $120. Cramer also likes CSCO, which is also faced with low expectations, and VFC. He added that DIS should see another rally and Bunge is ready for a comeback. In addition, CW should get a bounce from its earnings report on Thursday.

Contrarian Stocks: Yahoo! (NasdaqGS: YHOO), Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), eBay (NasdaqGS: EBAY)
Cramer comments on the seeming illogic of Yahoo and eBay's rise and Google's fall, but explains that it is a case of accelerating versus decelerating growth. Yahoo and eBay are both "broken stocks", but with Yahoo's Panama, there is hope for a comeback. In addition, the fact that eBay was "written off" gave its halfway decent number enough power to attract buyers. Cramer predicts that Yahoo and eBay are not finished going up. Although Google reported a "blowout quarter," its 99% growth last year has dwindled to 40%. However, Cramer says that since Google has a virtual monopoly on page search as well as a low muliple, he reiterates his prediction that the stock will go to $600, but believes it may stop at $450 first.
Related: Yaser Anwar takes a close look at Google's earnings.
New IPO: Switch & Data (SDXC), Level 3 Communications (NasdaqGS: LVLT), Equinix (NasdaqGS: EQIX), Akamai Technologies (NasdaqGS: AKAM), Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) and Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT)
Cramer recommends picking up next week's hot IPO, Switch & Data, which is not a typical broadband company, but provides infrastructure for servers, making LVLT's work possible. Other customers include: Akamai Technologies Apple and Microsoft. Cramer is basing his predictions on EQIX's success, since it provides a similar service and doubled in 2006. He would get a into the stock through the following underwriters: Deutsche Bank, Jefferies & Co., CIBC World Markets, Raymond James, Lazard Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Merriman Curhan Ford. Otherwise, he would buy the IPO for up to $20 and sell at $24.

Labels: AAPL, ASD, ATG. ATK, BA, BDK, BG, CAT, CW, DIS, Ebay, GOOG, IR, Jim Cramer, LVLT, Mad Money, MSFT, SDXC, VFC, WHR, YHOO

AdvancersAvanir Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:AVNR - News) received an approvable letter and acceptable labeling from the FDA for a new formulation of its antipsychotic drug FazaClo.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - News) net income more than doubled in the fourth quarter, capping a year in which it set a record for airplane orders and setting the stage for higher growth in 2007, the company said.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - News) shares rose following a report in The Financial Times that the company has hired Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to help it field possible takeover bids. Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that the company had drawn acquisition interest from French conglomerate Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY - News).
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (NasdaqGM:CPRX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Stifel Nicolaus with a $9 price target.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHRW - News) reported fourth-quarter net income of $71.8 million, or 41 cents a share, up from $58.1 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Quarterly revenue for the trucking company rose to $1.64 billion from $1.58 billion.
CheckFree Corp. (NasdaqGS:CKFR - News) reported a slight profit gain on advances in its core business. For its fiscal second-quarter, CheckFree said net income rose 4% to $35.3 million or 39 cents a share, compared to $33.8 million or 36 cents a share a year ago.
Corus Group Plc (NYSE:CGA - News) shares leapt after India's Tata Steel won a bidding war to acquire the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker for $12.1 billion.
EchoStar Communications (NasdaqGS:DISH - News) was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. The firm lifted its price target on the shares to $44 from $40.
Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL - News) shot up after the cosmetics giant said its second-quarter profit more than doubled amid robust sales of major lines coupled with cost cutting and a favorably currency exchange.
Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO - News) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS - News) said second-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $94 million, or 67 cents a share, from $30 million, or 22 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 68 cents from 52 cents in the prior year.
Harris Stratex Networks (NasdaqGM:HSTX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
Hologic Inc. (NasdaqGS:HOLX - News) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $16.1 million, or 30 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $5.7 million, or 12 cents a share. Revenue jumped 86% in the latest three months to $163.2 million from $88 million in the same period a year earlier. The Bedford, Mass.-based company attributed the higher earnings to an increase in product sales of its Selenia full-field digital mammography systems.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR - News) fourth-quarter earnings fell 24% as sales of its small earthmover Bobcat vehicle slumped due to weaker demand in the North American market, the company's financial results showed Wednesday.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE:JLL - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $80.9 million, or $2.37 a share, from $66.9 million, or $1.99 a share, during the same period in the prior year. Analysts were looking for per-share income of $2.26.
Kinetic Concepts (NYSE:KCI - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Levitt Corp. (NYSE:LEV - News) agreed to be acquired by BFC Financial Corp. (NYSEArca:BFF - News) for $286 million in stock. In addition, Levitt said preliminary figures show its home building division generated fourth-quarter revenue of $143.6 million, with 426 homes delivered in the quarter at a margin of 19.6%. Backlog at Dec. 31 was 1,248 units with a sales value of $438.2 million. New home orders totaled 204, but were partly offset by 122 cancellations. The company said it has entered into sales contracts to dispose of certain properties and is expected to realize a pre-tax loss of $9.0 million upon disposition, and will write-off $1.4 million in pre-acquisition costs for properties which will not be acquired.
Lone Star Technologies (NYSE:LSS - News) said its fourth-quarter earnings fell to $18.1 million, or 58 cents a share, from $70.9 million, or $2.28 a share, a year earlier, hurt by an income-tax expense. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, quarterly earnings of 58 cents a share, before items. The Dallas oilfield pipe and tubing company's revenue for the quarter decreased to $334.8 million from $337.5 million a year ago. Wall Street expected quarterly revenue of $334 million.
New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT - News) swung to a fourth-quarter loss after an $814 million charge for write-downs, staff-reduction costs and accelerated depreciation.
Omnicell (NasdaqGM:OMCL - News) shares jumped after the company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $3.8 million, or 13 cents a share, up from a year-ago profit of $2.2 million, or 8 cents a share. Revenue rose 26.4% in the latest three months to $42.3 million. The Mountain View, Calif., provider of patient safety technology products said its product backlog ended the quarter at $114.3 million, up 64.2% from the same period a year ago.
O'Reilly Automotive (NasdaqGS:ORLY - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm lifted its price target on the stock to $38 from $36.
Quicksilver Resources (NYSE:KWK - News) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm also boosted its price target on the stock to $47 from $43.
Panera Bread Co. (NasdaqGS:PNRA - News) said same bakery-cafe sales rose 0.8% in January from the same month a year ago. The St. Louis bakery-cafe chain said company-owned same-store sales rose 0.7% while franchise-operated sales were up 0.9%.
ProQuest (NYSE:PQE - News) said Alan Aldworth is leaving its chairman, president and CEO positions, effective immediately. The company named Richard Surratt president and CEO. Surratt had served as the CFO of the Ann Arbor, Mich., publishing company.
RedEnvelope Inc. (NasdaqGM:REDE - News) said third-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $5.31 million, or 56 cents a share, from $4.1 million, or 43 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. The branded online retailer said quarterly revenue rose to $57 million from $53 million in the prior year.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NasdaqGS:RRGB - News) said it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the assets of 17 its franchised restaurants in California for $47.5 million, minus any assumed debt.
Sierra Health Services Inc. (NYSE:SIE - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $39.3 million, or 65 cents a share, compared with $28.3 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period last year, boosted by higher medical premiums revenue.
Sirf Technology Holdings Inc. (NasdaqGS:SIRF - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $9.1 million, down from $10.23 million in the same period the prior year, mainly due to higher stock-based compensation and acquisition-related contingent payments.
U.S. Concrete (NasdaqGM:RMIX - News) said it sees fourth-quarter revenue of $211 million, compared with its prior view of $195 million to $205 million. The company cited stronger-than-anticipated sales volumes of ready-mixed concrete, partially attributable to relatively mild winter conditions. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are looking for quarterly revenue of $204 million. U.S. Concrete said it sees a fourth-quarter net loss of 62 cents to 63 cents per share, a view that includes a 70-cent-per-share after-tax goodwill impairment charge associated with its Michigan assets. Excluding the charge, the company expects income for the fourth quarter of 7 to 8 cents per share, compared with its November outlook of 3 to 7 cents. Analysts are looking for per-share income of 5 cents.
Published by Michael Baron at MarketWatch

Labels: AVNR, BA, BMY, CGA, CHRW, CKFR, CPRX, DISH, EL, FTO, HOLX, HRS, HSTX, IR, JLL, KCI, SNY

Investors have forgotten the power of the bond market to create good buys in stocks, Jim Cramer said on his TheStreet.com TV video Webcast Friday -- in particular, American International Group (AIG).
Cramer stressed that many firms make bets on fixed income, citing Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bear Stearns (BSC) as two firms that are very successful in fixed income markets.
His favorite is AIG, which he labeled the cheapest of insurers. "No one's focused on AIG as just a gigantic bond holder, because they're an insurance company," he said. "This stock has moved very quietly from $65 to $72."
This is despite the fact that former CEO Hank Greenberg has been selling the stock endlessly, according to Cramer. But this selling pressure will abate when his stock runs out.
Overall, Cramer said, the market still looks good, particularly finance because of the long bond, technology and the oils on any pullback.
Cramer said take advantage of the 10-cent price increase on cigarettes at Altria's (MO) Phillip Morris unit and consider buying the stock.
As for oil, he said it's coming back down, and as soon it gets to $60 he recommends the stocks in the sector. He called oils the "absolute best trade," citing Transocean (RIG) as a stock he really likes.
Cramer said the week was book-ended by problems in housing, referring to Best Buy (BBY) as a housing player because of its big-screen TVs and home studios business. He also noted Black & Decker (BDK) and warned investors about ITW (ITW) and Ingersoll-Rand (IR).
Cramer said Parker Hannifin (PH) under $80 is intriguing to him, and he still likes Honeywell (HON) off its dividend boost. But he cautioned investors to be careful with the industrials.
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: AIG, BBY, BDK, BSC, Cramer's TheStreet.com TV Recap, GS, HON, IR, ITW, MO, PH, RIG

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network (NYSE:ANW - News) shares surged Friday in the company's stock market debut.
Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT - News) shares jumped in the company's initial public offering.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARNA - News) priced a public offering of 11.5 million common shares at $13.21 each, the stock's closing price on Thursday. The deal includes an over-allotment option for the sale of an additional 1.725 million shares. San Diego-based Arena said CIBC World Markets served as the sole book-running manager in the offering.
Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE:ATW - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $23.2 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with $6.66 million, or 21 cents a share, in the same period last year, as revenue jumped.
Cascade Corp. (NYSE:CAE - News) said third-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $12.3 million, or 94 cents a share, from $10.8 million, or 84 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Also, the company is increasing its revolver to $125 million from $25 million to fund potential acquisitions and to provide short-term funding for the share repurchase program.
Shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C - News) traded at their highest level since April 2004 on Friday. In a research note, analysts at Lehman Bros. said they expect the company's management to provide an outlook for positive operating leverage and improving net interest margins in 2007 when it holds an investor presentation next weeks. The analysts said they do not expect the company to announce any plans to break it up.
Credence Systems (NASDAQ:CMOS - News) said the fourth-quarter net loss narrowed, as operating expenses fell, to $1.94 million, or 2 cents a share, from a net loss of $22.5 million, or 23 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year.
Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE:ESL - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $18.4 million, or 71 cents a share, up 19% from $15.4 million, or 60 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The company also said it now expects fiscal 2007 per-earnings of $2.45 to $2.60, up from its previous outlook of $2.40 to $2.60, boosted by record backlogs and new products coming to market.
Shares of Forgent Networks (NASDAQ:FORG - News) soared after the Austin, Texas-based technology licensing company posted a profit for its fiscal first quarter due to a doubling of revenue. The company, which also provides office administration software, earned $2.7 million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Oct. 31 on revenue of $9.1 million. In the same period a year earlier, Forgent lost $300,000, or a penny per share, on revenue of $4.4 million. Looking ahead, the company said it expects to continue to generate intellectual property licensing revenue in fiscal 2007.
Shares of Hansen Natural Corp. (NASDAQ:HANS - News) surged after the Corona, Calif., beverage company disclosed it's recorded more than $500 million in gross sales for its Monster Energy drinks since their launch on January 1. The company said it reached the milestone in November.
Harsco Corp. (NYSE:HSC - News) reaffirmed its outlook for earnings from continuing operations of $4.49 to $4.51 a share in 2006 on revenue of more than $3.3 billion. The company also forecast earnings from continuing operations of $5.05 to $5.15 a share in 2007 with sales projected to grow more than 7%. The current average estimates of analysts polled by Thomson First Call are for profits of $4.51 a share in 2006 and $5.06 a share in 2007.
Heelys Inc. (NASDAQ:HLYS - News) shares jumped in one of the top IPO performances of the year.
Ingersoll-Rand Co. (NYSE:IR - News) said it has authorized the buyback of up to $2 billion of its Class A shares.
Investment Technology Group (NYSE:ITG - News) said November average daily volume rose to 175 million shares from 119 million shares a year earlier, and up from 150 million shares in October. Total U.S. volume was 3.7 billion shares vs. last year's 2.5 billion shares and last month's 3.3 billion shares.
Mace Security International (NASDAQ:MACE - News) agreed to sell its Arizona car wash operations for $19.3 million cash. Mace, Mount Laurel, N.J., said the sale includes 12 car washes and represents about $10 million of Mace's total revenue of $68 million in 2005. Nine of the car washes are owned and three are leased.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MLNM - News) said the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval of Velcade for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. MCL is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which has a U.S. prevalence of 10,000 patients. Cambridge, Mass.-based Millennium said the approval marks the first indication for Velcade in lymphoma, the most common blood cancer.
Nanometrics Inc. (NASDAQ:NANO - News) said it has received a favorable Markman decision in the patent infringement case brought by Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - News).
Online Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCC - News) said it sees a first-quarter 2007 per-share net loss of 33 to 35 cents on revenue of $30 million to $31.5 million. Pro forma, or "core net income," for the quarter is expected to range from a loss of a penny to a profit of a penny.
QMed (NASDAQ:QMED - News) shares rose after the Eatontown, N.J.-based provider of information management systems to health plans said it has reached an agreement with Alere Medical Inc. to settle their litigation and arbitration. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, although QMed said the agreement calls for Alere to pay a "low seven-figure dollar amount," which is to be received by Dec. 13.
Shares of PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - News) advanced after the San Diego, Calif., warehouse club retailer said its same-store sales jumped 18.5% in November. Total sales for November rose 22.9% to $69.7 million from $56.7 million in the same period a year earlier.
Verifone Holdings Inc. (NYSE:PAY - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $13.9 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $12.1 million, or 18 cents a share, in the same period last year, on the back of strong revenue from international business.
By Michael Baron of MarketWatch

Labels: ALGT, ANW, ARNA, ATW, C, CAE, CMOS, ESL, FORG, HANS, HLYS, Hot Stocks, HSC, IR, MACE, MLNM, NANO, PAY

Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News), and Boeing (NYSE: BA - News): Cramer notes that cyclicals are thriving and that "Boeing is just breaking out on every new order."
Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN - News), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD - News) and Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT - News): Cramer discussed three special-situation retailers. Altough Denny's was down, it is in the middle of a comeback, and RAD is headed toward $5 and then to $6, according to Cramer, who reports that the merger will happen and doesn't see problems with unions. Concerning LVLT CEO Jim Crowe's prediction of 25% growth, Cramer said,"That's an amazing number if you can hit it. I don't know how he does it, right now the EBITDA's the same as the interest charges, but I have to bank with him because of the 445% return he gave me in the old MFS Communications."

Labels: BA, CAT, DENN, IR, Jim Cramer, LVLT, Market Minute, RAD

Although financial stocks might be borrowing from Friday's anticipation about the jobs number, he says cyclical stocks are impressive. Specifically, Cramer mentioned Ingersoll-Rand (IR), Caterpillar (CAT) and Boeing (BA) as cyclical stocks that are working. "Boeing is just breaking out on every new order."
Cramer also offered some retailers that are in unique situations. "I think that you just have to be impressed with the special-situation retailers, which just don't seem to go down on bad days."
He highlighted three: Denny's (DENN), Rite Aid (RAD) and Level 3 Communications (LVLT).
He predicted that despite Denny's slower prior month, the restaurant chain is in a "major, major turn." Rite Aid has gone through the $5 level and Cramer said it is heading to $6. He said he is told the merger will go through and not to expect any problems with the unions.
After speaking with LVLT's CEO Jim Crowe on "Mad Money" Wednesday about the 25% growth that Crowe predicted, Cramer said, "That's an amazing number if you can hit it. I don't know how he does it, right now the EBITDA's the same as the interest charges, but I have to bank with him because of the 445% return he gave me in the old MFS Communications."
Other stocks that Cramer believes are getting short shrift are Chevron (CVX), coming off its recent big buyback. Investor dislike of it is ridiculous, he said.
Cramer cautioned against reading too much into Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Ivy Zelman's call on housing, saying she missed a big turn on the homebuilders. However, Cramer said she recommends KB Home (KBH), which he believes is for sale.
He also encouraged people to look at Sysco (SYY), which he considers "a nice slow grower to own right here, right now."
-TheStreet.com

Labels: BA, CAT, Cramer's TheStreet.com TV Recap, CVX, DENN, IR, Jim Cramer, KBH, LVLT, RAD, SYY

Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR - News), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL - News): Cramer sees Altera's performance as evidence that tech is strong: "Altera blows up; the stock doesn't even go down,"Cramer said,"I mean, what does that tell you about what's happening here?" The fact that the chipmaker's stock did not suffer after lowering its estimates shows that "the tech trade is still very much alive," said Cramer, "and I decide that it's alive not by how much upside there is but by the limit on the downside." Cramer suggested that investors stay with ORCL in spite of a Lehman Brother's downgrade, and to at least "open the books and take a look" at how the company is really doing.
Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Deere (NYSE: DE - News), and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News): Cramer believes that housing's biggest enemy is rampant negativity, which affects IR, DE, CAT, and other stocks related to housing. He adds certain areas are becoming attractive spots for building homes, and a decline in mortgage rates is opening up new possibilities: "There is demand, we are still a growth country and people will still buy houses with mortgage rates this low because they don't want to lose the rates," Cramer said.
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - News) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News): Oil is going to go down a bit, says Cramer, and drug stocks are stalled. However, he believes that PFE's failure is company-specific and does not bode ill for the entire sector. Finally, Cramer says that if he were an analyst, he would suggest clients buy GS because the Street's numbers are too low.

Labels: ALTR, CAT, DE, GS, IR, Jim Cramer, Market Minute, ORCL, pfe

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO - News), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR - News), Freeport-McMoRan's (NYSE: FCX - News), Phelps Dodge (NYSE: PD - News), Lundin Mining (AMEX: LMC - News) - Cramer says that, in the 25 years he's been involved in the market, he has only seen one or two other periods when the conditions for investing have been so good, and was impressed that there wasn't a decline after the Democratic sweep. Cramer adds that this is the best earnings season in seven years, and added that even Yahoo and IR rose after reporting "stinker" quarters. Cramer singles out NYX as the "cheapest stock," and he is bullish. He discussed the "tremendous buzz" about FCX's acquisition of PD, which enabled FCX to get copper exposure and PD to get gold exposure. In addition, Lundin Mining is the next copper play, according to Cramer. Allergan (NYSE: AGN - News), Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM - News), Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD - News) - Although there is a lot of negativity about drug stocks with the Democrats controlling Congress, Cramer thinks that Allergan "may be in the early stages of an incredible run and is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves." The company makes effective silicon breast implants and also has Botox and Juviderm, the "No. 1 method of getting rid of wrinkles." Even though the stock recently jumped $7, Cramer thinks it could rise an additional $12 from $119.55. On another note, Cramer thinks that RIMM is going up and that investors should take advantage of the $1 dip in Sears to pick up at least one share at $172. Oregon Steel (NYSE: OS - News) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE - News) - Cramer thinks that the media owes investors an apology for keeping them out of steel when their reports of a glut "clobbered" the stocks as people sold them off in panic. The reporters failed to mention that the companies were selling at five to six-times earnings. Now it is too late to buy OS which was a "huge stock," Cramer said, and that most steel companies are going to be taken over except for Nucor.
Bulls:
Mastercard (NYSE: MA - News): Cramer says this stock is not finished going up, and he would buy MA "right here, right now."Prudential (NYSE: PRU - News): This stock has a good dividend, says Cramer.AIG (NYSE: AIG - News): Cramer calls this stock "the cheapest in the group" and says it should go higher.IBM (NYSE: IBM - News):The current lack of momentum in this stock is a "mistake," says Cramer who predicts that it will go from $93.45 to $120, but would sell some at $100.
Bears:
Motorola (NYSE: MOT - News): This company missed its quarter twice, and Cramer does not feel comfortable recommending it.Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News):"The most poorly run major American company," Cramer said and suggested selling.Ford (NYSE: F - News): Although Cramer was bullish on Ford at $7, he doesn't like its balance sheet, and in spite of the fact that he had confidence in CEO Alan Mullaly, Cramer predicts that Ford will get "hammered" if it reports another lackluster quarter.

Labels: AGN, AIG, IBM, IR, Jim Cramer, LMC, MA, NUE, OS, PD, PRU, RIMM, SHLD, YHOO