Jim Cramer Blog

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC - News), Countrywide Financial's (NYSE: CFC - News), Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM - News), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), Wachovia (NYSE: WB - News)
Thursday's dash for financials may indicate the sector will be one of the "long-term beneficiaries" of Bernanke's position, but Cramer does not think they are safe. He tacked a double sell on WM but thought BAC and WB could survive. However, he reserved the lion's share of his praise for WFC, and said, "It is the great speculative play that should prosper." He believes WFC will "own the mortgage market" and will win with investors because it offers a great dividend. Cramer would wait for WFC to drop to the $32 - $34 range.
Sell Block: VMware (NYSE: VMW - News), H&R Block (NYSE: HRB - News), Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF - News), Friedman Billings Ramsey Group (NYSE: FBR - News) Lamson & Sessions (NYSE: LMS - News), Six Flags (NYSE: SIX - News)
Cramer urged investors to "stay the course" and added "no one ever made a dime panicking." However, he added it isn't too late to sell minerals and he feels tigher consumer spending will put pressure on retail. Cramer would sell VMW after its highly successful IPO, and would stay away from HRB, COF and FBR. He would also sell LMS as well as SIX because of low attendance due to the weather. He concluded it is better to invest in long-term stocks rather than quick trades in the current environment.
KKR Financial (NYSE: KFN - News), Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA - News) and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI - News)
Not all high dividends are good dividends, Cramer declared and used KFN and TMA as examples. He added high-dividend names KFN and TMA aren't worth the investment because as their stocks fall so will the yields. Cramer likes RAI which has a dividend of 5.5% and is a "smart play" in this environment because "nothing is more defensive than cigarettes."
Mad Mail: Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC - News), Jones Soda (NasdaqCM: JSDA) and Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - News)
Cramer would avoid BSC and JSDA whose climb was "how to make a million" in the market. He adds GOOG is safe and likes the tech sector for its pristine balance sheets and great products.
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: BAC, BSC, CFC, COF, FBR, GOOG, HRB, Jim Cramer, KFN, LMS, Mad Money, RAI, SIX, TMA, VMW, WB, WFC, WM

New York Stock Exchange (NYX) fell after fourth-quarter earnings totaled $70.8 million, or 45 cents a share -- a penny below Wall Street expectations. Shares were slipping $1.45, or 1.4%, to $100.24.
InterContinental Exchange (ICE) climbed after its Britain-based ICE Futures exchange more than doubled its January average daily contracts volume from last year to about 570,000. The commodities exchange was rising $6, or 4.4%, to $141.55.
KKR Financial (KFN) was higher after the real estate investment trust raised its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 54 cents a share. KKR's stock was gaining 54 cents, or 2%, to $27.49.
CoBiz (COBZ) rose after an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus said that the Denver-based regional bank's market price is too low given its solid fiscal health. The stock's rating was upped to buy from hold. Shares were adding 32 cents, or 2.5%, to $21.44.
Chubb's (CB ) rating was raised by an AG Edwards analyst to buy from hold. Shares of the insurer were up 68 cents, or 1.3%, to $52.77.

Labels: CB, COBZ, ICE, KFN, NYX