Jim Cramer Blog

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM - News): Cramer would stay off the Fannie Mae bandwagon, since the Bush administration and the FNM's top regulator, James Lockhart of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, have a "chokehold" on the company's mortgage portfolio. Cramer would not make a move unless this changes.
Countrywide (NYSE: CFC - News): Cramer says he needs to see evidence to back up the bank's bullish comments.
Lamar (NasdaqGS: LAMR - News), Celgene (NasdaqGS: CELG - News) and PDL BioPharma (NasdaqGS: PDLI - News): Lamar's video billboards may be too "eye-catching" and may be limited due to safety regulations. He is not sure about CELG, because it should be working but isn't. He sees PDLI as a possible takeover target after the departure of CEO Mark McDade.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: CELG, CFC, FNM, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, LAMR, PDLI

On the Fed:Cramer reiterated his prediction that the Fed will cut interest rates, despite the recent rise. He thinks it is "too early" to say a cut isn't possible, and a slowing U.S. economy should convince the Fed to make a reduction.
Lamar Advertising (NasdaqGS: LAMR - News) and Daktronics (NasdaqGS: DAKT - News): Cramer said he sold LAMR because he is concerned that flashing billboards may not be so popular; "We have too many distractions already." He also noted DAKT, which makes the boards, is not doing well.
Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM - News): After ADM's "really horrible quarter" Cramer confesses he was wrong to get behind this company; "I thought that they had congressional mindshare."
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD - News): Concerning worries about nukes and China, Cramer said, "I would buy GD. GD is my cold war play."

Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: ADM, DAKT, GD, Jim Cramer, LAMR, Stop Trading

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Thursday from TradingMarkets.com:
Whole Foods (NasdaqGS:WFMI) missed earnings on Wednesday after the close; analysts were looking for $0.36 EPS, but the company only announced $0.32 EPS. WFMI's PowerRating is 4.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:ONXX) beat earnings on Wednesday, with -$0.26 EPS over a consensus of -$0.43 EPS. ONXX's PowerRating is 4.
Biovail (NYSE:BVF) announces earnings on Thursday before the market opens; watch for $0.41 EPS. BVF's PowerRating is 6.
Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) is expected to announce $0.81 EPS on Thursday before the bell. ED's PowerRating is 5.
When Lamar Advertising (NasdaqGS:LAMR) announces earnings tomorrow morning, look for no EPS ($0.00). LAMR's PowerRating is 5.
Sara Lee (NYSE:SLE) should report $0.13 EPS when the company reports on Thursday morning. SLE's PowerRating is 5.
Analysts are watching for Urban Outfitters (NasdaqGS:URBN) to report $0.17 EPS tomorrow morning. URBN's PowerRating is 5.
PowerRatings are courtesy of PowerRatings.net

Labels: BVF, ED, Hot Stocks, LAMR, ONXX, SLE, URBN, WFMI

Here are 7 options to watch for today. This list comes directly from the TradingMarkets Options Indicators page. The list is created using OptionVue options analysis software.
Most Under Priced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Advanced Magnetics Inc. May 70 Calls (NasdaqGM:AMAG - News). AMAG's PowerRating is 9.
Most Under Priced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Sears Holdings May 175 Puts (NasdaqGS:SHLD - News). SHLD's PowerRating is 7.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Heelys Inc. Mar 35 Calls (NasdaqGM:HLYS - News). No PowerRating available due to less than 200-day trading history.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Lamar Advertising Apr 65 (NasdaqGS:LAMR - News). LAMR's PowerRating is 6.
Stocks with Abnormal Call Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual call option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Call Volume Alerts list suggests a possible takeover, extraordinarily good earnings report, or other news which may favorably affect the stock.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE:BNI - News). BNI's PowerRating is 7.
Stocks with Abnormal Put Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual put option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Put Volume Alerts list suggests an extraordinarily negative earnings report, or other news which may negatively affect the stock.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI - News). DHI's PowerRating is 7.
Abnormal Put/Call $ Volume: These stocks have the highest dollar put volume in relation to their call volume. These high ratios are indicative of extreme bearish sentiment in the underlying stock.
Atheros Communications (NasdaqGS:ATHR - News). ATHR's PowerRating is 8.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: AMAG, ATHR, BNI, DHI, HLYS, LAMR, SHLD, stock options

Here are 7 options to watch for today. This list comes directly from the TradingMarkets Options Indicators page. The list is created using OptionVue options analysis software.
Most Under Priced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Sears Holdings Mar 185 Calls (NasdaqGS:SHLD - News). SHLD's PowerRating is 7.
Most Under Priced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Bank of America Corp. May 50 Puts (NYSE:BAC - News). BAC's PowerRating is 5.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Lehman Brothers Mar 75 Calls (NYSE:LEH - News). LEH's PowerRating is 7.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Lamar Advertising Apr 65 (NasdaqGS:LAMR - News). LAMR's PowerRating is 6.
Stocks with Abnormal Call Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual call option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Call Volume Alerts list suggests a possible takeover, extraordinarily good earnings report, or other news which may favorably affect the stock.
Amgen (NasdaqGS:AMGN - News). AMGN's PowerRating is 6.
Stocks with Abnormal Put Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual put option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Put Volume Alerts list suggests an extraordinarily negative earnings report, or other news which may negatively affect the stock.
American Express (NYSE:AXP - News). AXP's PowerRating is 6.
Abnormal Put/Call $ Volume: These stocks have the highest dollar put volume in relation to their call volume. These high ratios are indicative of extreme bearish sentiment in the underlying stock.
SanDisk (NasdaqGS:SNDK - News). SNDK's PowerRating is 6.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: AMGN, AXP, BAC, LAMR, LEH, SHLD, SNDK, stock options

Here are 7 options to watch for today. This list comes directly from the TradingMarkets Options Indicators page. The list is created using OptionVue options analysis software.
Most Under Priced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Bear Sterns Mar 180 Calls (NYSE:BSC - News). BSC's PowerRating is 5.
Most Under Priced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Google Inc. Mar 470 Puts (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News). GOOG's PowerRating is 5.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
CV Therapeutics Apr 12.5 Calls (NasdaqGM:CVTX - News). CVTX's PowerRating is 5.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Whole Foods Market Inc. Mar 45 Puts (NasdaqGS:WFMI - News). WFMI's PowerRating is 5.
Stocks with Abnormal Call Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual call option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Call Volume Alerts list suggests a possible takeover, extraordinarily good earnings report, or other news which may favorably affect the stock.
Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd. (NasdaqGS:VLCCF - News). VLCCF's PowerRating is 4.
Stocks with Abnormal Put Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual put option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Put Volume Alerts list suggests an extraordinarily negative earnings report, or other news which may negatively affect the stock.
OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX - News). OMX's PowerRating is 5.
Abnormal Put/Call $ Volume: These stocks have the highest dollar put volume in relation to their call volume. These high ratios are indicative of extreme bearish sentiment in the underlying stock.
Lamar Advertising (NasdaqGS:LAMR - News). LAMR's PowerRating is 5.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: BSC, CVTX, GOOG, LAMR, OMX, stock options, VLCCF, WFMI

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - News), a manufacturer of electrical products and provider of galvanizing services, said that it's expecting to produce fiscal 2008 earnings in a range of $2.70 to $2.80 a share. Sales are expected in a range of $275 million to $2.85 million. The estimates assume that domestic markets will continue to be strong, that the company will continue to penetrate international markets and that zinc and other commodity prices will be less volatile. Galvanizing margins are expected in a range of 18% to 22%, while electrical and industrial operations are expected to produce margins in a range of 11% to 13%.
CACI International (NYSE:CAI - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Banc of America Securities.
Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ:CWTR - News) lowered its outlook for fiscal fourth quarter per-share income to a range of 16 cents to 17 cents. Previously, the women's-apparel company said it was looking for 26 cents to 27 cents. Coldwater cited slower-than-expected customer traffic throughout the holiday season.
Digi International Inc. (NASDAQ:DGII - News) first-quarter net income rose to 15 cents a share from 9 cents in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $41.8 million from $33.4 million.
Enterra Energy Trust (NYSE:ENT - News) reported a cash distribution of 6 cents per trust unit to be paid on Feb. 15. This payout represent a reduction from the 12 cents per trust unit the company distributed in each of the past six months. Enterra attributed the reduction to significantly weaker commodity prices, capital market uncertainty stemming from recent tax changes proposed by the Canadian government and early conversion of debentures to trust units.
E-Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ETFC - News) fourth-quarter net income jumped 37%, as customers traded more and stored more cash and investments with the discount broker.
Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO - News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan. The firm cited a 20% gain in the share price since the end of June and the weak outlook for home and hardware sales and operating margins. The broker also told clients it believes margin expansion in the spirits and wine division is also limited as it thinks Fortune will increase investment in its newly acquired Allied brands.
General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) reported fourth-quarter net income doubled to 64 cents a share, in line with estimates. Revenue rose a stronger-than-expected 11% to $44.62 billion. In addition, GE agreed to buy Abbott Laboratories' (NYSE:ABT - News) in-vitro and point-of-care diagnostics businesses for $8.13 billion in cash.
Hythiam (NASDAQ:HYTM - News) shares slid after the Los Angeles-based provider of health management services said late Thursday it has agreed to acquire Comprehensive Care Corp. for $9 million in cash and 708,066 shares of stock. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2007.
IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) reported an 11% rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher sales in its key global services division and more demand in its software business, although the stock fell due to meager sales growth for the company's hardware business.
Irvine Sensors Corp. (NASDAQ:IRSN - News) shares slumped after the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based developer of miniaturized infrared and electro-optical cameras said it was unable to file its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 1, 2006, by the yesterday's deadline. The company did not provide a reason for the delay in filing its 10-K.
Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Banc of America Securities.
Lubrizol (NYSE:LZ - News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan.
Nuveen Investments (NYSE:JNC - News) said fourth-quarter net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose 15% to $50.2 million, or 60 cents a share, from $43.5 million, or 53 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 24% to $195.6 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call forecast earnings of 61 cents a share, on average.
Shares of Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD - News) fell after Goldman Sachs downgraded the drugstore chain to sell from neutral, citing concerns over valuation and challenges integrating its Eckerd acquisition. "Shares of dramatically outperformed over the past several months on optimism over Eckerd's turnaround potential," Heinbockel said in a research note. He said the stock's strong gains leave it trading at the same valuation as the faster-growing and less leveraged CVS-Caremark combination. "As a result, we see a potential correction of 10% to 15% sometime in the first half of 2007," Heinbockel said. The stock was last down 3.1% at $5.95, but was still up 24% over the past four months. Heinbockel raised his stock price target to $5.45 from $4.54.
Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK - News) was downgraded to underweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan. The firm said the company's recent acquisition run has diluted returns and increased integration risk, particularly regarding Bostitch.
SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI - News) said net income rose 1% to $523.6 million, or $1.46 a share, from $518.5 million, or $1.43, a year ago. Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of $1.46 a share, according to Thomson First Call. Quarterly revenue increased 3% to $2.07 billion from $2 billion, while non-interest income gained 11% to $882.6 million from $797.9 million, the Atlanta bank said.
Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT - News) updated its fourth-quarter outlook Thursday night. The Providence, R.I. defense and aerospace company said it had "incurred additional costs related to its Bell Helicopter H-1 program." It now expects earnings from continuing operations to exceed previous guidance of $1.35 to $1.45 a share. That median still fell short of analysts' average estimates of $1.46 a share, as polled by Thomson Financial. The company said strong financial performance at Cessna and other units during the fourth quarter should more than offset additional H-1 costs.
TRW Automotive Holding Corp. (NYSE:TRW - News) was downgraded to sell from neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO - News) raised its annual dividend 5% to $8.20 a share from $7.80 a share.
Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE:WLK - News) was downgraded to reduce from neutral at UBS. The firm lowered its price target on the stock to $36 from $32.

Labels: ABT, CAI, CWTR, DGII, ENT, ETFC, FO, GE, HYTM, IBM, IRSN, JNC, LAMR, LZ, RAD, STI, SWK, TRW, TXT, WPO

Out in the Open: Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT - News), Lamar (NASDAQ: LAMR - News), Clear Channel (NYSE: CCO - News) and CBS (NYSE: CBS - News)
Although Cramer has often said that old media is dying, the oldest advertisements, billboards, are " coming back with a vengeance," because they are on the street where they cannot be avoided and are going digital. Daktronics is up 165%, but Cramer recommends buying it because the company "owns the market" in digital billboards, which he believes is the fastest growing form of advertising after the internet. The company also produces scoreboards for sports events. Cramer thinks Lamar is a better acquisition than CBS and Clear Channel, " because it is a pure play and is "going digital faster than any other company."

Safeway's Secret (NYSE: SWY - News)
Since many of the obvious holiday stocks are "played out" Cramer suggested a good oblique strategy for benefitting from the season by investing in Safeway which, in addition to running great stores, owns the $4-5 billion greeting card business, Blackhawk, whose products are sold by Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS - News), Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL - News) iTunes, MasterCard (NYSE: MA - News), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN - News), Home Depot (NYSE: HD - News) and Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD - News). Not many people are aware that Safeway owns Blackhawk, but when this is no longer a secret, the stock should rise, comments Cramer. In addition, Safeway's supermarkets are "financially sound enough to add a half-billion dollars to its buyback program last Friday and offer a dividend," and he would get into the stock before its analyst meeting on Tuesday.
CEO Interview: David Pyott of Allergan (NYSE: AGN - News)
David Pyott discussed the company's developing program for neuropathic pain and its rapid growth in the opthalmology sector. "The great position we have is that Allergan is the largest company in the world in the medical aesthetics space," he said, noting the popularity of breast implants, Botox and Juviderm among plastic surgery customers. Pyott also mentioned an upcoming trial between Juviderm and Medicis' Restylane to see which treatment customers like better and lasts longer. After the interview, Cramer commented that Thomas Weisel Partners' downgrade of Allergan was unfair, and that he would back up the truck as soon as the stock's price dips.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: AAPL, AGN, BKS, CBS, CCO, DAKT, HD, Jim Cramer, JWN, LAMR, MA, Mad Money, SHLD, SWY