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Monday, October 01, 2007

Jim Cramer's Mad Money Stock Recap Sept. 28th

Cramer began Friday's show by sharing his CEO Hall of Shame. These are stocks that he thinks would be better off if the CEO quit or was forced out.
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): Cramer thinks the CEO was given an ultimatum to deliver results now.
Marsh McLennan (MMC): The company should be broken up, and that splitting the company up is the only way shares will increase unless the CEO leaves.

Next, Cramer took some phone calls about other stocks with bad CEOs, like Pall (PLL). He also told people that he can't recommend buying Sirius (SIRI) now because it's too expensive, and that he thinks you should stay away from Palm (PALM).
Next, Cramer did a "Speculation Friday" segment, where he recommends high risk stocks. BioMarin (BMRN), a small biotech firm. It has developed a drug for pheylketonuria that will be the only drug on the market, protecting it from generic competition until 2015 in the US and 2018 in Europe. Cramer thinks the drug will be approved by the end of the year, but if it doesn't, it will be a risky investment.
Other calls: La-z-boy (LZB): Cramer doesn't like, and Sangamo BioSci (SGMO):He thinks is very risky.

After the lightning round, Cramer discussed what stocks he think will take the Dow to his year end target of 14,548. They are American Express (AXP), AIG (AIG), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), DuPont (DD), Altria (MO), Boeing (BA), and Caterpillar (CAT).

In the last segment, Cramer answered some emails. He changed his mind on GigaMedia (GIGM), making it a buy now, and told viewers to wait for a pullback on (AMZN) since it's "marked up heavily."

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Stocks to Watch Today

Citigroup (C) pulled together its emerging-markets credit group and its global credit-trading business. The combined group will be headed by Carey Lathrop, a nearly 20-year veteran of the bank who led the emerging-markets business.
Crocs (CROX), in an attempt to diversify its product line, will introduce a line of apparel for men and children. The apparel line, which Crocs intends to unveil today, will feature regular fibers, such as cotton, interwoven with a lightweight derivative of the pliable, plastic resin used to make Crocs' shoes. It will make its debut in stores in October.
Home Depot (HD) agreed to cut the price in its supply division sale to buyout firms by $1.8 billion, sources said on Sunday, as a housing market drop and a credit crunch forced all sides to renegotiate.
Marsh & McLennan (MMC) said it has agreed to buy back $800 million worth of its outstanding shares in an accelerated share repurchase transaction. The company said it will fund the transaction with proceeds from the recent sale of Putnam Investments and that it will conduct the purchase under the $1.5-billion share buyback authorization announced on Aug. 7.
Rambus (RMBS) said the special litigation committee established by the board has finished its review of stock options practices and submitted a final report to court. The special litigation committee was composed of two independent directors, J. Thomas Bentley and Abraham Sofaer, and it conducted its review with the assistance of independent counsel, the company said.
United States Steel (X) said it will buy Canadian steelmaker Stelco for $1.1 billion in a cash deal, including X paying $36.59 per share of Stelco.
Wal-Mart (WMT) is considering acquisitions in its home market as it seeks to open smaller stores and limit its reliance on giant supercenters for growth, the Financial Times reported.
Published by Minyanville.com

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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Jim Cramer's Stop Trading May 30th

Texas Utilities (NYSE: TXU - News), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC - News), Edison International (NYSE: EIX - News), Dominion (NYSE: D - News): Since the Texas Utilities buyout "changed the equation," Cramer says he is "scared to death to bet against this group," and adds that EXC, EIX and D are all undervalued.
Total System (NYSE: TSS - News), Synovus (NYSE: SNV - News), Aon (NYSE: AOC - News), Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC - News), Ross Stores (NasdaqGS: ROST - News), Cheesecake Factory (NasdaqGS: CAKE - News): Cramer lists companies that could get snapped up it the private-equity buyout frenzy: TSS and parent company SNV, Aon and "headless horseman" MMC (whose CEO Michael Cherkasky may soon end up on Cramer's CEO Wall of Shame), ROST, and CAKE.
Published by SeekingAlpha

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hot Stock Options to Watch Today

Most Underpriced 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.
Google Inc. June 530 Calls (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News). GOOG's PowerRating is 5.
Most Underpriced 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.
Baidu.com June 80 Puts (NasdaqGM:BIDU - News). BIDU's PowerRating is 4.
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.
Dendreon May 15 Calls (NasdaqGM:DNDN - News). DNDN's PowerRating is 10.
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.
Oil Services HOLDRs May 145 Puts (AMEX:OIH - News). OIH's PowerRating is 5.
CBOT Holdings June 170 Puts (NYSE:BOT - News). BOT's PowerRating is 4.
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.
Marsh & Mclennan Companies (NYSE:MMC - News). MMC's PowerRating is 5.
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.
None Today
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.
Weyerhauser Co. (NYSE:WY - News). WY's PowerRating is 5.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Stock Market Wrapup

RTP, BHP, AA, CVS, CMX, ESRX, APPB, KBH, MMC, Express Scripts Inc., CVS Corp.
Takeover talk spurred a rally among Blue Chip stocks today that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 to solid gains. Technology stocks as measured by the Nasdaq composite also traded positively, but the advance was less robust. Today's rally appeared to be driven by M&A news, and not necessarily by a change in the cautious sentiment that has characterized recent trading. The day's economic picture was painted by government figures that revealed a record U.S. trade deficit in 2006. While the amount of U.S. exports increased, America's appetite for high-priced oil and foreign goods was even greater. Crude oil prices added over $1 a barrel in today's trading, while the 10-year Treasury note fell.

Fueling the Blue Chip rally was a report in The Times of London that two Australian-based mining concerns, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP - News) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP - News), were each considering bids for U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News) valued at approximately $40 billion. None of the companies involved would comment on the report, but Alcoa added 6% on the day, down from an intraday gain of 10%. Many analysts doubted that Alcoa was a target of either mining company, suggesting Alcoa's packaging and consumer products business was of little interest to these pure mining operations.
In other M&A news, drug-store operator CVS (NYSE: CVS - News) raised the post-merger dividend it offered to pay shareholders for approving its bid for the pharmacy benefits company Caremark RX (NYSE: CMX - News). Caremark rose 3% on the news that CVS would triple the special dividend payable to shareholders after the merger from $2 per share to $6. The added dollars raised the CVS bid to $25.7 billion, but it is still below Caremark's market cap and shy of a competing offer from Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX - News). Caremark's board has consistently supported the CVS bid, but several institutions have voiced opposition. Another roadblock appeared later in the day when a Delaware judge ordered Caremark to delay the vote to give shareholders more time to study the offers.
Casual dining restaurant operator Applebee's International (Nasdaq: APPB - News) jumped 9% after the company announced it was exploring strategic opportunities, including the possible sale of the company. Management was under pressure from a major stakeholder to improve operations. The company has been hurt by reduced consumer spending at casual dining chains and by increased competition.
In earnings news, homebuilder KB Home (NYSE: KBH - News) reported a loss of -$50 million, or -64 cents per share, in the fiscal Q4 ended November 30th. That compares to a profit of $304 million, or $3.44 per share, during the same period last year. The stock nonetheless gained 3% as investors looked toward a possible rebound later in the year. The company said it expects continued pressure in the current and following quarter until it clears out more of its backlog of unsold homes, which is one of the largest in the industry. KB Homes has cut prices sharply and is using other incentives to stimulate buyers.
Marsh & Mclennan (NYSE: MMC - News), the world's largest insurance broker, declined -2% on profit taking after the company reported a substantial profit increase for Q4. It earned $226 million, or 40 cents a share, against $35 million, or 6 cents a share, a year before. Growth came from the company's consulting and risk-management units. The company acknowledged that its core insurance-brokerage business remained under pressure from declining prices in the commercial insurance market.

By Bullmarket.com Staff

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Marsh & Mclennan Companies Inc. (MMC) Beats the Street

Marsh & Mclennan Companies Inc., MMC
The world's largest insurance brokerage company, Marsh & Mclennan Companies Inc. (MMC 30.01, +0.18) exceeded consensus estimates for earnings per share and revenues in the latest period, largely due to some judicious cost cuts and growth in its consulting business.
MMC reported fourth quarter earnings from continuing operations of $0.39 per share, $0.02 better consensus. Revenues rose 9% year over year to $3.06 bln versus consensus of $2.93 bln.
Last month MMC sold its Putnam asset management unit for $3.9 bln to Power Financial Corp., shaking off the outflows from funds and legal problems that accompanied the business. Proceeds from the deal were earmarked for making acquisitions in MMC's Kroll risk consulting unit, in addition to its Mercer Human Resource Consulting business.
Strong operating cash flows allowed MMC to reduce its net debt position to $2.9 bln at year-end 2006. That was a decrease of $520 mln from the fourth quarter. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 12%, from $0.17 to $0.19, payable in the first quarter of 2007.
We currently hold an Overweight rating on the Financial Sector. MMC trades at 19.5x trailing 12-month earnings versus the industry average of about 26x.
--Christine Marie Nielsen, Briefing.com

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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Hot Stocks to Watch Wednesday

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Wednesday from TradingMarkets.com:
The NYSE and Nasdaq will be closed on Tuesday, January 2, in honor of Gerald Ford.
Immucor (NASDAQ:BLUD - News) announces earnings on Wednesday afternoon, with analysts looking for $0.18 EPS. BLUD's PowerRating is 5.
Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC - News) reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday afternoon; watch for $0.19 EPS. SONC's PowerRating is 5.
InterVoice (NASDAQ:INTV - News) announces earnings on Wednesday after the close; look for $0.04 EPS.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) announced that the company was aware of CEO Steve Jobs' options deal, but that the deal was legal and Jobs did not benefit. AAPL's PowerRating is 8.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE:GT - News) announced a 3-year deal with the United Steelworkers union, which will save the company about $300 million a year. GT's PowerRating is 4.
It was reported that Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC - News) agreed to sell its Putnam Investments money-management unit for $3.9 billion. MMC's PowerRating is 5.
AT&T (NYSE:T - News) agreed to more government concessions in its takeover of BellSouth, which would be the largest telecommunications merger in U.S. history. T's PowerRating is 5.
PowerRatings are courtesy of PowerRatings.net

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