Jim Cramer Blog

The Dow dropped 362 points and the Nasdaq fell 64 points Thursday, crushing the stock market. The Chairman & CEO of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co, Jonathan Merriman, joined the show to discuss stocks he feels have potential in the selloff. Merriman likes Smith & Wesson (SWHC) here and thinks it's a huge opportunity to buy the stock while it's low. Macke still likes video game stocks like Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Activision (ATVI). Adami recommends buying Aministaff (ASF). Finerman likes NYMEX (NMX) and Crocs (CROX). Merriman thinks she is very early to be buying CROX here. Najarian favors Manitowoc (MTW).
The founder and president of Seabreeze partner, Doug Kass, joined the show to give his take on the mortgage insurers. Kass thinks names like Ambac (ABK), PMI Group
(PMI) and MBIA (MBI) don't have enough capital to keep running. Kass also says his sources are telling him that Citigroup (C) will get rid of CEO Chuck Prince this weekend. Charlie Gasparino joined the show to discuss his take on the CEO turmoil at Citigroup and agrees with Kass and expects that Citigroup CEO, Chuck Prince, is about to get the axe.
Najarian feels that Bear Stearns (BSC) and Merrill Lynch (MER) would benefit the most from a management change. Finerman is long Goldman Sachs (GS) and short Merrill.
Word on the Street
Crude oil traded over $96 before selling off to close at $93. Adami was surprised that Exxon Mobil (XOM) didn't go lower on Thursday. He sees the valuation on Chevron (CVX) as compelling and there could be a buying opportunity in the stock. Tesoro (TSO) is another name to look at here.
Microsoft (MSFT) bucked the trend on Thursday and finished the day up. Macke still likes Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) plunged 17% after hours on a bearish earnings report.
Pops & Drops
Pops- Investment Technology Group (ITG) traded up 2%.
United Therapeutics (UTHR) popped 38% higher after study results showed its inhaled-high blood drug.
Drops- Sprint Nextel (S) fell 3% after profits fell 73% in the third quarter.
Manitowoc (MTW) fell 11% off of concerns for the crane maker's backlog.
Garmin (GRMN) fell 7% on concerns over a bidding war with TomTom for Tele Atlas.
Target (TGT) fell 5%.
Face2Face
Cathy asked if Google, Apple (AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM) trying to beat each other for the highest share price? Macke says Apple and Research In Motion have split. He advised Cathy not to believe the hype on stock splits just buy less shares.
Scot from Virginia asked if Adami liked Fluor (FLR). Adami still likes Fluor and he feels the story is still intact.
Another writer asked what Finerman is going to do with BEA Systems (BEAS) with the Oracle (ORCL) deal off. Finerman thinks by the end of the day we will see a deal with Oracle and BEA Systems.
John said he owns some Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) and knows Najarian likes them as well based partially on their sales of names like Under Armour (UA), Nike (NKE) and Crocs. He asked if the recent sell-off based on Croc's numbers and does this change your bullish sentiment on the company? Najarian tells John that even though there are some concerns for Dicks Sporting Goods, right now he still likes the company.
Final Trade
Macke would buy Electronic Arts (ERTS) on a dip.
Adami favors Intel (INTC).
Finerman prefers Flowserve (FLS).
Najarian recommends buying Cypress Semiconductor (CY) for a solar play.

Labels: ABK, ASF, BSC, CNBC, CROX, Fast Money, Fast Money Recap, MBI, MTW, PMI, SWHC

On Monday's show, Cramer said that he thinks retailers will have a turnaround. He believes that the good retailers can't fall any further, and that there will be 2 more rate cuts before the end of the year, which he thinks is bullish for retailers if you look back at their past performance after rate cuts. Cramer also said that the change in the weather will allow retailers to move some of their new winter products. His first two retail picks are Ralph Lauren (RL) and Nordstrom (JWN). Both of these stocks are down big from their recent highs, and he thinks that luxury goods retailers will be the first to turn around since people with more money to spend won't be as concerned with economical concerns, making both of these stocks bargains.
Cramer then went to the phonelines. The first caller asked about J.C. Penney (JCP), and Cramer said that he likes the stock, but can't pull the trigger because he thinks it will be behind the luxury retailers when the sector turns around. The next caller asked about timing the purchase of retail stocks around Christmas. Cramer said that it is time to buy these two stocks now. The last caller asked about Build a Bear Workshop (BBW), and Cramer said he wants you to stay far away from that stock.
Cramer then gave out his top retail pick, which was Target (TGT). He also noticed that stores are very full, thinks that they make shopping fun, that they are opening stores rapidly, and that the stock is cheap. But his primary reason is that the company is thinking about selling its credit card business, which could fetch up to $7 billion. Target could use this money for a large stock buyback.
Cramer also mentioned that he had a good call to sell Smith and Wesson (SWHC) last week since they guided earnings lower today.
After the lightning round, Cramer talked with Chris Matthews about the effect politics and the upcoming elections will have on the stock markets.
Mad Mail: The first email asked if Cramer would have other presidential candidates on the show, and Cramer said that he welcomes them all on the show. The next email asked about Sketchers (SKX), and Cramer said that he thinks they suffered from bad timing, and he thinks they have that straightened out now. Another email asked about Six Flags (SIX), and Cramer said they got hurt by bad weather and bad acquisitions. Lastly, an emailer asked about Hologic (HOLX), and Cramer said not to worry about the large short interest because it is being driven up by merger arbitrage players.
Sudden Death. Cramer is bullish on Manitowoc (MTW), bullish on Baidu.com (BIDU), bearish on Dow Chemical (DOW), and bullish on Adobe (ADBE).

Labels: BBW, JCP, Jim Cramer, JWN, Mad Money, Mad MOney Recap, RL, SIX, SKX, SWHC

Bullish calls:
Cemex (NYSE: CX - News): 'CX is one of the best stocks out there. ... CX - the Mexican cement company that's buying American companies... that one's for me. I'm giving it two thumbs up.'BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS - News): 'They are saying this BEAS hasn't taken off since Cramer recommended it. So, therefore, it must have no mojo, and they could not be more wrong. If you look at the Oracle quarter, after that disappointment, you can see it cries out for an acquisition. It needs China play. You know what that spells: BEAS.'Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO - News)Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI - News): 'I say you should only playing with the house's money right now. This company produces stainless steel - but much more important - it makes titanium for BA. It makes airplane titanium, therefore, it is still too cheap. I bless it, anytime it's under $90.'Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY - News): I think OXY's good. There's like a scale here, of which are the companies most levered to crude: The company that should go up or down with the crude is OXY. The least levered is XOM. I like to have a little bit of both.'Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - News): 'I don't like to be unlevered like XOM, although I know it's going higher. 'Chevron (NYSE: CVX - News): 'So I settle on CVX, which is my fave, for those of you who want steady income. It yields 2.75%, and it just seems to always have a bid underneath, but it doesn't go down.'Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN - News): 'And, for those who want to roll the dice, I talk about the stock that got downgraded today, criminally and wrong, which is DVN. DVN's good.'
Bearish calls:
Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC - News): 'I don't like the stock. SWHC was one we nailed in the $5-6 range. When it got to $14, we said we be hogs.'JDSU (NASDAQ: JDSU - News): 'JDSU - I have been over that quarter with a fine-tooth comb... I think that JDSU - and let me roll up in CIEN - these I call - these are 'too hard' because they're too likely to give you (an electric shock sound).'Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN - News): 'I feel very strongly that anybody who calls me with the JDSU or the CIEN... I would tell you that they should buy CSCO.'Allied Waste (NYSE: AW - News): 'You know, I was going to recommend this stock. I feel like this is the best one of the waste removal companies, but here's your problem: It grows at 13%, and it sells at 24x earnings. On Jim Cramer's Mad Money, the upper limit is 26x. So, if I told you to buy this at $12, I'd have to tell you to ring the register at $14. So, the answer is 'don't buy, don't buy.'

Labels: ATI, AW, BEAS, CIEN, CSCO, CVX, CX, DVN, JDSU, Jim Cramer, Lightning Round, Mad Money, OXY, SWHC, XOM

3M Co. (NYSE:MMM - News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at Prudential Equity Group, which said it will take some time for the stock to regain its valuation premium. Fears over the company's optical film business have been extinguished by strong third-quarter figures, but convincing investors to pay a premium for the company as economies in Europe and North America slow could take more time than originally anticipated, Prudential said.
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE:AEM - News) was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch, which cited valuation. The broker said Agnico-Eagle is trading close to the upper end of the valuation range within which North American gold producers have historically traded. "Despite this downgrade, we still believe that the company has excellent long-term growth prospects," Merrill Lynch said. "Agnico-Eagle is in the midst of developing four gold projects that should convert the company into a multi-mine operator allowing the company to more than triple gold output."
American Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL - News) said it sees 2007 earnings of 92 to $1.02 per share. The waste-services company also backed its view for 2006 earnings of 85 to 90 cents per share.
Biopure Corp. (NASDAQ:BPUR - News) agreed to sell 25 million new shares of common stock and warrants to acquire an additional 25 million new shares to underwriters. The price for one share and one warrant is 64 cents, the company said. The exercise price of each warrant is 80 cents. The transaction is expected to close on Dec. 13, resulting in net proceeds to Biopure of $14.4 million, assuming no warrant is exercised.
Central Garden (NASDAQ:CENT - News) said fourth-quarter net earnings fell to $6.02 million, or 25 cents a share, from $6.72 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period last year, as expenses and income taxes rose. Excluding $9 million in increased brand building and strategic work, the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based producer and marketer of garden and pet supplies posted per-share earnings of 49 cents.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK - News) is launching a public offering of 30 million shares of its common stock. The Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer said it has granted the underwriter, Deutsche Bank Securities, a 30-day option to buy up to 4.5 million additional shares to cover any over-allotments.
Consolidated Water Co. (NASDAQ:CWCO - News), which builds and operates seawater desalination plants, said it has priced a public offering of 1.5 million shares at $24.90 a share. The company said it expects the offering to generate net proceeds of $34.9 million. It added it expects to use the proceeds to repay existing debt as well as possible future acquisitions and investments.
Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC - News) shares slumped after Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of the mortgage giant to hold from buy. "Recent developments in the mortgage industry have significantly increased the risks in the sector," Stifel Nicolaus said in a note to clients. Analysts cited severe credit deterioration, decreased secondary market appetite and tightening underwriting standards. "We expect trends to worsen given our belief that housing has yet to bottom or even fully impact credit trends," analyst Chris Brendler said.
Shares of Duckwall-ALCO Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:DUCK - News) dropped after the Abilene, Kansas-based general merchandise retailer posted a wider loss for the third quarter. For the three months ended Oct. 29, the company lost $648,000, or 18 cents a share, compared to an equivalent year-ago loss of $187,000, or 5 cents a share. Sales from continuing operations rose 9.3% in the latest quarter to $110.1 million from $100.7 million in the same period a year earlier. Duckwall-ALCO said its gross margin declined in the quarter to 31.2% due to higher freight costs, lower margins on higher sales at its fuel centers, and higher than expected degree of seasonal markdowns for its horticulture and patio merchandise products.
Genta (NASDAQ:GNTA - News) shares dropped after the Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based biopharmaceutical company said a Phase III trial of chemotherapy with or without Genasense, conducted in older, previously untreated patients with acute myelogenous leukemia, failed to meet its primary endpoint of overall survival.
GTx Inc. (NASDAQ:GTXI - News) said a Phase II trial of its ostarine selective androgen receptor modulator met its primary endpoint of increasing lean body mass and a secondary endpoint of improving functional performance. Ostarine continued to demonstrate a favorable safety profile, with no serious adverse events reported, it added. GTx plans to initiate a Phase IIb ostarine clinical trial for cancer cachexia in the summer of 2007. GTx also intends to evaluate the ability of ostarine to treat chronic disease indications including end stage renal disease muscle wasting, frailty and osteoporosis. GTx has reacquired full rights to develop and commercialize andarine and all backup compounds previously licensed to Johnson & Johnson unit Ortho Biotech Products on a mutual agreement to terminate the deal
New Century Financial Corp. (NYSE:NEW - News) said its total mortgage loan production was $4.5 billion, a drop of 11.8% from the equivalent year-ago period. On a sequential basis, November's production slid 10% from October levels. "The decline in our loan production volume in November was in line with our expectations, particularly in light of overall mortgage market declines this quarter," said Brad Morrice, the company's president and CEO, in a statement.
PG&E Corp. (NYSE:PCG - News) was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan, citing valuation.
Shares of Questcor Pharmaceuticals (AMEX:QSC - News) shares fell after the company said it's received definitive commitments from unaffiliated institutional investors to purchase 10.51 million shares of its common for $1.20 each. In addition, the Union City, Calif.-based Questcor said certain insiders have committed to purchasing 890,000 shares at $1.45 each.
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:SWHC - News) reported second-quarter net earnings of $2.85 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $692,377, or 2 cents a share, in the same period last year, on the back of strong firearms sales.
Shares of Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S - News) fell as Morgan Stanley analyst Simon Flannery said the company was at a "crossroads," with results falling below expectations set at the time of the Sprint-Nextel merger. "We see significant downside for the stock if management is not successful in stabilizing the business in the near term," Flannery said in a note to clients. He reiterated his underweight rating on the stock, and revised his price target from $18 at the end of 2006 to $19 at the end of 2007. "Recent comments by management appear to suggest that rising handset subsidies, tightened credit standards and increasing pre-paid competition will pressure fourth-quarter and early-2007 results, despite new handset launches and a re-branding campaign," Flannery added.
Unifi Inc. (NYSE:UFI - News) said it now expects its second-quarter earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be less than half of its previous forecast of $10 million to $12 million. The company said a September drop in volume has continued.
Witness Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:WITS - News) said a special committee review found mistakes in the measurement dates of stock-option grants, although it did not find evidence of fraud or intentional misrepresentation.
Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX - News) said it now sees third-quarter sequential sales falling 2% to 5% due to weaker than anticipated turns business in November, particularly from communications customers. The company had expected a sequential increase of 2% to 5%.
Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM - News) was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Wachovia. The firm cited slowing sales momentum in the U.S. and a potentially significant sales impact related to the recent E. coli outbreak at some of the group's Taco Bell restaurants. Wachovia added Yum's KFC chain is facing tough sales comparisons over the next couple of quarters, though it added it still holds a favorable view on the group's international and Chinese operations.
By Michael Baron

Labels: AEM, BPUR, CENT, CFC, CHK, CWCO, DUCK, ECOL, GNTA, GTXI, Hot Stocks, MMM, NEW, PCG, QSC, S, SWHC, WITS, XLNX, YUM

Movin' on Up: Dolby (NYSE: DLB - News), Mastercard (NYSE: MA - News)
Cramer says that Dolby is still a buy even though it has risen substantially in the past month, and the stock reminds him of Mastercard which has kept going up. He comments that Dolby did not raise its estimates high enough and that it should fetch $1 per share in 2007. Dolby is "a great play on the flat-panel TV upgrade cycle, "and is starting to produce gaming consoles, notes Cramer who also likes that fact that 79% of its revenue comes from licensing which has big margins which should increase as it pursues the video market.
Trading Truce: eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY - News), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG - News), Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO - News), Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU - News)
Although Cramer has been picking on eBay all summer, he finally declares that at $31.30 "it has become the ultimate value stock." First of all, he says that it is cheaper than it should be, it owns PayPal which web Goliath Google has not been successful in supplanting with its own service. Cramer admits that he was too critical of CEO Margaret Whitman, who has been negotiating advertising deals with Yahoo and Google, as well as an agreement with Baidu which will help distribute PayPal in China. In addition, eBay is flush with cash and is implementing buybacks, notes Cramer, who says that while he felt eBay was overpriced in the past, now "not only is it cheap, it's good."
Sell Block: Hershey (NYSE: HSY - News), Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI - News), Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA - News), XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR - News), Ford (NYSE: F - News), Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC - News) and Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE - News)
After hearing that Hershey lowered its earnings estimates, Cramer admits that he was wrong about the stock and suggested selling once it reaches $50 from$49.34. He also admitted a mistake in thinking that SIRI doesn't need to merge with XMSR. After SIRI lowered its sales outlook, Cramer thinks that the stock won't go anywhere "except slightly down unless it gets that merger with XM Radio." Yet another company, Panera, reduced its earnings estimates, blaming Midwestern stores. However, since only a small percentage of stores are affected, Cramer suspects that sluggish growth is the real reason for the reduction."It is running out of steam and I was wrong to recommend it. Get rid of it." Ford, which Cramer had recommended, is issuing convertible bonds with a 4% yield. "Now ... the common stock is plain wrong," Cramer said. "If you want to play Ford, then play it with the convertible bond for less-risky exposure." Finally, Cramer suggested taking some SWHC and RATE off the table.

CEO Interview: Sally Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD - News)
Cramer asked Sally Smith if BWLD could maintain its 11.8% company-owned sales growth, and she responded confidently that providing a good dining experience would encourage customers to come back. She added that the company could "absolutely" expand from 400 to 1,000 stores and noted that a new store was opened in Brooklyn, addressing a demand to go national: "We started getting letters from all over the country," she said. "They were craving the sauces and the wings and were wondering when we were going to their towns." Cramer commented on the restaurant chains "multiyear growth plan" and says that if it ever dips "back up the stock and buy some."
By Miriam Metzinger

Labels: BIDU, BWLD, DLB, Ebay, F, GOOG, HSY, Jim Cramer, MA, Mad Money, PNRA, RATE, SIRI, SWHC, XMSR, YHOO

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Friday from TradingMarkets.com:
Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWHC - News) missed earnings late Thursday, with $0.07 EPS vs an expected $0.09 EPS. SWHC's PowerRating is 4.
Verifone (NYSE:PAY - News) beat earnings on Thursday afternoon, announcing $0.32 EPS over an expected $0.29 EPS. PAY's PowerRating is 4.
National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM - News) matched earnings on Thursday afternoon with $0.27 EPS. NSM's PowerRating is 3.
Central Garden (NASDAQ:CENT - News) matched earnings late Thursday with $0.49 EPS. CENT's PowerRating is 5.
CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL - News) is undergoing a 3:2 stock split which is payable on December 8th. CRVL's PowerRating is 1.
Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR - News) is undergoing a 2:1 stock split which is payable on December 11th. EMR's PowerRating is 5.
EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - News) is undergoing a 3:1 stock split which is payable on December 11th. EZPW's PowerRating is 4.

Labels: CENT, CRVL, EMR, EZPW, Hot Stocks, NSM, PAY, SWHC