Jim Cramer Blog

Bullish Calls:
Allergan (NYSE: AGN - News)LifeCell (NasdaqGS: LIFC - News): 'I'm not going to run away from MRX now. I think Jonas Shaknai can deliver. I think you've got a good one in LIFC.'Synchronoss Technologies (NasdaqGM: SNCR - News): 'This is just the kind of consistent service business I like ... I think Goldman gave it away.'Level 3 Communications (NasdaqGS: LVLT - News)Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT - News): ' ... the turn is at hand and, if Lee Scott leaves... plus 5... 'Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - News): 'They're going to break the company up, because it's too difficult to understand... I told my friend, Regis Philbin, recently to please not give up on TWX.'Tellabs (NasdaqGS: TLAB - News): 'Someone has to acquire them ... I am going to violate my rules... and I am going to say ... own TLAB... I hope that I don't have to pay for that one.'Celgene (NasdaqGS: CELG - News): 'I am reiterating that, if you want regular bio, you go with Celgene.'Nastech Pharmaceutical (NasdaqGM: NSTK - News): ' ... if you want a little speculative, you go with Nastech.'
Bearish calls:
Target (NYSE: TGT - News): 'I would ring the register for TGT...'Ryanair Holdings (NasdaqGS: RYAAY - News): 'I think that oil's going to $80 a barrel ... I think this group is just really bad. Sell, sell, sell!...'Genentech (NYSE: DNA - News): ' I am saying ix-nay on your DNA, unfortunately... Sell, sell, sell!... '
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: AGN, CELG, DNA, Jim Cramer, LIFC, Lightning Round, LVLT, Mad Money, NSTK, RYAAY, SNCR, TGT, TLAB, TWX, WMT

Gilead Sciences (NasdaqGS: GILD):' ... at $81 - a nice little pullback.'Celgene (NasdaqGS: CELG): ' ... has not only not let us down, but now has a cure for the heartbreak of psoriasis.'Patterson-UTI Energy (NasdaqGS: PTEN): 'PTEN is a land driller and, I think, has room to catch up to King Halliburton.'Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News)Saks (NYSE: SKS - News): 'If you add the $8 in dividends, plus the appreciation, we almost have a double right here. Let the stock come in ... I was not concerned about the gross margins. I think it's a chance to buy, but we only double down when things have been cut, and cut, and cut. You do a schnitzel, my friend, not a full buy.'Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP - News): 'I should have taken half off, and let the rest run. My advice to you, to take half off and let the rest run. This stock's a double, but it's still going up.'BP (NYSE: BP - News): ' BP, with a 3+% yield... BP, with still some good properties, with the possibility that they're restructuring... I say you pull the trigger right here.'Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO): ''Lets just stick with Cisco.It's down three straight points. That's the better... I like best of breed.'RadioShack (NYSE: RSH - News): ' ... give Julian Day the benefit of the doubt. He's the CEO ... He's rationalizing the stores... He is making it so it's a profitable enterprise. The answer is: Stay long!'
Bearish calls:
RH Donnelley (NYSE: RHD - News): 'It's been too high. I've watched the private equity rumor, over and over again. There's been too much hype in the name... I want to sell RHD.'Geron (NasdaqGM: GERN):'Stem cell speculation... Not for me. Sell, sell, sell! I don't want to come near it. It's up too high.'Tellabs (NasdaqGS: TLAB): 'TLAB's was one of the worst quarters I have heard.'Marvell Technology (NasdaqGS: MRVL): ' ... when you look at a stock like MRVL, I bought it... What was I doing? The financials weren't clean. There is a sign on my desk... and what it says is... Accounting irregularities equals sell. Did I look at that before I bought the stock? I did not.'Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE: SBH - News): 'It's a 'don't buy, don't buy...' I didn't like their quarter. I did take a hard look at it though.'Crystallex (AMEX: KRY - News): 'No. Chavez don't give a darn about his people... sell, sell, sell! I want you out of that stock now. Enough with him. Enough with that country, unless they come around to our ways.'SunPower (NasdaqGM: SPWR)
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: BP, CELG, GERN, GILD, HAL, Jim Cramer, KRY, Lightning Round, MRVL, PTEN, RHD, RSH, SBH, SGP, SKS, SPWR, TLAB

Take Two Interactive (NasdaqGS: TTWO): Cramer admitted he was getting behind the "most poorly managed company in America" because he believes in Steve Cohen, who wants to take the company over. Although Cramer thinks the company should have been shut down by the feds "a la Enron" he predicts that Steve Cohen is going to bust the shorts and comments Cohen has always worked well independently.
Joy Global (NasdaqGS: JOYG): The entire sector is being overdone on the downside, said Cramer, and although JOYG missed the previous quarter, Cramer notes the company has a strong cash flow.
UnderArmour (NYSE: UA - News), Adidas , Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS - News): Lagging marketing expenditures for Adidas and Reebok means an open playing field for UA to move into Dick's Sporting Goods, according to Cramer, who notes that UA hardly got a scratch in the selloff and predicts it is heading into the $50s. Cramer also comments DKS is well-managed.
Ciena Corp (NasdaqGS: CIEN), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU - News) and Tellabs (NasdaqGS: TLAB) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News): Cramer says CIEN needs a win as Verizon is making its choice. He thinks CIEN has a better chance than ALU and TLAB.

Labels: ALU, CIEN, DKS, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, JOYG, TLAB, TTWO, UA, VZ

Summary: Activist investor Carl Icahn recently disclosed a 1.4% stake in Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - News) and set out to force the company to buy back its shares at what he sees as cheap prices. Combined with recent buyouts of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL - News) and Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG - News), astute investors are eyeing telecom and chip companies with similar cash reserves, which may soon find themselves under the radar of impatient shareholders or buyout firms. Zhiping Zhao of CreditSights: "Both events represent... pressure from shareholders for these companies to return excess cash, as well as optimize capital structure and create shareholder value." Cash represents 19.1% of semiconductor companies' market cap, vs. only 6.1% and 4.9% for consumer and industrial companies -- and chip/telecom equipment companies have little or no debt. He thinks companies like Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI - News), Linear Technology Corp. (NasdaqGS: LLTC), Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NasdaqGS: MXIM), Altera Corp. (NasdaqGM: ALTR) Xilinx Inc. (NasdaqGS: XLNX), and Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX - News) are potential buyout targets. Companies that could face shareholder pressure to optimize balance sheets and unlock value include Ericsson (NasdaqGS: ERIC), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - News), Sycamore Networks Inc. (NasdaqGM: SCMR) and Tellabs Inc. (NasdaqGS: TLAB).
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: ADI, ALTR, ERIC, FSL, IFX, LLTC, MOT, MXIM, NOK, PHG, SCMR, TLAB, XLNX

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO - News), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL - News), Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB - News), Nortel (NYSE: NT - News), Alcatel (NYSE: ALU - News)
Cramer comments that TXN-led rally is a perfect chance to sell; "These are predictable rallies," he said. "When you have a very bad options hangover that finishes right near the end of the day, and you have a big, bad event like Texas Instruments to get through, then you're going to have a several-day rally." Cramer adds that he doesn't care for TLAB, NT and ALU, and the only two tech stock he would stick with are Apple and Cisco.
American Standard (NYSE: ASD - News) and Masco (NYSE: MAS - News) and Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK - News)
In spite of Goldman Sach's upgrade of the sector, Cramer warns that housing is being attacked by the shorts and the media, however, the "momentum of the buyers" is great. He adds that these stocks don't trade according to their fundamentals and that pin action companies such as ASD and MAS have been inching up every day. Cramer adds that Black and Decker is a buy because it has preannounced.
Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB - News), Transocean (NYSE: RIG - News), GlobalSantaFe (NYSE: GSF - News), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL - News), Hoku Scientific (NASDAQ: HOKU - News)
Cramer disagrees with an Bear Stearns call on oil which implies that SLB is clueless. He likes SLB,RIG and GSF, saying that he is usually cautious of Americna and Canadian drillers. He predicts that HAL will make an international acquisition. He calls HOKU a "trading vehicle" and says it will be a "huge short down the road." He concludes by commenting that while the President makes is seem as if he going to make a move toward alternative energy, investors will have to sell these stocks between 9:30 and 4:30 on Wednesday.
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: AAPL, ALU, ASD, BDK, CSCO, GSF, HAL, HOKU, Jim Cramer, MAS, NT, RIG, SLB, TLAB, TXN

Wall Street rebounded modestly Tuesday as rising oil prices helped propel energy company shares higher, offsetting a dim outlook from telecommunications maker Alcatel-Lucent.
Exxon Mobil Corp. led blue chips and was among the Dow Jones industrials' biggest gainers as investors bet that a cold snap in the northeastern United States would increase energy demand. Fellow oil companies ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. also rose.
The energy sector's gains helped alleviate some of the pressure on the market from earnings reports. Bank of America Corp., chemical maker DuPont Co., and Johnson & Johnson all tumbled after reporting fourth-quarter results earlier in the session.
However, there was some optimism about technology issues on strong results from United Technologies Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc.
"Earnings are not coming in all that bad," said Brian Gendreau, an investment strategist with ING Investment Management. "There is an absence of any real bad news, leading indicators are up, and companies are not falling off the table. That's consistent with the modest rise in the Dow."
In midday trading, the Dow rose 43.75, or 0.35 percent, to 12,520.91.
Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 4.80, or 0.34 percent, at 1,427.75, and the Nasdaq composite index added 10.05, or 0.41 percent, to 2,441.12.
Bond prices fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.78 percent from 4.76 percent late Monday.
In economic news, a Richmond Fed Survey showed a slip in its manufacturing index this month. Meanwhile, the Conference Board said U.S. economic activity is set to increase slightly in the coming months.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices spiked. A barrel of light, sweet crude rose 96 cents to $53.54 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
As has been typical in previous sessions, oil companies got a boost on the rebound in crude prices. Exxon Mobil rose $1.12 to $74.03; ConocoPhillips was up $1.41, or 2.2 percent, at $64.78; and Chevron increased 97 cents to $72.21.
This helped investors shake off Alcatel-Lucent's statement that it will not turn a profit in the first quarter since the company was created with last year's $11.6 billion deal between France's Alcatel and Lucent of the U.S. The company blamed integration costs and weaker sales because of consolidation among its customers.
Alcatel-Lucent fell $1.17, or 8.2 percent, to $13.03. Also lower was rival Tellabs Inc., which dropped 4 cents to $10.06 after reporting a plunge in sales caused profit to fall 68 percent during the latest quarter.
However, technology stocks were up overall after chip maker Texas Instruments reported a robust quarterly profit and was upgraded by several Wall Street firms. Shares rose $1.17, or 4.1 percent, to $29.76.
United Technologies, which makes everything from air conditioners to aircraft engines, reported fourth-quarter profit rose 38 percent, which sent shares up $2.10, or 3.3 percent, to $66.22.
Bank of America shares fell 40 cents to $53.25 after the nation's biggest retail bank reported growth in its loan business and its acquisition of credit-card issuer MBNA Corp. helped boost profit during the latest quarter. Rival Wachovia Corp. shares rose 4 cents to $56.31 despite posting better-than-expected results.
DuPont posted higher quarterly earnings that met Wall Street forecasts, but investors were concerned about how the impact of higher raw materials costs will impact the chemical maker. Its stock fell $1.23, or 2.5 percent, to $48.87.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller gained 7.86, or 1.01 percent, to 785.82.
Decliners barely outpaced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 712.8 million.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.09 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.07 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.69 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.24 percent.
Published by Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer

Labels: ALU, CVX, JNJ, TLAB, TXN, UTX, XOM

The background evidence of the week was somewhat mixed and of the type that could always conjure the spin doctors of Wall Street to don the bear goggles. Make no mistake about it though, a decisive shift in investor psychology opted to embrace the bull at large, with the end result fresh multi-year and all-time-highs. For the five day period S&P500 ($SPX) and NASDAQ Composite ($COMPQ) are up 1.49% to 2.82% on sure signs of investor satisfaction.Aggressively lower energy prices certainly helped market bulls this week. It’s not always the case, as the relative weakness and potential earnings concerns over the ‘profit-engine’ of the energy complex (XLE, OIH) need to be ignored or used as the proverbial sacrifice fly, so that other sectors may prosper. That was the case this past week as Black Gold slid precipitously to two year lows. At the same time, the West Texas ETF (USO) fell by -9% to fresh all-time-lows of 43.50 before closing off -6.69% at 44.63. Abnormally warm weather in the northeast, continued bearish build ups of inventories, further not-so-smart institutional monies rotations and trader skepticism over OPEC cuts all played a part in the action. Meanwhile, concern over the ‘price drilling’ being an actual harbinger of a weaker economy dissipated and lost favor with a giddy Wall Street and other data saying something else entirely. After a couple warnings curveballs thrown in the week prior, the official start to the Q4 earnings season was a bullish catalyst for the market. While it’s still too early to determine any type of trend, lowered expectations for Corporate America and a cautious investor mood have been countered by strong results and outlooks from the likes of Alcoa (AA) and Genentech (DNA). While the 22% growth seen in the third-quarter isn’t likely to be matched, bullish reactions to upside surprises thus far do suggest sufficient pessimism coming into the period. Now all Wall Street needs are 450-plus reports from the S&P500, to see if they’ve got it right.One place Wall Street seems certain it has it right is a rotation into large cap technology. An outsized 2.82% gainer and a second straight week of outperformance is a testament to that belief of value found, four plus years into the broader market’s Bull Run. However, as a further testament to a market still composed of stocks and obviously not tolerant of disappointments: sales warnings out of veritable tech names such as Tellabs (TLAB), SAP (SAP) and Advanced Micro (AMD) were punished by investors. While the initial broader market concern / impact was shaken off each time and ultimately favored the “Buy, Buy, Buy!” routine, some canaries outside of the coal / energy mine have been spotted and possibly worth listening too. It also looks like Wall Street is in the mood to embrace strength outside of the corporate kind. Economic data this week contained potentially damaging information for bulls insistent of rate cuts. However, when all was said and done, the market reacted favorably to a stronger economy and one not in need of the Fed easing monetary policy. Friday’s much stronger-than-expected .9% retail sales increase solidified traders shift towards relief over an economy that’s showing more signs of bottoming without further intervention. In fact, some analysts feel the data could point to an upward revision for the Q4 GDP. The bond market is listening as well. Fed funds futures are pricing in almost no chance of a cut before May and treasury yields soared to their best levels in more than two months. The widely followed 10-Year closed at 4.77% and up 13 basis points on the week, but below the key 5% level and a point where another kind of market intervention might come into play.ON TAP THIS WEEKInvestors received an equal dose of high profile surprises and warnings last week, but all told the total count of less than a handful makes for a clean slate as earnings intensify this week. The holiday shortened work-week will have plenty of high-profile names in a myriad of industry groups. Currently, earnings expectations are riding low as Wall Street makes provisions for the end of thirteen quarters of double digit growth from the S&P500. That’s likely to happen, as much of that success was directly linked to the oil patch, which has lost more than a bit of its energy mojo. Financials, also a very heavily weighted group, will likely surprise to the upside as deal making and the capital markets have been benevolent overall. It’s anticipated though that much of what the market does in the coming weeks will be riding heavily on the current rotation into large cap tech and the NASDAQ. Investors won’t want to see further disappointments from that group with so much money now obviously betting on a confirmation of those actions. As mentioned prior, expectations for the Fed cutting rates before May are down to a near zero vote of confidence. The economic data of late has shown both a tightening labor market and enough resilience in the manufactured slowdown to keep interest rates on hold and possibly even nudged up if conditions persist. The current environment is taking place as well, in a market that’s seen hard declines in physical prices of underlying commodities. That means that should those prices firm, an additional force could also be at work, as to keep a rate cut out of the equation for 2007. The week is full of fresh data on both the inflation and growth fronts, so economic watchdogs should make sure to keep note of what’s on tap by looking at the schedule below. What does a rate cut or none offered actually mean to investors? The underlying theme that a reduction is good for the market will always have a home on Wall Street. However, the current popular vote—as evidenced by higher stock prices—is geared towards wanting an economic turnaround despite some concerns over higher price pressures. Until yields move to levels that are deemed attractive enough to pull the rug from under equities, Wall Street can apparently have its cake and eat it too.
TuesdayEconomic: NY Empire Index (20)Earnings: Ameritrade (AMTD), Forest Labs (FRX), US Banc (USB), Wells Fargo (WFC), Intel (INTC), Linear Tech (LLTC)
WednesdayEconomic: PPI & Core (.6%, .1%), Ind Prod & Cap Util (.1%, 81.8%), Weekly Crude, Beige BookEarnings: AMR (AMR), Freeport McMoran (FCX), Lennar (LEN), JP Morgan (JPM), Apple (AAPL), Lam Research (LRCX), Washington Mutual (WM)
ThursdayEconomic: CPI & Core (.5%, .2%), Housing & Permits (1.575M, 1.510M), Weekly Claims (315K), Leading Indicators (.2%), Philly Fed (3.0)Earnings: Bank of NY (BK), Continental (CAL), Harley-Davidson (HOG), Jeffries (JEF), Knight (NITE), Merrill (MER), United Health (UNH), Cap One (COF), Cree (CREE), IBM (IBM), Molex (MOLX), Xilinx (XLNX)
FridayEconomic: Michigan Sentiment (92.0)Earnings: Amcol (ACO), Citigroup (C), General Electric (GE), Motorola (MOT), Schlumberger (SLB), Suntrust (STI), Satyam (SAY), Johnson Controls (JCI), Fastenal (FAST)
Chris Tyler

Labels: AA, AAPL, AMD, AMR, CAL, DNA, FCX, INTC, JPM, LEN, LLTC, MER, OIH, SAP, TLAB, UNH, USB, USO, WFC, XLE

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - News), ConcoPhillips (NYSE: COP - News) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX - News)
Although oil stocks moved up on Friday, Cramer does not trust the sector, and commented that people knew that oil stock prices were ahead of the price of oil, and when they held these stocks up, they cratered. He noted that when oil prices were this high before, XOM was in the $60s and now it is in the low $70s. Cramer admitted that he was "blindsided" by COP which reported low margins after saying "a lot of really good things" at a meeting a few weeks ago. However, he still thinks COP is a buy because the company is "committed" to its stock, and would also recommed Chevron for its dividend.
Related: Kurt Wulff discusses XOM's expected return for 2007.
Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN - News) and Genentech (NYSE: DNA - News)
Cramer notes that its strange that drug stocks are moving up precisely at a time when the Democrats are talking about lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries: 'Maybe ... you can't change the Medicare policy like we thought," he said and commented that drug companies are very good at lobbying and spreading around money. Although the first half of the year is usually tough for biotech, Cramer thinks that the sector could catch up with pharma, and notes that AMGN and DNA did not perform well in the latter half of 2006.
Related: Amgen acquires option On experimental Cytokinetics heart drug
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - News), Motorola (NYSE: MOT - News), Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB - News), Sprint (NYSE: S - News)
Tech has rebounded, and Cramer comments that the analysts are far more negative than the companies. He sees a buying opportunity ahead of MSFT's Vista launch and says there is every reason to get behind tech. Cramer calls MOT a "problem company," says he is "sick and tired" of TLAB attributing its poor performance to integration in telco, and thinks that TLAB has no product portfolio. Cramer adds that, among MOT's woes, its CEO Ed Zander is "curiously absent" and, as Sprint's largest supplier, MOT might be affected by Sprint's inconsistent performance.
Related: Tiernan Ray discusses Sprint's "huge miss."
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: AMGN, COP, CVX, DNA, Jim Cramer, MOT, MSFT, TLAB, XOM

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.5. The S&P 500 futures are relatively unchanged since the last comment, but a recent improvement in Nasdaq 100 futures now suggsts a slightly higher open for the tech-heavy Composite. Network Appliance (NTAP) is up nearly 2% in pre-market action after it was upgraded at UBS, which also raised their rating on semiconductor stocks to Equal-Weight from Underweight. Apple Computer (AAPL) is also attracting notable buying interest after JP Morgan raised estimates.
09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: flat. Still little enthusiasm seen in the futures market as current indications suggest equities will start the day on a relatively flat note. The hesitation on the part of both buyers and sellers is also attributed to some uncertainty heading into earnings season, which officially begins after the bell tomorrow with Alcoa's (AA) Q4 report. Current projections are for Q4 2006 operating earnings on the S&P 500 to be up 9-10%, which would be the smallest increase in quarterly earnings growth since early 2002 and snap 13 straight quarters of double-digit profit growth if results check in at the low of that range.
08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.3. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.0. Still shaping up to be a mixed start for the cash market as futures indications continue to vacillate around the unchanged mark. With economic data of late feeding concerns that the Fed won't cut interest rates anytime soon, the absence of any notable reports this morning is noteworthy; but the lack of data may also be placing more emphasis on a negative preannouncement from Tellabs (TLAB) since Friday's warning from Motorola (MOT) raised valuation concerns throughout the influential tech sector. The market is also awaiting a speech on the economic outlook from Fed Vice Chairman Kohn at 12:45 ET, which will be monitored closely since Kohn is a voting Fed official.
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.3. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.0. Early indications suggest stocks may kick off the week in sluggish fashion. Tech bellwether IBM (IBM) has been upgraded, but an analyst downgrade on fellow Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT) is keeping early blue-chip buying interest in check. Oil prices rebounding to the tune of 1.5% and climbing back above $57/bbl following last week's sell-off is also contributing to a cautious underlying tone.
06:19 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.0.
06:19 am : FTSE...6244.40...+24.30...+0.4%. DAX...6623.12...+30.03...+0.5%.
06:19 am : Nikkei...Holiday......... Hang Seng...20029.66...-181.62...-0.9%.
Published by Briefing.com

Labels: AA, AAPL, MOT, NTAP, TLAB