Cramer's Take on Headline Stocks: Nov. 20

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Regardless of why a stock is in the news, it never hurts to hear what a professional investor has to say about it. The key is to gather as much information as you can in order to make the most informed investment decisions you can. As Jim Cramer often reminds, investors must do their homework.

So what has Cramer had to say lately about today's headline-makers? At Stockpickr, we've combed through his recent RealMoney blog posts, "Mad Money" TV show recaps and "Stop Trading!" segments to find out what he thinks about some of today's newsworthy stocks.

Altria(MO Quote): Altria's Philip Morris USA division is suing 10 retailers for allegedly selling fake Marlboro cigarettes.

On his Nov. 16 "Mad Money" show, Cramer gave the nod to several stocks in the wake of Ben Bernanke's Fed speech. These included high-yielders such as Altria, which Cramer owns for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust, Kinder Morgan(KMP Quote) and ConEd(ED Quote).

On Nov. 13 on "Stop Trading!" Cramer said that Altria was the pure play on news that the number of smokers was on the rise.

Cooper Industries(CBE Quote): FBR upgraded Cooper Industries, which Cramer owns for Action Alerts PLUS, to market perform from underperform due to restructuring efforts an international growth.

In a post yesterday to his RealMoney blog, Cramer addressed Bank of America/Merrill Lynch's downgrades of Intel(INTC Quote) and Texas Instruments(TXN Quote):

"But I think that if we start looking at Intel and Texas Instruments as big cyclical plays levered more to worldwide growth than to the current tone of the PC or cellphone businesses, we will better understand 1) why they have been strong and 2) why they will remain strong. I would no more sell Intel on this downgrade than I would sell a Honeywell(HON Quote) or a United Tech(UTX Quote) or a Cooper. The world's economies are getting too strong to obey these downgrades and consider these two companies as if they have had huge runs that are now over."