Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Sears Soars

Sears (SHLD) is ready to break out because the retailer is a smart way to play the housing rebound, Jim Cramer said Tuesday on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment.

Cramer, a fan of Sears ever since it joined the stable of hedge fund manager Ed Lampert, noted that up till now, the company has "never been an earnings story." Lampert's lieutenants have chosen instead to focus on selling more-profitable merchandise, Cramer said.

But now, Cramer added, "this may be the quarter" that Sears finally shows real progress on the earnings front. He added that the stock seems to be ready to jump to $200 from a recent $169 because of the company's tools business and Lampert's aggressive stock buyback.

Cramer discounted rumors that Lampert might be considering a run at Anheuser-Busch (BUD), calling the speculation "a little ridiculous." Cramer said he didn't know what Lampert would do with a slow-growing company like the St. Louis-based brewer. "I just don't think it's going to happen," Cramer said, noting that he has been selling the shares his charitable trust owns in Anheuser.

Cramer remains bullish on Google (GOOG), though, saying the stock isn't expensive even at a recent $424. He said the Mountain View, Calif., search giant trades at 40 times earnings estimates -- but it's growing at a brisk 33% annually.

"This is not an expensive stock," Cramer said, adding that he expects Google to hit $500 by year end.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints