Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! MasterCard Charges

12/12/06 - 03:03 PM EST

TheStreet.com Staff

Tuesday's soft earnings at retailer Best Buy (BBY Quote) and steelmaker Nucor (NUE Quote) are "worrisome" but not a sign of consumer weakness, Jim Cramer said Tuesday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.

Cramer said the consumer is still "on fire" despite Best Buy's third-quarter margin shortfall. Cramer also shrugged off a comment by credit card processor Visa that spending hasn't been as strong as expected.

"There are lots of price wars going on," Cramer said, pointing to efforts to gain share on the part of competitors ranging from Costco (COST Quote) to Wal-Mart (WMT Quote). "There's a lot of spending going on."

Cramer said a key report this week will be Thursday morning's update from Best Buy rival Circuit City (CC Quote), whose shares were hit hard Tuesday on Best Buy's earnings miss. But Cramer said he doesn't believe the retail sector is about to get hit, and he believes the consumer will keep charging up a storm. He said even if Circuit City posts soft numbers, that merely shows it "may be time to try to own MasterCard (MA Quote) instead."

Cramer also called Toll Brothers (TOL Quote) CEO Robert Toll "a terrific guy." But Cramer said Toll was bullish on his business at what turned out to be the top, and more recently bearish at what appears to be the bottom -- which could show that housing stocks have longer to run.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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