Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Smile on Coke

Coke (KO Quote - Cramer on KO - Stock Picks) remains a good buy amid market turmoil, Jim Cramer said Monday on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment.

Cramer said Coke "is simply not as bad as it used to be," which he said counts as a victory in a bad market. Cramer has said it's time to buy defensive stocks such as Coke because of their dividends -- Coke yields nearly 3% at recent levels -- which will draw interest as investors flee from riskier plays.

Cramer also likes Whirlpool (WHR Quote - Cramer on WHR - Stock Picks), though he cautions that it's tricky to own the stock going into a period that may see analyst estimate cuts as worries about the housing market increase. Cramer says one problem with the stock is that "analysts can't be positive" even though the decline in housing prices hasn't been nearly as sharp as had been feared.

Cramer disagrees with Lehman's downgrade of Countrywide (CFC Quote - Cramer on CFC - Stock Picks), saying that "at $35 it's hard to downgrade it." Cramer said the subprime problem, as bad as it is for lenders such as New Century (NEW Quote - Cramer on NEW - Stock Picks) and NovaStar (NFI Quote - Cramer on NFI - Stock Picks), remains a relatively small problem in terms of the size of the mortgage market. "This is not 1989," Cramer said, which was a key year in the late-1980s savings-and-loans crisis.

Cramer did concede that Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo is "killing his case" for buying the stock by selling his own. Cramer said he "loves Angelo" but implored him to cool his selling and "make your case already."