Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Praise for Laureate

12/02/05 - 07:15 PM EST

TheStreet.com Staff

Canadian Bank Roll

Cramer is bullish on the Royal Bank of Canada (RY Quote) because of the possibility conservatives might win the January election there. Canadian banks have been performing well even in an environment of rising interest rates and net interest margins under pressure, he said. And, all banks stand to benefit if conservatives win.

But Royal Bank of Canada should do especially well because it is the largest bank in Canada, pays a 3.1% dividend and has seen a "significant increase" in its wealth management division over the last two quarters. If the conservatives win, the rich will get richer, as always happens, he said.

Finally, two unresolved issues that are likely to be decided favorably for the banks if conservatives win are changes that would make it easier for Canadian banks to merge and a dividend tax credit, said Cramer.

VeriSign's Green

Stratton Sclavos, CEO of VeriSign (VRSN Quote), joined Cramer by telephone. Cramer asked Sclavos which businesses are strong, and why VeriSign purchased its ring-tone business, "because that's what I'm most worried about."

Sclavos said Internet security was strong as well as the dot-com and dot-net domain name business. The ring-tone business has "suffered through some dramatic growth periods this year and now has declined a little bit the last two quarters," he said. Nevertheless, cash flow and operating income are at record levels, he said, and "we're pouring a lot of that money back into the stock buyback."

Cramer asked about VeriSign's plans for radio frequency identification (RFID).

Sclavos said, "The same systems that we use today to deliver dot-com and dot-net services ... we've now repurposed to be the master directory for electronic product codes that these RFID tags are going to hold on them." Any time an RFID tag is read, it will be looked up on VeriSign's servers, he said.

Cramer summed up the interview saying "this is one of those dot-com companies that came back down that is, I think, ready to roll -- I think this stock goes higher."

To view Cramer's interview with Sclavos, click here.

Lightning Round

Bullish

Cramer was bullish on RF Micro Devices (RFMD Quote), Dean Foods (DF Quote), Qualcomm (QCOM Quote), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM Quote), Amgen (AMGN Quote), LeapFrog Enterprises (LF Quote), Amazon.com (AMZN Quote), Boeing (BA Quote), IntraLase (ILSE Quote), Sears Holdings (SHLD Quote), Best Buy (BBY Quote), Parker-Hannifin (PH Quote), Emerson Electric (EMR Quote), Ingersoll-Rand (IR Quote), Toyota Motor (TM Quote), Prudential Financial (PRU Quote), MetLife (MET Quote), Norfolk Southern (NSC Quote), Canadian National Railway (CNI Quote) and Manulife Financial (MFC Quote).

Bearish

Cramer was bearish on Skyworks Solutions (SWKS Quote), UTStarcom (UTSI Quote), Harley-Davidson (HDI Quote), Nissan Motor (NSANY Quote), Sasol (SSL Quote), Oracle (ORCL Quote), Affymetrix (AFFX Quote) and Aflac (AFL Quote).

For more of Cramer's insights during the Lightning Round, click here.

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At the time of publication, Cramer was long Boeing, Qualcomm and Sears Holdings.

Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money."

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