Some Stocks Got a Pass in '06

Last year might go down as the most forgiving of years. I am amazed at how many companies that disappointed found their stocks up -- in some cases substantially -- after the guidedowns.

My classic tell is Shaw Group (SGR - commentary - Cramer's Take), a company that hugely disappointed early in the year, hung in, and then exploded to the upside. That's an amazing rally after a disastrous year.

Or take Gap (GPS - commentary - Cramer's Take). Has this company done anything right? Last year was awful for the chain. But the stock is up 12% year over year.

Or Ingersoll Rand (IR - commentary - Cramer's Take), which reported a monstrously bad quarter and then rallied 10 percent almost immediately.

Legg Mason (LM - commentary - Cramer's Take) repeatedly disappointed and still ended up substantially from the latest and most devastating report.

Then there are the companies that presented no financials and yet rallied nicely... Krispy Kreme (KKD - commentary - Cramer's Take) did nothing good in 2006 but rallied 93% year over year! Bausch & Lomb (BOL - commentary - Cramer's Take) had an abominable year but rallied nicely off its May bottom even as it lost share and produced no financials... Fannie Mae (FNM - commentary - Cramer's Take) reported some quintessentially bogus numbers and had to restate down $6 billion, yet it rallied 24% year over year.

Of course there are some that got punished and stayed punished: Whole Foods (WFMI - commentary - Cramer's Take), Ameritrade (AMTD - commentary - Cramer's Take), Vonage (VG - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Yahoo! (YHOO - commentary - Cramer's Take).

But those are few and far between.

That's why I am calling 2006 the F&F year, for forgive and forget.

Remarkable.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Yahoo!.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order his book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

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