Ride With the Program Busters

Program busters! That's what I call the stocks of companies in the S&P 500 that are buying back stock and pay a good dividend. These are the companies that can withstand the program-selling avalanches that have afflicted the S&P 500 every day this year.

Remember the thesis: We are gripped by a market where more than half the trades are program-related. Most of those programs consist of selling the S&P 500, either to lock in some sort of a hedge or to make a directional bet against the market. The programs are so powerful that you need to have both buybacks and dividends to support a stock's price. The buybacks cushion the futures spilloff into the stock market. The dividends attract new buyers when the stocks get hit, particularly because of the new, advantageous tax rates on dividends -- 85% excluded -- and the low rates on cash.

So, which S&P names could qualify as program-busters? Here's the list my friend David Peltier (The Dividend Stock Advisor) helped me put together. There are 24 of them. If you can't find something you like here, you are being too picky!

1. Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take): 3.6% yield with bountiful buyback.

2. Lincoln National (LNC - commentary - Cramer's Take): With a 3.2% yield. Bought back $50 million last quarter.

3. Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take): 3.2% with 25 million share buyback authorized. This company has been very active in the market.

4. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - commentary - Cramer's Take): 2.7% yield and bought back $100 million last year. It's still buying another 15 million shares.

5. ChevronTexaco (CVX - commentary - Cramer's Take): 3% yield, with $5 billion buyback in place! This company has been buying back $750 million a quarter.

6. Jefferson Pilot (JP - commentary - Cramer's Take): This low-key insurer has a 3% yield and a 5-million-share buyback.

7. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB - commentary - Cramer's Take): 3% yield, 20 million share buyback in place. Not as good as it used to be, but still OK to own.

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At the time of publication, Cramer was long J.P. Morgan and PNC Financial.

James J. 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. While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column to [e-mail]. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click here. Click here to buy Cramer's latest book, "You Got Screwed!" Click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict."