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Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Seeing Red in Security

TheStreet.com Staff

Click here for an archive of Cramer's "Mad Money" recaps.

"Last night there was a special two-hour [episode] of "24" on Fox," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Tuesday, and this can make you money because, he said, watching "24" makes everybody in the nation long for a fascist police state.

When Cramer thinks police state, he wants to buy FLIR Systems(FLIR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

We're spending a lot more money on security and surveillance, he said, and it's going to FLIR, a thermography and imaging powerhouse.

Cramer said that the company makes infrared technology that enables users to see through things, so rather than buy body armor, the Department of Defense buys infrared cameras.

Most of FLIR's money comes from the military, and that will continue, he said, but he believes the company could also make a killing in port security.

Turning his attention to the recent Dubai ports deal, Cramer said there are two ways the controversy can be resolved. Either the Democrats will "out xenophobe" the Republicans and kill the deal, or FLIR will make money, he said.

He doubts that the Democrats will stop the Dubai deal, meaning that the United Arab Emirates will soon run some of our ports in the U.S. When that happens, he said, the U.S. will have to take care of port security on its own, and that will mean more business for FLIR.

The company also makes devices that help detect intruders on ships while they're in the harbor, and devices that allow security checks against smuggling and other illegal operations that can't be detected with video cameras or radar, he said.

Plus, FLIR makes night vision and thermal imaging devices that allow ships to see further through fog and smoke, Cramer added.

And even though the company missed its 2005 revenue estimates, it still made its earnings target, he said.

The Little Railroad That Could

"The railroad still has legs," Cramer said, but he said that his old railroad bulls have had their run.

Union Pacific(UNP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Burlington Northern(BNI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Norfolk Southern(NSC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) are companies he discussed weeks ago. So if you've bought them back then and made some money, he said it's time to ring the register.

They won't get the Justice Department to give them permission to consolidate anymore, Cramer said, adding that he thinks the growth is easing.

However, he believes there are still opportunities in Genesee & Wyoming(GWR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), "the greatest little railroad you never heard of."

This is a short-line railroad company, a company that hauls freight short distances, he said. And this means that it doesn't compete with the big mainline players and has more room to grow.

The company owns 47 different short-line railroads, and last quarter its revenue grew by 29% year on year, "pretty good in an industry that's been written off for decades," he said.

The stock has risen steadily for a year, but Cramer said he thinks it still has momentum because it is a "serious growth story, albeit a quirky one."

Instead of turning itself into a huge railroad company by buying other railroads, it's buying more short-line rail companies. Genesee & Wyoming has a model that works very well, and it's duplicating it "rather than trying to create something useless like another big mainline railroad," said Cramer.

He said the company is also "pimping all over the world," making a killing in Australia. It sold its property in western Australia and plowed the money back into a southern Australian railroad in which it already had a stake. Now, Cramer said, the company can consolidate the earnings.

He told a caller looking for a company that manufactures and distributes railroad products that Portec Rail Products(PRPX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), down 5 points, is a good play.

As for railcar manufacturers, the said that American Railcar(ARII - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was one of single best IPOs of the last few years, but that Trinity Industries(TRN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is cheaper.

Greenberg, Cramer Takes

Senior MarketWatch columnist Herb Greenberg joined Cramer to spar over the merits of Sunrise Senior Living(SRZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), a long-term care facility company.

Greenberg says the same-store sales of Sunrise's base business are growing at 3.3% a year after you take out price increases, and that the rest of the company has morphed itself into a management services company.

He argued that this makes the accounting opaque and the company hard to understand.

But Cramer said Sunrise is a "great demographic play" and that he sees the stock going higher.

Greenberg also took issue with Marchex(MCHX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), saying that the organic growth of the core business is doing nothing.

He said that the company is a "manana story," meaning that it keeps promising results tomorrow.

Finally, Greenberg took a look at Harley-Davidson(HDI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). He said he told Cramer on a "Mad Money" episode several months ago that the company had warehouses that dealers could use to hold bike inventory. Now, Greenberg said, the company has said it is changing course, but did not give a reason why.

Both Cramer and Greenberg said that this could be a reason to be wary of Harley.

A Possible Chip Shot

"For less than the price of a sandwich," Cramer said, he had a stock poised to make some money, and that's Applied Micro Circuits(AMCC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Like every over tech company he's been bullish on, Applied Micro Circuits is part of the optical networking complex. And like many of those companies, this stock has been a real dog, he said.

In 2000, the stock was trading in the $100 range, but then it sank to $3 and change after the tech bubble burst; and he said it was "the proverbial worst house in a really bad neighborhood."

The company makes optical chip components, which makes it the very bottom of the optical networking food chain, so it got creamed when there was too much supply and very little demand.

But components for optical networks are in short supply and that makes everything Applied Micro Circuits has more valuable and could make the stock worth owning, he said, adding that the earnings estimates on this company may finally be too low.

Plus, the company makes a new chip that is great for the fiber optic rollout, and has gotten good press in tech trade publications, Cramer said. The new chip "PON" is a likely winner in the networking space, and could take us to the next step beyond DSL.

Moreover, the company's biggest customer, Nortel(NT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), is going to get a substantial contract from one of the Baby Bells, Cramer said.

While that might not be a big deal for a company the size of Nortel, it's huge for company like Applied Micro Circuits.

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on: Nokia(NOK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Dynegy(DYN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), El Paso(EP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), VeriFone(PAY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Sara Lee(SLE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), BHP Billiton(BHP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Forward Air(FWRD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), UPS(UPS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), First Marblehead(FMD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Acadia Pharmaceuticals(ACAD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Alcan(AL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), UBS(UBS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Legg Mason(LM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Shaw Group(SGR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Yahoo!(YHOO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Cramer was bearish on: Taser(TASR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Intel(INTC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Axcan Pharma(AXCA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Sovereign Bancorp(SOV - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and H&E Equipment Services(HEES - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

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

Want more Cramer? Check out Jim's rules and commandments for investing from his latest book by clicking here.