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Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Rumor Mill Grinds to Halt

TheStreet.com Staff

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

When things get ugly, rumors drive the market. And when rumors get overextended, people witness a rally like today's, Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Tuesday.

"If you missed today's rally, I want you to know who kept you away," he said. "I want you to know how the game is really played so you don't get played."

Nobody can stop rumors from happening, and once one is started, it spreads like fire through the Street, Cramer said. Stocks get sent down on rumors all the time, but on Monday there was a rumor that went too far, and market players witnessed the rumor cause a bottom, he said.

There were rumors that Wells Fargo (WFC Quote), MBIA (MBI Quote) and CIT Group (CIT Quote) were heading south, Cramer said.

But these rumors had no substance and instead became a good entry opportunity into these stocks, he said.

If investors had taken a closer look at the situation, they would have seen that there was no reason to believe these three stocks had reckless subprime lending, Cramer said.

Cramer says he's giving Wells Fargo the "benefit of the doubt" and believes that the company is the opposite of reckless subprime lending. Additionally, CIT and MBIA, according to Cramer, had no business being attached to these rumors.

"When I hear about quality stocks being rumored down, I know we're near the end of a bear raid," he said. "These three stocks have bottomed."

There are a lot of reasons the financials hit a bottom today, Cramer continued. Sure, the market was due for recovery, but the shorts got "too cocky and took the rumors too far," he said. Cramer's advice for people who bought into the rumors and turned into "bait for the shorts" was to see a decline as a big sale next time.

The financials are putting in a bottom right now, he said, urging people not to let recklessness disguised as caution and prudence keep them out of a rally like today's in the future.

Rubble, Rubble

Cramer recommended that viewers pick among the rubble now and find stocks that are still intact. These are companies that just reported great quarters before the selloff and got taken down for no real reason, he said.

In a special segment that will run for the rest of the week, Cramer will offer one "rubble" stock that investors should consider buying.

Today Cramer pulled General Cable (BGC Quote) out of the rubble heap and said that even though it just moved up a lot, the stock still represents a good deal.

Although General Cable is, without a doubt, one of the most boring companies out there, Cramer said that it reported a "phenomenal" quarter about a month ago and gave good guidance.

"Even with today's bounce, it's pulled back enough to be a triple buy," he said. But to be on the cautious side, Cramer advised market players to buy some General Cable now and wait for weakness to put more of a position on later.

He believes that the company should keep up its great performance because it has money coming in from orders that electric companies put in four years ago, after the blackout in New York, when they put cable wires underground.

Plus, it is a supplier for the triple play, and its raw costs are right where they should be, Cramer said. That should cause General Cable's gross margins to "fly."

The 4% Club

There always is some worry that might cause the market to go down, Cramer said. Therefore, he believes that people can't only look for stocks where there is a potential upside.

However, they should look for stocks that have a safety net against the downside.

"Tonight I'm going to initiate a couple of stocks into the 4% yield club," Cramer said, as a safety net.

He named Packaging Corp. of America (PKG Quote) and BP (BP Quote) as the first two members of the club; of the two, he called BP his "favorite."

Packaging Corp., Cramer said, has margins well below peak levels, and he believes that there has to be some private-equity interest in the company.

Moreover, as energy costs are down year over year and the stock has a 4% yield, Cramer said he considers the stock a buy.

The next member, BP, is now yielding 4.1% and is the cheapest among its group of stocks, he said. The company has decided to cut back and bring back value for its shareholders, which Cramer said he likes.

And after a long time of overpromising and underdelivering, "it is going for UPOD --underpromising, overdelivering," he said.

Cramer welcomed Riverbed Technology (RVBD Quote) CEO Jerry Kennelly to the show.

Kennelly said the company earned a profit for its first time ever and "blew away the revenue guidance."

When Cramer asked about the big lockup expiration approaching March 19 and the 56 million shares that are eligible for sale, Kennelly said the company had cleaned that up.

"It's no longer 59 million," he said. "Half the shares got pushed out to early May, and the half that will expire are a good portion owned by insiders."

Plus, as March 19 is the blackout trading period, Kennelly said that the shares won't be able to hit the market.

Cramer said that sounded like a decent story and advised sticking with the stock. "It's time to buy Riverbed," he said.

To view Cramer's interview with Jerry Kennelly, please click here.

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on Arch Coal (ACI Quote), Peabody Energy (BTU Quote), Universal Stainless (USAP Quote), Reliance Steel (RS Quote), Terex (TEX Quote), Manitowoc (MTW Quote), Caterpillar (CAT Quote), Cisco (CSCO Quote) and Amgen (AMGN Quote).

Cramer was bearish on Alcatel-Lucent (ALU Quote), Consol Energy (CNX Quote), TiVo (TIVO Quote) and Sonus Networks (SONS Quote).

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

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