Mad Money Recap

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Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: New Spartan Logic

TheStreet.com Staff

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

"I am constantly amazed at how wired into the market kids are these days," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Thursday. Students, he said, are "savvy" and often know about stocks that "fly under the radar."

On Wednesday Cramer visited the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University as part of the show's "Back to School" tour. It was there that a student pitched him Spartan Motors (SPAR Quote).

Frankly, Cramer said, he barely thought the stock was worth his attention. He thought it was levered solely to recreational vehicles, which he said nobody should want with oil prices going up as they are, and to Iraq, a "battleground in the stock market."

But then after doing some homework, Cramer realized the Indiana student was right about Spartan. Now he believes Spartan is indeed a buy and an "idea worth stealing." However, Cramer warned that the speculative small-cap name might not be right for everyone.

The company manufactures emergency vehicles, he said. Nearly 55% of the fire trucks in the U.S. are 15 years old and a huge liability for municipalities. That's a plus for shares of Spartan, which is levered to their liabilities, Cramer said. Spartan makes products that prevent lawsuits, he said.

In addition, Spartan's military motor segment makes vehicles covered with half an inch of steel. And now that the U.S. military is spending money to protect soldiers against road-side bombs, Spartan recently secured the second largest military chassis contract in its history, Cramer said.

Not only does its military division have "strong growth," but Spartan's RV business is also doing well because for some reason baby boomers, which make up a significant part of the population, like RVs.

He said he believes Spartan is worth buying on a pullback.

Am I Diversified?

During the show's "Am I Diversified" segment, in which viewers seek Cramer's blessing for their stock portfolios, the first caller offered the following five stocks:

• JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote),
• Rite Aid (RAD Quote),
• Marvell Technology (MRVL Quote),
• NYSE Euronext (NYX Quote) and
• Goldman Sachs (GS Quote), the last three of which Cramer owns for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.

Because JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs represent a pair, Cramer recommended discarding JP Morgan and getting into a health care stock like Abbott Labs (ABT Quote) instead.

Cramer's next caller asked if she was diversified with the following five stocks:

• Apple (AAPL Quote),
• Yamana Gold (AUY Quote),
• GlobalSantaFe (GSF Quote),
• AT&T (T Quote) and
• Sears (SHLD Quote), a name Cramer owns for his charitable trust.

Cramer called it a "dynamite portfolio" and blessed it as diversified.

His third caller said she owned the following five stocks in her portfolio:

• American Eagle (AEO Quote),
• Boeing (BA Quote),
• Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote),
• MasterCard (MA Quote) and
• McDonald's (MCD Quote).

Cramer blessed this list as well, calling it a "fantastic portfolio."

His last caller asked if he was diversified with these five stocks:

• Bank of America (BAC Quote),
• Costco (COST Quote),
• Chevron (CVX Quote)
• Immucor (BLUD Quote) and
• Altria (MO Quote), another stock Cramer owns for his charitable trust.

Cramer described the final caller's portfolio in one word: "fabulous."

Sell Block

In the show's "Sell Block" segment, Cramer told viewers he's putting homebuilders on the block.

He advised people sell WCI Communities (WCI Quote), even though the stock hasn't done anything since he recommended it. Right now, Cramer said, he's "adamant homebuilders can't be owned."

In addition, he said he's concerned about real estate investment trusts and suggested market players sell Simon Property Group (SPG Quote).

It's also time to sell Hologic (HOLX Quote), Cramer said, because of recent reports that question the company's products.

Moving on to the rails, he advised swapping out of Norfolk Southern (NSC Quote) and buying Union Pacific (UNP Quote), which he owns for his charitable trust, and which he said he likes more than Norfolk Southern.

Further, Cramer recommended selling Greenbrier Companies (GBX Quote) and also reiterated his sell on Coldwater Creek (CWTR Quote), even though he said it looks like it's starting to come back.

Although some of the semiconductor-equipment companies are being upgraded, Cramer believes they shouldn't be, and he told viewers to stay away from the group.

Moreover, Cramer said he believes Gilead Sciences (GILD Quote) is now too expensive against Celgene (CELG Quote) and advised investors to swap from the former to the latter.

In addition, now that Altria and Kraft (KFT Quote) have split up, Cramer clarified that he likes Altria, not Kraft. If people own both, he said they should "boot" Kraft and keep Altria.

Finally, he said it's tough to pinpoint what's wrong with Take-Two Interactive (TTWO Quote), which is why he wants people to sell it.

Mad Mail and Sudden Death

In the show's "Mad Mail" segment, Cramer agreed with a viewer who wrote in about Deere (DE Quote), advising viewers to "back up the truck," that is, load up and buy the stock.

Taking a longer-term view on the stock, he said, "we are in a secular bull market in farming" and for that reason he believes Deere should come back.

Responding to anther viewer, Cramer named Coca-Cola (KO Quote) as a play on American consumer brands in Japan.

During the show's "Sudden Death" round, Cramer was bullish on ConocoPhillips (COP Quote), Qwest Communications (Q Quote) and American Ecology (ECOL Quote).

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on Celgene (CELG Quote), Level 3 Communications (LVLT Quote), First Solar (FSLR Quote), Saks (SKS Quote), VF Corp. (VFC Quote), J.C. Penney (JCP Quote), Polo Ralph Lauren (RL Quote), Inergy (NRGY Quote), Monster Worldwide (MNST Quote), American Tower (AMT Quote), Vaalco Energy (EGY Quote), Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote), Transocean (RIG Quote) and GlobalSantaFe (GSF Quote).

Cramer was bearish on Geron (GERN Quote), FuelCell Energy (FCEL Quote), Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD Quote), Harley-Davidson (HOG Quote), Walgreen (WAG Quote) and Energy Partners (EPL 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.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting