Stockpickr: Cramer's Portfolios of the Week

James Altucher

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This past week, Jim Cramer was again focused on earnings, the Fed and, most of all, playing defense. He is still a believer that we have more room to run, but he also wants to make sure we all know how and where to take advantage of this move higher.

Cramer continued to talk about tight supply, the amount of money being thrown at equities, as well as earnings announcements. There were also his new pockets of promise including medical stocks, his revalued plays, his favorite telcos and of course his private-equity buyout candidates.

Here are some highlights from Jim over the last week (aggregated from "Mad Money" and his "Stop Trading!" Segment on CNBC as well as his RealMoney blog posts):

Cramer's Defense Plays: Cramer informed us in an April 27 blog post that he is bullish on defense-related stocks again:

Here go the defense stocks again, with Lockheed Martin rallying nicely. These companies seem to trade in a very strange pattern: They deliver great numbers, raise guidance and then start retreating when everyone believes the numbers can't be sustained and the Democrats will bust up the party.

But Cramer then pointed out that "not only are the earnings consistent but the programs are so long term that anyone who is concerned about a Democratic slowdown is just wildly off base." Cramer's favorite Defense Plays include Lockheed Martin(LMT) and General Dynamics(GD).

Cramer's Revalued Plays: Cramer can't contain himself when talking about this recent market move. "Not just re-evaluation, but wholesale re-evaluation. Not just a one-day move, but multiple moves. That's what this big-cap move's all about," Cramer said in an April 30 blog post. He then went on to point out that "these moves are all about the newfound problem of the pools of capital being too big vs. the stocks themselves.

If you are running $300 billion or $400 billion, or upward you can't get enough stock in after one day. Only the hedge funds are flipping and that's why you can't dent these guys right now." Cramer's Revalued Plays "are the best places to be right now." His picks include Amazon(AMZN) and IBM(IBM).

Cramer's Telco Plays: Cramer said there was a way to play Verizon's(VZ) quarterly report, which made it very clear that these telco stocks were going to benefit from big spending from the likes of Verizon.

It's been ages since we had a spending cycle worth noting in telco (vs. the unbelievably strong aerospace cycle). When we had the last one, it was fantastic for Ciena, JDSU, Alcatel, Lucent (pre-combination), Tellabs.

While Cramer admitted he "hates" this group (due to the fact that if Verizon stops spending, everyone would be in trouble), given that Verizon just reported, the window is open for some capital gains off this very big cycle.

Cramer's Commodity Collapse Plays: In a May 1 blog post Cramer pondered: "Are we again going to have that same commodity collapse that we experienced last May, when the Fed tightened when it shouldn't have?" He then went on to tell readers how we should play it if it happens. "The source of trouble then was an expected slowdown because the Fed tightened. The source this year would be the actual slowdown because the Fed tightened."

However, Cramer likes the following names because the demand is not in the U.S. "An intransigent, recalcitrant Fed doesn't mean as much to these companies as it used to. There will still be a nickel shortage and a stainless steel shortage.

There will still be an airline cycle. There will still be gigantic infrastructure buildup that will need materials and machines." His picks include US Steel(X) and Caterpillar(CAT).

Cramer's Medical Defensive Plays: On Monday's "Mad Money" show, Cramer unveiled his "ultimate defensive 'Three Bs' portfolio," which he called a necessity in a slower economy. Cramer offered viewers three companies that belong to the medical-industrial complex and that they should consider buying. The three stocks that Cramer likes are medical-related and richly valued, but they have come off of their highs and investors could take advantage. His picks include Baxter International(BAX).

Cramer's 'Unnatural Demand' Plays: Cramer explained in a May 3 blog post:

Violent upside moves don't just get created by earnings. They get created by supply, or lack thereof. And they get created by shorts who take away the natural supply and actually create unnatural demand. I've been studying five of the most vicious moves up, looking for similarities, and they all have three ingredients: fantastic, much better than expected earnings, a skeptical if not downright negative cohort of analysts and short-sellers and an incredibly small amount of stock to go around.

Cramer offered his 5 'Unnatural Demand' Plays and told us "it's the way the market works, and you need to recognize it before you get hurt betting against companies where the upside is simply too out of control, too vicious to be contained." His list included Buffalo Wild Wings(BWLD) and Whirlpool(WHR).

Cramer's Private Equity Plays: On last Friday's "Mad Money" show, Cramer told viewers that the next stock to get taken out by private-equity money and pay a big premium to its shareholders might very well be Penn National Gaming(PENN).

Cramer believes that there is way too much money on the private-equity sidelines for investors not to figure out what the private-equity folks are thinking of buying next. With that in mind along with some help from a Goldman Sachs report on private-equity targets, Cramer recently added to his Private Equity Plays. His new picks include Cheesecake Factory(CAKE) and Ross Stores(ROST).

Lightning Round: Cramer was full speed ahead in his latest Lightning Round segment on Thursday night's "Mad Money" show. He was bullish on several stocks such as Time Warner(TWX) and Union Pacific(UNP) but also bearish on the likes of Brocade(BRCD) and Axcelis(ACLS).

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