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Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Stick With Skechers

TheStreet.com Staff

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The retail sector is still hurting, but "one segment of retail that can really buck the trend is footwear," Cramer told his "Mad Money" TV show viewers Friday.

And Skechers(SKX Quote), he said, is a good speculative stock.

Cramer said it could join Deckers (DECK Quote) and Crocs (CROX Quote) in a series of shoe companies with unexpected success.

Skechers recently beat earnings estimates by 9 cents a share, and same-store sales were in the high single digits. Domestic wholesales were up 14%, and international sales were up 36%, with triple-digit growth in the U.K.

Even with a good quarter, Skechers delivered a low guidance. Cramer doesn't mind this because that's why it makes the stock a speculative play. Besides, the company could be "playing the Apple (AAPL Quote) game," of overdelivering on low expectations.

Skechers is priced at 24 times next year's forward earnings, and trading at less than its growth rate.

The company has had spotty performance in the past, but Cramer noted that a company doesn't have to go from good to great to make investors money: "We're looking for bad stocks that may have turned the corner and become good."

If Skechers keeps growing and becomes more profitable at the margin, its stock will definitely rise, Cramer said. "I think Skechers is just beginning to run."

Mitt Summit

"Sometimes it isn't what happens on Wall Street" but "what happens on Pennsylvania Avenue" that can make people mad money, Cramer said. For this reason, he welcomed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to the show Friday.

Cramer noted that people in their 20s and 30s appear to respect business. He asked how this shift bore on the presidential election.

"People want individuals who are not lifelong politicians," Romney said. He believes that the country needs leaders with private-sector experience, people who can get the job done.

George W. Bush ran as a CEO president, Cramer said, but that turned out to be more of a slogan than a reality.

Romney said that he and Bush have "different histories." Romney came from the investing world, ran the Olympic games, and served as governor of Massachusetts for four hears. Pointing to his credentials, he said, "If you're going to run something, it's helpful to have run something before."

When asked about the stock market's poor performance over the past five years, Romney said that as a businessman he didn't worry about the market overall, but "which companies were going to be successful."

Romney is more concerned with overspending in Washington and overuse of oil. He believes that the federal government needs to work alongside private enterprise to bridge the gap to other energy sources, including nuclear power. "If we get on a track to become energy efficient ... that's going to have an impact on the prices of oil" and benefit the country.

Cramer asked Romney about the housing crisis, specifically whether it was right to leave homebuyers out to dry. Romney said that some of the blame lay on the federal government, whose responsibility it is to protect people from faulty products. He said it's in "no one's interest" to have loans reset. On the other hand, Romney isn't going to lose sleep over investors who knew the risks, but he will lose sleep over homeowners.

Asked about how to develop a productive trade relationship with China, Romney noted that China has unfairly priced their goods by pegging their currency to the dollar and failing to protect U.S. intellectual property rights.

Romney said, "In a negotiation you never tell the other side what you're willing to do," but he would take measures to apply standards one should expect from a trading partner. He doesn't like tariffs, but "we need to see progress or get tougher."

Cramer concluded the interview by asking about taxes. Romney was very negative on the idea of introducing new taxes, and believes that the American people and the entrepreneurial spirit will lead to growth that can increase the government's revenue.

Fed-Cut Faves

Cramer's Game Plan segment focused on the Fed meeting next Wednesday. Because the recent half-point rate cut "demonstrates a bit of thinking on their part," Cramer expects another half-point drop. He noted that the recent market has been difficult, but the rate cut will offer more buying opportunities.

He recommended Annaly (NLY Quote). The company has a plan to take advantage of value in the distressed real estate market. He recommends reading CEO Mike Farrell's analysis on the company's Web site. The company is set up to benefit financially from fed cuts. Additionally, they minimize credit risk by owning mostly government paper, eliminating the possibility of defaults.

The next stock Cramer recommended, FMC Technlologies (FTI Quote), is an oil-service play. The company helps drillers get more oil in a domestic market where every extra barrel counts.

Cramer's final rate cut play was Transocean (RIG Quote). The stock, which he also owns for his Action Alerts PLUS portfolio, has been "biding time," but is only exposed to deep-water drilling, so won't be hurt in the same way American drillers have. In addition, RIG is closing on a merger deal with Global Santa Fe (GSF Quote), which will yield a new company and a $33 dividend.

Each of the three Fed plays report before Wednesday's meeting, so Cramer recommended buying half of the position on Monday, then waiting for good news before completing the investment.

Mad Mail

One writer asked Cramer why investors were willing to pay such a high premium for stock in Las Vegas Sands (LVS Quote) over Wynn (WYNN Quote). He claimed that with price over earnings at 21 and higher profits, Wynn should not be trading at a discount to Sands.

Cramer checked the P/E of the two companies, discovering that Wynn has a 96 P/E and LVS has a 103 P/E. He noted that the CEOs of Wynn and Sands - Stephen Wynn and Sheldon Adelson -- are, alongside Mitt Romney, "two of the best businessmen in the country."

Lightning Round

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

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