Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: GameStop's Green Christmas
TheStreet.com Staff
11/14/07 - 07:57 PM EST
Click here for an archive of Cramer's "Mad Money" recaps.
Not only did
Wal-Mart's (WMT Quote - Cramer on WMT - Stock Picks) quarter make the dismal market a bit brighter, but its conference call was full of great investment ideas, Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Wednesday.
One of the nuggets Cramer gleaned from the call was how well video game retailer
GameStop(GME Quote - Cramer on GME - Stock Picks) will do during the holidays.
Wal-Mart said consumer electronics will continue to be strong for them this Christmas, notiing such items as global positioning systems, televisions, digital cameras, computers and video games.
However, Cramer believes digital cameras are "a no-go" because they're made in China, which makes them too hard to buy right now. He also doesn't like
Garmin (GRMN Quote - Cramer on GRMN - Stock Picks) as a play on GPS because of its current bidding war with
TomTom for
Tele Atlas.
Concerning computers, Cramer said he's been a backer of
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote - Cramer on HPQ - Stock Picks), which he owns for his charitable trust,
Action Alerts PLUS, but Wal-Mart is not a big customer of that computer manufacturer.
Wal-Mart does sell
Dell (DELL Quote - Cramer on DELL - Stock Picks), but between Dell and Hewlett-Packard, Cramer said he prefers the latter.
That leaves us with TVs and video games, he said. For video games,
Activision (ATVI Quote - Cramer on ATVI - Stock Picks) may seem like a possible company to invest in, but
TheStreet.com's Michael Comeau has reported that expectations at the company have gotten too high.
Therefore, Cramer said GameStop is his takeaway. If games are good for Wal-Mart that means they are going to be fantastic for GameStop.
This stock is a "triple-buy" off the Wal-Mart quarter, he said. GameStop is not economically sensitive and it is benefiting from video game players which are older and more addicted than ever.
Tune in Corning
Wal-Mart said in its call that it is also moving a lot of TV sets. However, Cramer said there are too many companies in that space and competition is fierce.
However, one company market players should consider is
Corning (GLW Quote - Cramer on GLW - Stock Picks), which makes the glass needed in liquid crystal display televisions and which is the best in breed in its business, he said.
The stock, which Cramer owns for Action Alerts PLUS, is trading below where it was when it gave conservative guidance in October, he said. However, recently Corning raised guidance, but it's still not trading as high as it should be.
"With its raised outlook it should get a lot more love from the Street" and raised estimates from analysts, Cramer said.
Also in Corning's conference call, the company mentioned "tight supply and demand," which means high pricing for Corning, he said.
In addition, he said it has bendable fiber, which hasn't been priced into the stock, and which "big spender"
Verizon (VZ Quote - Cramer on VZ - Stock Picks) should be gobbling up.
"Some companies deserve to be cheap, but Corning is not one of them," said Cramer, adding it is heading much higher.
Am I Diversified?
During the "Am I Diversified?" game, the first player called out the following five companies:
Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI Quote - Cramer on SIRI - Stock Picks),
Ford (F Quote - Cramer on F - Stock Picks),
AT&T (T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks),
McDonald's (MCD Quote - Cramer on MCD - Stock Picks) and
Human Genome Sciences (HGSI Quote - Cramer on HGSI - Stock Picks).
Cramer called HGSI too speculative and said he'd rather see the caller in a stock like
Celgene (CELG Quote - Cramer on CELG - Stock Picks) instead.
The next caller said he owned these five plays:
Daimler (DAI Quote - Cramer on DAI - Stock Picks),
Coca-Cola (KO Quote - Cramer on KO - Stock Picks),
Google (GOOG Quote - Cramer on GOOG - Stock Picks),
Celgene and
CVRD (RIO Quote - Cramer on RIO - Stock Picks).
"That is what we're looking for," Cramer said, blessing the portfolio as diversified.
The final caller asked if he was diversified with these five stocks:
Apple (AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks),
Occidental Petroleum (OXY Quote - Cramer on OXY - Stock Picks),
MetLife (MET Quote - Cramer on MET - Stock Picks),
Cisco (CSCO Quote - Cramer on CSCO - Stock Picks) and
Yum! Brands (YUM Quote - Cramer on YUM - Stock Picks)
Cramer suggested the caller swap out of MetLife and into
Prudential (PRU Quote - Cramer on PRU - Stock Picks).
He also said Cisco and Apple are both in technology. He advised him to sell Cisco and pick up a defense contractor or healthcare company.
Water Bill Refreshes Tetra Tech
Tetra Tech (TTEK Quote - Cramer on TTEK - Stock Picks) CEO Dan Batrack joined Cramer on the show, where he said his company beat fourth-quarter expectations due to increased margins.
"We had a great performance on earnings," Batrack said, noting margins for Tetra Tech's civil engineering business were up 50%. "We really focused on making sure we hit or exceed all of our forecasts."
The recent water bill Congress passed will create much upside for the company, Batrack continued. Half of the $23 billion for around 1,000 earmarked water infrastructure projects are expected to come out within the next five years, he said. This is the heart of Tetra Tech's business and "we've never seen business stronger,"
he added.
Lightning Round
Cramer was bullish on
Herbalife (HLF Quote - Cramer on HLF - Stock Picks),
Vodafone (VOD Quote - Cramer on VOD - Stock Picks),
Verizon (VZ Quote - Cramer on VZ - Stock Picks),
AT&T (T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks),
Colgate-Palmolive (CL Quote - Cramer on CL - Stock Picks),
PepsiCo (PEP Quote - Cramer on PEP - Stock Picks),
Coca-Cola (KO Quote - Cramer on KO - Stock Picks),
Strayer Education (STRA Quote - Cramer on STRA - Stock Picks),
ITT Educational Services (ESI Quote - Cramer on ESI - Stock Picks),
Annaly Capital Management (NLY Quote - Cramer on NLY - Stock Picks),
Mettler-Toledo (MTD Quote - Cramer on MTD - Stock Picks),
Rogers Communications (RCI Quote - Cramer on RCI - Stock Picks),
Shaw Group (SGR Quote - Cramer on SGR - Stock Picks),
Foster Wheeler (FWLT Quote - Cramer on FWLT - Stock Picks),
Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX Quote - Cramer on ONXX - Stock Picks),
Genentech (DNA Quote - Cramer on DNA - Stock Picks),
Celgene (CELG Quote - Cramer on CELG - Stock Picks) and
GameStop (GME Quote - Cramer on GME - Stock Picks).
Cramer was bearish on
DryShips (DRYS Quote - Cramer on DRYS - Stock Picks),
USANA Health Sciences (USNA Quote - Cramer on USNA - Stock Picks),
Starent Networks (STAR Quote - Cramer on STAR - Stock Picks),
Wynn Resorts (WYNN Quote - Cramer on WYNN - Stock Picks),
ISIS Pharmaceuticals (ISIS Quote - Cramer on ISIS - Stock Picks),
Ctrip.com (CTRP Quote - Cramer on CTRP - Stock Picks),
Walter Industries (WLT Quote - Cramer on WLT - Stock Picks) and
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO Quote - Cramer on TTWO - Stock Picks).
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.