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Mad Money Recap

Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Dec. 4

Scott Rutt

12/04/08 - 08:03 PM EST

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With stocks getting cheaper by the day, Jim Cramer told the viewers of his "Mad Money" show Thursday it should be wedding season on Wall Street, with the few companies that have cash on hand buying up their rivals at unheard of valuations.

He offered up not one, but two, more shotgun weddings that make perfect sense in this deflationary environment.

Cramer said yesterday's announcement that Johnson & Johnson , which he owns for his Action Alerts PLUS portfolio, is acquiring Mentor (MNT Quote) and Omrix BioPharma paved the way for forward-thinking companies to snatch up their competition.

Next on Cramer's matchmaking list was Illinois Toolworks buying up Manitowoc (MTW Quote).

Last April, both companies were in a bidding war for Britian's Endois, a battle which Manitowoc eventually won. But Cramer said in the sweetest act of revenge, the once mighty Manitowoc, which once traded as high as $50 a share, now trades at a lowly $6 a share.

Illinois Toolworks is now in a position to buy Manitowoc, including Endois, for just $900 million, or less than half of what it would have paid for Endois alone last year.

Cramer's second match made in heaven was sports apparel giant Nike (NKE Quote) buying arch rival Under Armour (UA Quote).

Under Armour is another company hit hard by recent declines, with its once $67 stock now trading at just $24 a share and a marketcap of just $1.18 billion.

Cramer said Nike can afford it since it spends a whopping $5 billion a year just on buying back its own stock. He said Nike would be much better served using this money to snatch up Under Armour.

Cramer: Dow's Hit its Low

Why would Under Armour sell? Cramer said Nike offers Under Armour international distribution, something it has been struggling to achieve.

Given a $30 valuation, Under Armour shareholders would also receive a 130% premium over its original IPO price.

A Glimmer of Hope

Cramer brought in Bob Toll, chairman CEO of home builder Toll Brothers (TOL Quote), to get his latest read on the state of the housing market. Toll Brothers recently reported an earnings miss, but beat expectations on sales and ended the quarter with $130 million of free cash flow.

Stockpickr

Toll said he's encouraged by the many programs the federal government has in place to stabilize the housing market, and feels the programs just need a little marketing to get the word out to home buyers. He said with mortgage rates headed to 4.5% and prices down hard, it may be possible to have a strong spring season next year.

When asked about credit availability, Toll said his company has lots of money to lend, but only to those buyers with good credit and a down payment. He said the industry would benefit if the government went even further and offered a $20,000 tax credit for home purchases.

Toll also said that while quality land to build on is getting cheaper, it's not yet at a point where he's pulling the trigger to buy. He said that overall, Toll Brothers still rates the U.S. housing market a "F". He said the market is a lot worse off than it was six to 12 months months ago, but may be nearing a bottom as it can't fall much further.

Cramer reiterated his call of a housing bottom in the summer of 2009. He said that Toll Brothers would be the first stock he'd consider buying in the sector.

Sell Block

In this segment, Cramer said it's time to start selling and buying mortgage backed securities. He laid out his plan for a so-called "Federal Mortgage Investment Package" as the the country's way out of the mortgage crisis.

Cramer said one of the biggest roadblocks to economic recovery are the billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed bonds that are virtually illiquid in the current markets. The government's TARP plan, which was originally sold to Congress as a fix for the problem, sadly did not. But Cramer said his plan will.

In its simplest terms, Cramer said the government needs to set up a trading desk to both buy and sell mortgage backed bonds, and in so doing, reduce the spread that the trouble assets have been facing. He said the spread, or the difference between what buyers and sellers are willing to pay, is the real problem.

In the current market, the deal stalls if a seller offers 50 cents on the dollar for a bond, and the buyer wants 30 cents. But under Cramer's plan, the government would step in and offer 39 cents and sells the bond to the buyer for 41 cents.

By reducing the spread, the credit markets start flowing and the government makes a tidy 2 cents, which Cramer said should be split between the FDIC and Treasury departments.

"The spread is the real enemy," said Cramer. Under his plan, the spread is no longer an issue, and the government can even make a little money. Only the government, he said, can afford to buy and hold these bonds, and with prices so low, it'd be hard not to make a profit.

BankingMyWay

Outrage of the Day

In this segment, Cramer took aim at incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner, who said earlier in the week that FDIC head Sheila Bair should be removed. Geitner claimed Bair was "not a team player," which is precisely why Cramer said she needs to stay.

Cramer called Bair an honest, independent breath of fresh air and commended her work to push an opposing viewpoint since Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson did little to save the economy over the past year. Bair, he said, is the only one with the knowledge to fix things.

Switching gears, Cramer removed Fortress Investment Group President Wes Edens from his "Wall of Shame" list of the worst CEOs. With Fortress shares trading at a mere $1.89 a share, Cramer said he's made his point about Edens' inability to save the company.

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on Teck Cominco (TCK Quote), Terra Nitrogen (TNH Quote), Celgene (CELG Quote) and ITT Industries .

He was bearish on Agrium (AGU Quote), Medtronic (MDT Quote) and Boeing (BA Quote).

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