Jim Cramer's Lightning Round
Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Dec. 23
Scott Rutt
12/23/08 - 08:01 PM EST
"There is nothing so compelling in this market that it must be bought," Jim Cramer told the viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Tuesday. "I'm not saying buy, buy, buy, I'm saying wait, wait, wait," he asserted. Cramer said that he'd love to hear just one money manager or talking head on TV say that now is not a good time to buy. Instead, he said, the airwaves are filled with positive takes and predictions on the market. "This is not a once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity," he told viewers, "this is a range-bound market." While all of the "pros" are predicting 2009 to be a banner year for the markets, Cramer took a more pragmatic view. Investors, he said, are not dumb. They've lost money in record amounts and are smart to leave the markets in favor of government bonds. "It's not reckless to sell when you can't afford the risk," he said. But he said don't expect them to come roaring back because of those losses. Cramer said that while stocks like Caterpillar (CAT), Nucor (NUE) and U.S. Steel (X) may appear to have bottomed, they likely haven't. Likewise with Apple (AAPL), said Cramer, a stock which was praised last week for "hanging in there" after the company announced it's pulling out of the MacWorld Expo, only to get pulverized this week. "Every rally is met with a cascade of selling," Cramer said. In order for the markets to rally, Cramer said they need the financials to rally, something he's just not seen yet. Until he does, he's adopting a wait-and-see approach.
Cramer: Goldman's Insulation Blanket |
Warm Up With Suburban
Cramer said investors looking for a play on the cold winter weather should look no further than Suburban Propane
Outrage of the Day
In his "Outrage of the Day" segment, Cramer sounded off at recent Wall Street Journal story which dubbed the private equity firm Cerberus as a hero for turning around Chrysler (C). If Cerberus were a hero, said Cramer, it would have put up its own money to bail out Chrysler and not look to the government for a handout. Cerberus, he said, has more money than just about any private equity firm out there, and if this was any company other than an auto, they'd have to use their own money. Cramer advocated helping the shareholders of Ford (F) and General Motors (GM). He said if Cerberus loses its $7.4 billion investment in Chrysler, that's a risk it should've been prepared to take.Mad Mail
Cramer told a viewer that he recommends companies like McDonald's (MCD), which he also owns for his Action Alerts PLUS portfolio, or Disney (DIS) for his young daughter's first portfolio. He told a second viewer that he's still a fan of Yum Brands (YUM) for the company's continued growth in China.How Dividends Work
As a fan of high-yielding dividend stocks, Cramer took a moment to explain to viewer exactly how dividends work and what investors need to know about it. Cramer said the two terms most often associated with dividends are the "ex-dividend date," the first day a stock trades without the right to a quarterly dividend, and the "record date," the date the dividend payment is actually made. But Cramer said the most important date to remember is what he termed the "must-have" date. That date, said Cramer, is simply the one before the ex-dividend date, the date you must own a stock in order to qualify for the dividend. Using U.S. Bancorp (USB) as an example, Cramer said the company will pay its next dividend on Jan 15. The ex-dividend date, is Dec 29, but the "must-have" date is Friday, Dec 26, the day after Christmas. "This is the date you need to own US Bancorp in order to get the dividend on January 15," he said. On Dec 29, shares of USB will likely trade down 42 cents since those shareholders will no longer qualify for the dividend.Lightning Round
Cramer was bullish on GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Pepsico (PEP), Pfizer(PFE), Verizon (VZ), Philip Morris International
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