Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Beat a Path to Crocs

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When sentiment turns negative the market yields bargains, and one such deal is footwear-maker Crocs(CROX Quote), Jim Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC's "Mad Money" show.

"Sometimes the market just gives you a great deal. You gotta take it," Cramer said. Crocs, a maker of light-weight, odor-resistant shoes, came public last week at $15 and traded to $30 on its first day. Since then, the stock has been caught in the market's downdraft; it closed Wednesday at $28.

"There was no way Crocs was gonna catch fire when the market was getting beat up," Cramer said. If not for the general malaise, "Crocs would be trading at $35, and that's where I think it's going to go." Cramer highlighted the shoe-maker's 57% gross margins, solid unit growth, and profitability.

"They have a stylish product that's in demand and doesn't have a lot of competition." Cramer said, adding that he sees "seven points of upside and maybe just a couple of downside."

Big Brother

Another Cramer pick Wednesday was Viisage(VISG Quote), a maker of facial-feature identification equipment. Viisage recently agreed to buy Identix(IDNX Quote) for $770 million and privately held SecuriMetrix for $28 million.

In Identix, Viisage is getting "by far the best" maker of fingerprint-identification products, while SecuriMetrix makes a product for identifying irises and can "sell it to everybody." With the two additions, Viisage owns the three legs of "identification tripod," Cramer said, part of a "global domination strategy" that makes the company "basically Big Brother."

"Viisage is transforming themselves from a component in the war on terror into a company that can fight half the battle without anyone else," Cramer said, arguing that the company should capture "most of the mindshare, if not the actual share," of a biometrics market that should total $4 billion by 2009. Add to that potential gross margins of 75%, a 40% compound annual growth rate, and "Viisage has bought itself into greatness."

"If the old Soviet Union had Viisage then I think the KBG could have kept that police state going for decades longer," Cramer said. "We need a little totalitarianism ourselves right now."

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on: Nabors(NBR Quote), GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote), Schering-Plough(SGP Quote), Alcan(AL Quote), ValueClick(VCLK Quote), Tom Online(TOMO Quote), AutoZone(AZO Quote), FTI Consulting(FCN Quote), OptionsXpress(OXPS Quote), Goldcorp(GG Quote), Graco(GGG Quote), Martek(MATK Quote), Grey Wolf(GW Quote), and Sirius(SIRI Quote). He recommended buying Chesapeake Energy's(CHK Quote) preferred and selling the common.

Cramer was bearish on AnsThink(ANSR Quote), Southwest Air(LUV Quote), Alberto-Culver(ACV Quote) and Mannatech(MTEX Quote).

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