Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Metals and Drillers

Investors have given up too early on commodities plays like CVRD (RIO Quote) and BHP (BHP Quote), Jim Cramer said Friday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.

Cramer said the action in metals stocks suggests that U.S. stock traders "have walked away from the table" because of the subprime lending mess. But Cramer pointed out that with China now accounting for the lion's share of demand for metals like copper and nickel, the "America-centric" view is "antiempirical" and money-losing.

Cramer said he believes the tie-up of mining majors Freeport McMoran (FCX Quote) and Phelps Dodge (PD Quote) "will be very bullish." He likes CVRD, a Brazilian-based nickel miner, because nickel demand has been "incredibly strong out of China."

Cramer also likes Australia's BHP, which he said has "found a floor at $42" -- it traded recently at $44 -- and "seems very interesting."

Cramer likes the oil drillers but said the best bets there are Global SantaFe (GSF Quote) and Transocean (RIG Quote), which will benefit as deepwater dayrates rise. He said both companies have "gigantic buybacks" as well as "the motivation to make a deal." He's less sold on Hercules (HERO Quote), which an analyst projects jumping 80%, though he says the stock is "OK."