Play Nabors Off Patterson-UTI

The move began in the third week of March. That's the move up in the natural gas stocks.

As usual, Chesapeake(CHK Quote - Cramer on CHK - Stock Picks) signaled it. Soon, Southwest(SWN Quote - Cramer on SWN - Stock Picks), as is typical, followed on the upside. (Chesapeake reports tonight, so watch for that.)

But it is only now that the natural gas drillers and service companies are following through. This move has been predicted perfectly by Bob Marcin on these pages, similar to the correct calls he has had on the industrial equipment names like Terex(TEX Quote - Cramer on TEX - Stock Picks) and then Cummins(CMI Quote - Cramer on CMI - Stock Picks).

This time we got the confirmation from one of the biggest dogs out there, Patterson-UTI(PTEN Quote - Cramer on PTEN - Stock Picks).

Patterson-UTI's management made it clear that there is a coming shortfall of natural gas and that the long-awaited drilling to avoid the shortfall has occurred.

Rigs bottomed at 225 in early April, Patterson-UTI said. The rig count has begun to increase.

The stock is immediately reflecting that optimism, and it is up a buck and a half as I write.

What's actionable off this Patterson-UTI call is, alas, Nabors(NBR Quote - Cramer on NBR - Stock Picks), which reports after the close. Worst that happens: Once again the stock goes back to its natural home of $31.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this post.