Dykstra: Calling Wachovia Again

Today's pick, Wachovia Bank(WB Quote - Cramer on WB - Stock Picks), is a great reminder of why I have a basket of stocks that I know inside and out.

Wachovia has gotten cheap, and this morning it was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup. The report said, "Momentum in its core business remains strong and recent weakness in the share price has created a buying opportunity." The Citigroup report went on to say, "One potential reason for underperformance is credit, but we see Wachovia's credit quality as more likely to be a future positive catalyst for the stock as we see less of a credit headwind here than other banks."

Wachovia's strong risk-management division should help ensure that capital-markets exposure is less than its peers.

Once again, I'd like you to remember that with the deep-in-the-money (DITM) calls strategy, it is not always necessary to pick a new stock every day. When a stock comes back down to levels that have "buy" written all over them, it can be profitable to reinvest in that company again. I have successfully revisited several choices with this strategy, including Amgen(AMGN Quote - Cramer on AMGN - Stock Picks), Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote - Cramer on JNJ - Stock Picks) and Wal-Mart(WMT Quote - Cramer on WMT - Stock Picks).

I scored quickly with Wachovia just last week, but after that spike in price, the stock has tumbled below my original buy and is now presenting us with another solid DITM calls play. With Wachovia, all the right reasons to make this play are still true, with solid revenue and profit growth and a very strong dividend yield.

The company reported another strong quarter, due to the recent acquisition of Golden West Financial, delivering double-digit earnings growth. However, the financial sector has been taking a beating, so the stock is trading at $48.82.

Here is the pick: I will buy 10 January 40 calls (WBAH) at $9.60 or better, using a limit order. Stay disciplined, and let the stock come in. The market has created a situation whereby this could be a "winning play" if we stay disciplined.

Game of Life

We travel through life with the goal of leaving something behind. We like to leave our mark in places we have been, hoping we have created an impact with our latest experience.

While sometimes carrying a negative connotation, leaving a mark can signify something positive when a person has achieved incredible feats, which may be useful to a society, a family, or perhaps just an individual. We often hear the phrase "It's not the quantity, it's the quality." In this case, the expression holds true, for the magnitude of a single action is often much more noteworthy than the mere existence of many frivolous actions. This is not to say that quantity cannot be a form of quality, depending on the circumstances; yet, in my book, those who leave the mark are those who make the difference, regardless of the recipient.

For National Rugby player, Matt Austin, leaving a mark seems to have come unavoidably. On April 1, Austin was involved in a head-to-head collision with Ben Czislowski, another Rugby player, which left him bleeding and in need of stitches. A scar residing permanently on Czislowski's left eyelid will forever serve as a testament to the ferocity and aggressiveness of Matt Austin.

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