Cramer's 'Mad Money Recap': Green Stocks Hit Pay Dirt

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The tide seems to be turning green, Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Monday, which gave him the perfect opportunity to review how his environmentally friendly stocks in his green portfolio performed over the past year.

To celebrate "Green Week" and Earth Day on Tuesday, Cramer said that it pays to go green. "Green has been pantsing the rest of the market," he said.

The stocks in Cramer's green portfolio are up 76.8% over the past year, compared to a negative 5.5% for the S&P 500. "Every single one of my green stocks outperformed the S&P," he said. "I want to review the stocks to go over what worked and what worked less."

Cramer: I Can't Get Enough 'Beat the Street'

In his green portfolio are eight names: Shaw Group SGR, First Solar FSLR, MEMC Electronic Materials WFR, BorgWarner BWA, Tetra Tech TTEK, OM Group OMG, and Fuel-Tech FTEK and Foster Wheeler FWLT, which he also owns for his Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.

Cramer said that green has worked well and will continue to work because of rising oil prices. "We correctly anticipated that oil would be up huge, $125 is still our price target," he said. "It's high oil prices that have driven up everything related to clean energy. This is the trend behind the trend. I don't think it's going away."

First Solar has been the biggest winner, up 367.8% since April 17 of last year. "I have been the strongest backer of this stock out there, and I remain so," he said. "It will be the standard of this country no matter which presidential candidate wins, as it already is the standard in Germany."

This is the most cost effective solar play, Cramer said, as the company doesn't use silicon, which makes it cheaper for First Solar to produce its panels. Cramer said he remains in conviction mode for First Solar. "I think this is to solar what Intel INTC was to chips," he added.

Foster Wheeler was another of Cramer's winning green picks, up 97% for the year. The company "was and is my favorite infrastructure play," he said, adding that clean coal is their environmental contribution. Cramer said that the stock is trading way off its high, making it a buying opportunity.

Another strong performer was Shaw Group, as "nuclear is the heart and soul of this one," Cramer said. He added that Wall Street doesn't believe in Shaw Group, and that is a mistake.

While they have been winners for Cramer, he recommended jettisoning BorgWarner, which is too tied up in auto production, and MEMC Electronic Materials, which has had a great run due to high silicon pricing but won't last much longer.

Cramer told viewer Todd in California that he still sees a lot of upside potential for First Solar, and later told caller Bart in Michigan that he is not backing away from the stock despite concern over the rising cost in materials used in First Solar's process.

Caller Melissa in Florida asked if President Bush's greenhouse call on April 16 was a catalyst to buy alternative energy companies, but Cramer told her that until a new president is elected there will not be a legitimate policy on greenhouse gases in place.

What to Do With the Losers

Cramer said that three stocks in the green portfolio have dramatically underperformed the rest of the group, and he wanted to look at where they went wrong. First up was Tetra Tech, a water play that gained just 1.6% over the last year.

"I got this one wrong," Cramer acknowledged, but he added that now "it's actually becoming right. Water will be the next global shortage. When it comes to Tetra Tech, they're the largest player in the sector." Cramer said that Tetra Tech will help the military increase its use of renewable energy and reduce water consumption. "It's entering the environmental sweet spot, and I'd be a buyer."