Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: March 25

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The stock market is a great economic weatherman and the forecast is sunny, Jim Cramer told the viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Wednesday.

Cramer said in turbulent markets like these, it may be hard for investors to decipher the wild swings throughout the day. While there was a lot of great news today, the markets sold off, which is counter intuitive. Cramer went on to explain what was happening in today's market.

Stock prices, he said, are predictions of what's to come, and anticipate news. They look forward, which is why stocks often sell off when companies report good quarters. The good quarters, he said, are already baked into the stock price.

Cramer looked back at the market's high on Aug. 11, 2008. Back then, he said, the markets began predicting trouble in the financials. One month later, Lehman Brothers collapsed, followed by countless others.

Three weeks ago, when the markets bottomed, the market saw a different world, he said. Three weeks ago, there was the possibility of a bottom in housing, a turn in durable goods orders, profits in some of the banking names, and positive rumblings from the White House.

The markets have changed, said Cramer. Those that sold at the bottom today were proved wrong. "The forecast is changing," he concluded.

Choosing a Winner

"It's not wrong for you to manage your money," Cramer told viewers. He said investors should not leave their money in the hands of the "pros" or just invest it in index funds.

"You can't count on anyone else to manage your money," he said, "believe in yourself."

In an effort to help teach investors what to look for when picking stocks, he outlined his process for choosing Chevron (CVX Quote) for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS. Chervon, he said, is another great dividend-paying stock with the ability to raise that dividend even higher.

First, Cramer said, he chose the sector, in this case oil. Oil companies, he said, throw off a lot of cash, making them safe dividend payers. Second, he chose the company, and in this case, Chevron's fundamentals look great.

There's lot to love in Chevron, said Cramer. The stock trades at the same level today as it did when oil was priced $10 a barrel lower. In another good sign, Chevron is increasing production at 4% a year. The company is also replacing the reserves its using, growing reserves by 146% in 2008.

And there's lots more, said Cramer, including the 3.7% dividend yield, a great balance sheet, loads of cash, little debt and a long history of raising its dividend.

Cramer said he'd wait for a pullback in the stock, and use any weakness to buy, buy, buy.

Prospecting for Gold

Cramer spoke with Paul Wright, president and CEO of Eldorado Gold (EGO Quote), to find out if the outlook for gold is as good as Cramer predicted.

Wright attributed the strength in Eldorado's stock price to the rising price of gold and the company's great earnings. He said Eldorado is well equipped to grow without the need to issue additional equity and has a long history of growing using internal funds.

When asked how the company can keep production costs so low, Wright said Eldorado maintains a disciplined approach based on long-lived assets. He said the company's expansion with new mines in Turkey, Greece and Brazil will actually lower costs even further over time.

Turning to gold, the commodity, Wright said he sees a lot of buying coming from the various ETFs that need to hold gold in return for their shares. He said this trend shows investment interest in owning gold.

Cramer said he still likes Eldorado, but left viewers to choose the gold stock they like best for their portfolios.

Am I Diversified?

Cramer talked with callers and reviewed their portfolios. The first caller's portfolio included Veolia (VE Quote), PICO Holdings (PICO Quote), Ormat Technologies (ORA Quote), IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX Quote) and General Electric (GE Quote).

Cramer called this portfolio a complicated one, but said it's just diversified enough to make the grade.

The second caller's holdings included Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR Quote), Philip Morris International (PM Quote), IBM (IBM Quote), NYSE Euronext (NYX Quote) and Genzyme (GENZ Quote).