Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Looking for an Edge

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Investors looking for an edge on which way the markets are headed need only look at just one stock, Jim Cramer told "Mad Money" viewers Wednesday. But that stock is not based in America.

There are many stocks making news, explained Cramer, including Toll Brothers (TOL), which confirmed what Williams Sonoma (WSM) said about the housing market being alive and well. Others, like Dell (DELL), remind us just how horrendous things can get, he said.

But while the professional money mangers look to Apple (AAPL), a stock Cramer owns for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS, and Google (GOOG) and Amazon.com (AMZN) for their daily read, individual investors need to focus their attention elsewhere -- and no, it's definitely not on the Federal Reserve.

Cramer said that the Spanish bank Banco Santander (SAN) is the stock that holds the key to this market.

Shares of Santander bottomed on July 24, a move that signaled the bottom in the markets overall. The bank is truly "too big to fail," said Cramer, and is one of the most dominant financials in the world.

Santander is a proxy for whether Germany will bail out the Spanish economy, said Cramer. If it does, shares could rally to $10. If not, look out below.

So if investors truly want to know which way the markets are headed, all they need to do is look as Banco Santander.

Executive Decision

In the "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Doug Tough, chairman and CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), a company that delivered an earnings beat of 8 cents a share when it last reported on Aug 8, sending shares up 10% in a single day.

Tough said that IFF now operates in over 100 countries around the world and helps more than 4,000 customers develop new flavors and fragrances. While many may not know the company by name, this behind-the-scenes company is at the heart of many of the products consumers use every day.

Tough explained that when a company like Lancome is looking to develop a new fragrance, it turns to IFF, which works with the brand to first determine its needs, then works with the company to develop that magical scent it's seeking.

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