Sector Watch: Water Utilities? Comic Books? Look at the Overlooked

With the latest Oscar telecast in the rearview, it's easy to be reminded of how massively over-hyped expensive epics like Gladiator leave smaller fare like You Can Count on Me out of the spotlight. Kind of like Cisco (CSCO Quote - Cramer on CSCO - Stock Picks) and the entire technology world dominating the headlines day after day, leaving companies like American States Water Holdings (AWR Quote - Cramer on AWR - Stock Picks) in the margins.

So Cisco fell 4.9% to $17.75 today -- American States Water gained 2.6% to $31.10 as part of a nice little rally in water utility stocks. And it's not just today. Over the past six months, San Dimas, California's little water company, gained 3.4%, while San Jose giant Cisco fell 67%. The stories are completely different, with Cisco seen as a growth company and American States lumped in with utilities.

The outcomes, too, are different. American Water would have made you money.

Today, the Dow Jones U.S. Water Utilities Index gained 4.5% as people sought out the battered utilities sector. It outperformed even the mighty American Stock Exchange Networking Index.

OK, so most folks know about International Paper (IP Quote - Cramer on IP - Stock Picks), the Dow's blue-chip wood-and-paper stock. But what do you know about other companies that make paper products?

Many of the smaller names in paper products got a pretty big boost, with the Dow Jones U.S. Paper Products Index gaining 2.9%. Sure, the better-known Philadelphia Stock Exchange Forest & Paper Products Index gained 2.2%, but that's not specific enough. Companies that make paper products were the really big winners today -- at one point up by 4%.

Get acquainted with Temple Inland (TIN Quote - Cramer on TIN - Stock Picks), which gained 2.8% to $43.90 today. Buckeye Technologies (BKI Quote - Cramer on BKI - Stock Picks), which makes the absorbent materials found in diapers and other such soaker-uppers, gained 5% to $10.60. Procter & Gamble (PG Quote - Cramer on PG - Stock Picks) may account for 30% of sales, but Buckeye outperformed the huge giant, which was losing 1.2% to $59.50 today.

Then again, Buckeye may have won the battle, but it lost the war. Over the past six months, Buckeye lost 49%, while P&G only lost 11%. That's a quick reminder to research before you buy.

Another name that won the battle -- UPM Kymmene (UPM Quote - Cramer on UPM - Stock Picks), a Finnish company whose Blandin Paper and Repap Enterprises divisions produce a lot of the paper used in things like catalogues and magazines. UPM gained 3.9% today. Owens-Illinois (OI Quote - Cramer on OI - Stock Picks), which makes plastic containers and labels, gained 12.4% to $8.15.

Entertainment companies in the Dow Jones U.S. Entertainment Index gained 3.4%, thanks mostly to a pair of names that will resonate better with teenagers than adults with investment portfolios. Marvel Enterprises (MVL Quote - Cramer on MVL - Stock Picks), home to Spider-Man and the X-Men, gained 10.2% to $1.95, while the World Wrestling Federation (WWF Quote - Cramer on WWF - Stock Picks), home to the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, gained 12.1% to $13.56.