Cramer's Take on Headline Stocks: March 17
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NEW YORK (
) -- Regardless of why a stock is in the news, it never hurts to hear what a professional investor has to say about it. The key is to gather as much information as you can in order to make the most informed investment decisions you can. As Jim Cramer (read an excerpt from his
) often reminds, investors must do their homework.
So what has Cramer had to say lately about today's headline-makers? At Stockpickr, we've combed through his recent
RealMoney
blog posts, "Mad Money" TV show recaps and "Stop Trading!" segments to find out
what he thinks about some of today's newsworthy stocks
.
(GOOG) - Get Report
: FBR increased its
due to advertising-market strength and the strong dollar. It rates the stock outperform with a price target of $810.
In a March 11 post to his
RealMoney
blog,
:
"My take is pretty clear. New positions put on here are very risky. I would prefer to wait no matter what. But I can understand the gun-jumping. It has become too frustrating not to buy an
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
or a Google or a
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
or a
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
. I know that, at this point at my old hedge fund, I would be back buying deep-in-the-money calls to maintain positions as I sold common.
"But it's been as rough on the hedge funds on the long side as it was on the short side. Just worth it to be cautious."
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
: Citigroup announced that the
could be three times as much as the company originally estimated. Its plans to issue up to 20.7 million Primerica shares could bring in nearly $290 million, compared with the $100 million Citigroup estimated in November 2009.
In a March 12 blog post,
:
"Reading the findings this morning about how Lehman executives went about destroying a bank that was too big to fail reminded me that perhaps it's time for the investigators, whether they be from Congress or the Angelides Commission -- the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that is supposed to tell this country what really happened -- to interview the real bad guys, the guys who bankrupted and crushed their own institutions.
"The notion of endlessly keelhauling Lloyd Blankfein or Jamie Dimon -- the CEOs of the two best-run banks,
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
and
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
-- does nothing for me. They didn't destroy the system. The notion of berating Vikram Pandit, the man who works 24/7 to put Citigroup on a new, profitable footing, leaves me cold, too. He's doing a fabulous job rehabilitating a once-great franchise."
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
: Citigroup
raised its estimates and target price
for Microsoft. The firm now sees Microsoft reaching $32 a share, and it raised estimates due to cost-cutting measures. Citigroup rates Microsoft a buy.
In a March 15 post to his blog,
:
"The stock market is saying, 'We will take the data in front of us.' It is an impressive array of data: commercial real estate improving (no new construction), credit losses coming down -- look at
Capital One's
(COF) - Get Report
data on credit cards just this very morning -- auto production ramping and aerospace going to come on strong.
"These kinds of good news mean a return to growth for the
Boeings
(BA) - Get Report
and the
General Electrics
(GE) - Get Report
and the Citigroups as well as tech players like
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
,
EMC
(EMC)
,
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Report
and Microsoft with corporate spending allowed to pick up. In this scenario, people must be working off the books like crazy and the headwinds to the economy from Washington might be invisible.
"The data says you should go with the market's view and let it run until the headwinds are stronger and faster ... even if they might be around the corner, as soon as the first health care vote is upon us."
For more of what Cramer's had to say lately about stocks in the news, check out the
portfolio.
(Editor's note: At the time of this publication, Cramer owned Apple, Cisco, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)
RELATED LINKS:
>>Sin Stock Short-Squeeze Opportunities
>>Cramer's 14 Best Tech Stocks
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