Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Next Week's Game Plan (Final)

Cramer said the calendar is in the investors' favor as money managers are going on a year-end buying spree.
By Scott Rutt ,

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NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- "Jobless claims may edge higher next week, but things are still getting better," Jim Cramer told the viewers of his

"Mad Money"

TV show Friday.

He said the calendar is now in investors' favor, as the big mutual and hedge funds have begun buying on any weakness to bolster their portfolios before year's end. Add this buying to already strong earnings and outlooks, and Cramer said the new year is looking brighter already.

Cramer said his game plan for next week is to watch and listen to a few key names, including retailers

Dollar General

(DG) - Get Report

, which reports Monday, and

Costco

(COST) - Get Report

, reporting Wednesday.

Dollar General will provide a read on the health of the low-end consumer, while Costco will provide insights into the habits of middle- and upper-class shoppers looking for bargains, he said. Membership growth will be the key metric to watch for Costco, he added.

Turning to the industrial stocks, Cramer said to watch out for

3M

(MMM) - Get Report

on Tuesday and

United Technologies

undefined

on Thursday. Both companies should tell a great story, said Cramer. Also on Thursday is filtration stock

Pall Corp

(PLL) - Get Report

, another Cramer favorite to keep an eye on.

Cramer said the big news of next week will of course be the jobless claims number on Thursday. He said even if things stay bad however, that's still good news for stocks, as it will put even more pressure on President Obama to extend unemployment benefits and cut taxes.

Monster Stock Buybacks

When is a stock buyback more important than a good dividend? "When the company means it," said Cramer, as he taught investors the difference between a meaningful, and meaningless, stock buyback.

Cramer said most of the time, stock buybacks are just ignored. Companies typically don't buy back that many shares and rarely move the needle when it comes to the stock price. Cramer said that's why he almost always prefers stocks with dividends over buybacks because the dividends offer support for the stock if it goes lower.

But in some cases, buybacks matter. Such was the case with

Cypress Semiconductor

's

(CY) - Get Report

$600 million buyback announced on Oct. 21. Cramer said the Cypress buyback was huge, 32% of the company's market cap, and the company's CEO told investors that the company would be buying aggressively to boot. The move help Cypress shares rise 38% since the buyback announcement.

Then there's

Texas Instruments

(TXN) - Get Report

, a company that announced a $7.5 billion buyback, 28% of its market cap, on Sept. 21. Shares of Texas Instruments are up 33% since that huge announcement.

In contrast, shares of

Cisco

(CSCO) - Get Report

have not moved since the company announced its buyback on Nov. 18 after a miserable quarter. The reason?

Cramer said because Cisco's buyback only represents 14% of the company's market cap, and while Cisco has bought over 1 billion shares this past year, it also issued close to 400 million new ones, for a net effect of buying only 600 million shares.

Cramer told viewers they should be watching for monster buybacks like Cypress and Texas Instruments, buybacks that can, by themselves, take a stock higher.

More Xmas Retail Plays

Closing out his "Stock-ing Stuffer" series of retail stocks, Cramer took a closer look at the mid-tier and discount retailers to see which ones come out on top. He said when it comes to value oriented retailing,

Kohl's

(KSS) - Get Report

remains his favorite.

Cramer said Kohl's has a terrific balance sheet and is growing its store base from 1,100 stores today to a target of 1,400 in the coming years. The company is also lowering its operating costs, from 8.4% in the third quarter to a projected 3% to 4% in the fourth quarter. Kohl's also has an aggressive stock buyback program, which could add 23 cents a share in earnings power to the already low earnings estimates.

Turning to the true discounters, Cramer gave the nod to

TJX Companies

(TJX) - Get Report

, parent to the TJ Maxx, Marshall's and HomeGoods chains, over rival

Ross Stores

(ROST) - Get Report

.

Cramer said unlike Ross, TJX is growing it's overseas business, with 25% of sales already stemming from international efforts. The company trades at just 12 times earnings with a 14% growth rate compared to Ross at 13.4 times earnings and a 13% growth rate.

In the battle that is

Wal-Mart

(WMT) - Get Report

versus

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

, Cramer said he's siding with Target, which is showing strong results and same-store sales growth as well as an improving credit card business. Target is expansive however, trading just off its 52-week high. Cramer advised buying shares of Target only on weakness.

Mad Mail

Cramer followed up on

Vera Bradley

(VRA) - Get Report

, a stock which had its IPO on Oct. 20 and stumped Cramer in an earlier Lightning Round. Cramer said Vera has had a big run, and he'd wait for the stock to cool off before jumping in.

When asked whether she should take profits in high fliers like

Chipotle Mexican Grill

(CMG) - Get Report

,

Ford

(F) - Get Report

and

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

, a stock which Cramer owns for his charitable trust,

Action Alerts PLUS, Cramer said he would not take profits in Apple nor Chiptole, but he would start taking out his costs in Ford.

When asked about

Johnson & Johnson

(JNJ) - Get Report

, Cramer said he's most disappointed in the company with its product recalls and he would steer clear of the stock.

Finally, when asked about

OmniVision Technologies

(OVTI)

, Cramer said he remains bullish on the stock and thinks it's headed much higher.

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on

Abbott Laboratories

(ABT) - Get Report

,

Frontier Communications

(FTR) - Get Report

,

Oxford Industries

(OXM) - Get Report

,

Jones Group

(JNY)

,

LyondellBasell Industries

(LYB) - Get Report

,

Altria

(MO) - Get Report

and

Siemens

(SI) - Get Report

.

He was bearish on

Medtronic

(MDT) - Get Report

,

Hewlett-Packard

(HPQ) - Get Report

,

Madison Square Garden

(MSG) - Get Report

and

Weatherford International

(WFT) - Get Report

.

Closing Comments

How crazy is the big move higher in gold? Cramer said not crazy enough. He reiterated his $2000 per ounce price target for the precious metal, along with his buy recommendations on miners

NovaGold

(NG) - Get Report

, an Action Alerts PLUS name,

Agnico-Eagle Mines

(AEM) - Get Report

and

Eldorado Gold

(EGO) - Get Report

.

Cramer's thesis for gold remained the same. A looming budget crisis in Washington spells inflation, demand for gold in China is still rocketing and we just can't find the stuff as easily as we once could.

Cramer said the market cap of every gold stock in the world combined equals just 1.5 times the current size of Apple, and that's far too low. Hedge funds and mutual funds are just .6% invested in gold, well below historic averages.

Cramer said whether the U.S. dollar goes up or down, gold is headed higher and the move is not over.

--Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C.

To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Scott Rutt

.

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http://twitter.com/scottrutt

.

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tips@thestreet.com

.

To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC

.

Want more Cramer? Check out Jim's rules and commandments for investing from his latest book by

clicking here

.

For more of Cramer's insights during the Lightning Round, clickhere

.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Apple and NovaGold.

Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money."

None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.

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