Jim Cramer's Top Takeaways: Lam Research, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil
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Did you miss last night's "Mad Money" on CNBC? If so, here are Jim Cramer's top takeaways for Monday's trading.
Lam Research (LRCX) - Get Report : In an exclusive interview, Cramer spoke with Martin Anstice, president and CEO of Lam Research, which earlier this month announced the acquisition of KLA-Tencor (KLAC) - Get Report . Shares of Lam are up 10% since that announcement.
Anstice said that he doesn't expect any anti-trust issues with the merger, as Lam and KLA have zero overlap in the products they offer. In fact, the combination of memory and logic chips are perfect complements.
Anstice said KLA offers significant synergies and value for the combined company's customers as they continue to build a platform for future growth.
When asked about the current environment for capital expenditures in the semiconductor industry, Anstice noted there is more discipline now in years past, but that means things are less cyclical and more predictable than they've been in the past.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) - Get Report , Chevron (CVX) - Get Report , ConocoPhillips (COP) - Get Report and Marathon Oil (MRO) - Get Report : When times get tough, is it better to own an integrated oil stock or a specialty player? Cramer looked at these four stocks to find out.
Back in 2011, when oil prices were high, the pressure was on to unlock value, Cramer recalled, which is why Marathon spun off its refining and pipeline assets in late 2011 and Conoco followed suit in 2012, leaving only Exxon and Chevron as the last major fully integrated players.
But as oil prices began falling in 2014, the exploration and production side of the oil business came under pressure, while the refiners began printing money as their costs fell.
That's why the stocks of Exxon and Chevron are only down 16% and 28%, respectively, in 2015 while the stocks of Marathon and Conoco, which no longer have their refining operations to lean on, are down 54% and 35%.
Oddly, if investors owned both parts of Conoco since the split, they'd be up 65%. The same is not true for Marathon.
But if given a choice, Cramer said he'd rather own an integrated oil, because only an integrated company can hold up in both good times and bad.
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At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had no position in stocks mentioned.