Cramer's Take on Headline Stocks: March 3
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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
.
Kohl's
(KSS) - Get Report
: Kohl's announced that it opened
, with plans to open about 20 more in 2010. The nine new openings created 1,500 new jobs.
In a March 2 post to his
RealMoney
blog,
that he was worried about the retailers, which he said seemed to be tiring after their "monster moves":
"I look at
Gap
(GPS) - Get Report
and
Macy's
(M) - Get Report
and I get nervous about a pause. Kohl's looks stalled to me.
Nordstrom
(JWN) - Get Report
seems to have hit a wall. And you have to admit that
TJX
(TJX) - Get Report
shouldn't be down as much as this. Same with
Bed Bath & Beyond
(BBBY) - Get Report
. Only
J.C. Penney
(JCP) - Get Report
, the ultimate laggard, is headed higher with any momentum."
Cramer recommended taking "something off the table in this red hot group," calling the gains "amazing" and saying he was "beginning to wonder if it wasn't just a squeeze."
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
: In a conversation with
TheStreet's
Gregg Greenberg, mutual fund manager Erick Maronak called Apple the
in the country and an attractive investment.
In a March 2 blog post,
:
"Sometimes it's just an absence of sellers. We had seen endless sellers in Apple and
Amazon
(AMZN) - Get Report
on every lift. Amazon I get -- there's been a lot thrown at it. Apple's iPad could hurt the Kindle.
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Report
wants into the space in a big way. How much post-holiday selling can there be?
"Apple's been a mystery as to why it hasn't gone up. I still hear skepticism about the iPad, but not from anyone who understands the desire to own a suite of products and who gets that Steve Jobs does not issue products that simply do the same thing as the last few products. Things are breakthroughs or they simply aren't issued.
"So what happened here? I believe that we've had a series of persistent sellers at every level. But those sellers have now gotten out of the way."
Toyota
(TM) - Get Report
: Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars saw an 8.7%
compared with last year, with the Toyota brand experiencing a 10.6% drop due to safety recalls. In comparison,
Ford
(F) - Get Report
sales were up 43%,
General Motors
saw a 32% sales bump, and
Honda's
(HMC) - Get Report
sales rose 12%.
In a March 2 blog post,
:
"One of the absolute greatest obstacles to outperformance, to cutting your gains, is the constant desire to find a new name. I see this daily on the Lightning Round on "Mad Money." It does not matter how many times I reiterate that Ford is the play in autos, I get questions on Toyota almost daily.
" I have no idea how much business Toyota has lost for the long term or otherwise. But I do know this: It isn't just Toyota's stock that's damaged, it's the company itself.
"People want to play Honda; cool, Honda is a beneficiary, but Ford has got the most upside, as Ford has gains coming not just from market share but also from an improving balance sheet and the subsequent ratings upgrades that will make borrowing easier."
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 for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)
RELATED LINKS:
>>Travel Industry Short-Squeeze Opportunities
>>Jim Cramer's Portfolios of the Week
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