Jim Cramer's Mad Money Review

Jim Cramer said Monday on CNBC's Stop Trading that it would be a tragedy if the government lets troubled AIG(AIG ) fail.
I would radically have to change my view of where the market goes if it fails, Cramer told Erin Burnett. This one needs to be stopped. I don't know how to stop it.
AIG will be allowed to use $20 billion in assets held by subsidiaries to help stay in business, New York Gov. David Paterson said in a news conference Monday. The insurer, which has already raised $20 billion in fresh capital in 2008, on Sunday turned down an offer from private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. that would have allowed the investor to acquire AIG for $8 billion under certain circumstances, The Wall Street Journal reported.
This is not Bear, or Lehman(LEH) where all they have is Neuberger.
The other, riskier group includes AIG, MBIA(MBI ), PMI(PMI ) and Ambac(ABK ).
AIG is so opaque; they never disclosed what they own, Cramer said.
If you could just call a timeout, AIG would be able to sell a lot of different things, Cramer said. If it's in free fall and beaten down by the shorts, and we don't change the uptick rule, AIG must not fail.
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: ABK, AIG, American International Group, J.C. Flowers, Jim Cramer, LEH, Lehman Brothers, MBIA, PMI, Stop Trading

Get into General Motors (GM), Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment Tuesday.
The auto giant is a "heavily unionized company, and it's going to be non-unionized," Cramer said. "This is a non-union company very soon. I salute GM." He recommended preferred shares for more conservative investors.
Cramer weighed in on Kynikos Associates' Jim Chanos' short position in bond insurers MBIA (MBI) and Ambac (ABK). The move makes "a huge amount of sense," Cramer said. "The Buffett thing is really bad" for these companies.
"I admit Chanos is a rigorous thinker. I have watched his thinking for 20 years," Cramer added, recalling the investor's excellent call on Boston Chicken, which filed for bankruptcy in the late 1990s.
Cramer also discussed Pershing Square Capital founder Bill Ackman's call on Sears (SHLD). Cramer agrees with Ackman's long position in the retailer. "In Eddie Lampert I trust," he proclaimed, referring to Sears' chairman. "I'm not going back on my view."
Cramer continued, "It's very clear that this is a housing recession and [Sears is] housing." He said he thinks critics have been too hard on Lampert and Sears.
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: ABK, CNBC's Stop Trading, GM, Jim Cramer, MBI, SHLD, Stop Trading

Stick with agriculture and recession stocks, Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment Friday.
"Mosaic (MOS) is terrific. ... I think Agrium (AGU) is a catch-up ... to Mosaic," Cramer said. "You're going to do better with that than ... betting against Procter (PG)."
More broadly, Cramer believes the market is frantic as shorts try to cover their bets on the bond insurers. "Today's a big short-squeeze day. 'Let's short squeeze Ambac (ABK) and MBIA (MBI).'"
In the financial sector, Cramer expects more take-unders like Bank of America's (BAC) purchase of Countrywide (CFC). He foresees Washington Mutual (WMon the auction block, adding that CEO "Kerry Killinger is doing his best to do a bad job. ... Washington Mutual at $15 is like Countrywide at $8."
Cramer encouraged investors to play conservatively. "I would be partial to Coke (KO)," he said, adding that he was encouraged that commodity prices are down for the soft-drink company. Pepsi (PEP) is another good pick, he added.
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: ABK, AGU, BAC, CFC, Jim Cramer, KO, MBI, MOS, PEP, PG, Stop Trading, WM

Coca Cola (KO) is a good pick for 2008's volatile trading environment, Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment Wednesday.
"Coca Cola said on my show not that long ago [that] raw costs [and] commodity costs actually peaked. ... People are paying much more for those earnings because they're so consistent. ... Coke is going to continue to go higher," Cramer said.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) insurance executive Ajit Jain is spurring a short squeeze on Ambac (ABK) and MBIA (MBI), Cramer said.
Cramer's skeptical about Jain's assertion today on CNBC that Berkshire Hathaway may buy one of the beleaguered bond insurers. "Why open a business and therefore crush your competitors when you want to buy?" He says it doesn't make sense to go shooting against them and also buy them.
Cramer is leery of Ambac and MBIA's viability. "Buffett has historically not wanted to buy black boxes," Cramer continued. "Eric Dinallo, [New York's] superintendent of insurance, is saying 'I don't trust these companies.'"
"The shorts cover then put out," Cramer concluded, because of continued turmoil in the housing and financial markets.
Cramer also commented on Google's (GOOG) recent bounce. "I still think Google is the tell for this market. ... It is not the fundamentals driving Google or Apple (AAPL). If that were the case, Apple would be at $200 and Google would be at $700."
Published By TheStreet.com

Labels: AAPL, ABK, BRKA, CNBC's Stop Trading, GOOG, Jim Cramer, KO, MBI, Stop Trading

Countrywide (CFC), Ambac (ABK), PMI (PMI), MBIA (MBI), Washington Mutual (WM), Bank of America (BAC), Wachovia (WB)
To those who dread a Fed rate cut due to inflation worries, Cramer says oil and grain prices will not be alleviated by a rise in interest rates. "The thing that would knock the market down huge is obviously they don't cut," said Cramer; " … all year people have been focused much more on inflation. It's deflation that I'm worried about."
While raising interest rates may strengthen the dollar's value, Cramer insists this is not so simple; "the dollar is highly correlated to economic growth, not to the price of money."
"I've seen whole economies raise interest rates to be able to defend their currency and fail repeatedly," he said. "Where people want to be is in a country that is controlling its own fate, tends not to have as big a trade deficit as we have and is growing, and our country is not growing, therefore you don't want the currency."
While he does not think CFC, ABK, PMI, MBI and WM can be rescued by the Fed, and those too took mortgages between 2005 and 2007 may be "wiped out" a rate cut may still save those who took mortgages in 2007.
If rates are not cut, "Armageddon is back on the agenda," added Cramer. While Countrywide is currently engaged in a battle for its survival, BAC and WB will report "quarter of quarter of losses," which will cause people to view the crisis "very differently."
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: ABK, BAC, CFC, Jim Cramer, MBI, PMI, Wall Street Confidential, WB, WM