By Rebecca Corvino
Posted on July 17, 2009

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 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 newsworthy stocks such as Gilead (GILD), Akamai (AKAM) and Darden (DRI).

To kick it off, with General Electric (GE), Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (GE) all reporting earnings this morning, here's Cramer's take on these three "welfare recipients."

General Electric (GE): Second-quarter earnings earnings from continuing operations fell 47% year over year to $2.9 billion, or 26 cents a share, but beat the average analyst estimate for 23 cents a share.

In a July 13 post to his RealMoney blog, Cramer wrote:

"Sometimes you see these skirmishes ahead of options expiration and they loom very large in the averages. I am looking right now, for example, at the General Electric (GE) 11s, ahead of Friday's report.
"In many ways, this one's the defining long-short battle for the week. Will GE go to $12 or $11? Which strike will trap it? Which strike will be pinned?
"GE's a microcosm for what's going on here today. GE's the natural buyer of CIT (CIT), but I think that can't happen. GE's disliked intensely -- I don't share that dislike, or I wouldn't own it for Action Alerts PLUS . (I work for the company, too.)

Bank of America (BAC): BofA earned $3.2 billion, or 33 cents a share, in the second quarter, beating expectations for 28 cents a share.

Cramer wrote in his blog earlier this week that Goldman's call "on banks and a peak in consumer loan defaults" means that Bank of America and Wells Fargo (WFC) "could be about to have a big run here."

Citigroup (C): Citigroup earned $4.27 billion, or 49 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with analyst estimates for a loss of 37 cents per share and up from 55 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.

On his June 24 blog post, Cramer wrote:

"Citi has been the most problematic situation of the banks -- you could argue that it should be a General Motors situation if it comes back for more money. Given that the government owns 34% of the company yet doesn't have a seat at the board, you can expect Citi to do silly things like sneak through pay-package raises that we have to read about in The New York Times."

Gilead (GILD): On Thursday, a partnership was announced between Gilead and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) http://www.thestreet.com/story/10545940/1/jj-deal-girds-gilead-against-g... " target="_blank">to develop an HIV treatment.

On http://www.thestreet.com/story/10543042/1/mad-money-lightning-round-mann... " target="_blank">July 14's "Lightning Round," Cramer said he preferred Gilead to MannKind (MNKD).

On July 7's http://www.thestreet.com/story/10536719/1/cramers-mad-money-recap-bankin... " target="_blank">"Mad Money" show, Cramer talked about growth in the health care industry and said his two drug-stock picks are Gilead and Abbott Labs (ABT).

NetApp (NTAP): MKM http://www.thestreet.com/story/10545823/2/analysts-upgrades-downgrades-i... " target="_blank"> upgraded NetApp to buy with a $25 price target.

On "Stop Trading!" on July 9, Cramer said that it's time to "focus back on NetApp's core business, which is on fire."

On July 10's "Lightning Round," he called the stock a "winner."

Darden (DRI): Jefferies rated Darden a new buy with a $40 price target.

Earlier this week on "Stop Trading!" Cramer said that he was seeing a "gasoline rally" in stocks such as Darden, Yum! (YUM) and Lowe's (LOW).

Akamai (AKAM): Goldman Sachs downgraded Akamai to sell from neutral and lowered its price target on the stock to $20.

On July 9's "Lightning Round," Cramer said that Akamai's "very controversial" and recommended selling it.

(Editor's note: At the time of publication and/or original publication of his posts and shows, Cramer owned Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Gilead, Abbott, General Electric and Yum! for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)