Even though the stock is up, Cramer said he's not backing away from it. The financial house was shaky and is now about to be put in order, which should bring "tons" of upgrades for the stock, he said. And if people wait for the upgrades before getting into Fannie Mae, "it will be too late," Cramer said. Fannie Mae, while a "quasigovernment" name, is undoubtedly a "money machine," he said. And because it's not just another financial stock, he said, if the Democrats take over Congress, Fannie Mae should benefit. "When the Republicans controlled Congress, they were doing everything they could to send the big repackages of mortgages to the major banks instead of Fannie Mae," Cramer explained. "But the Democrats put a stop to that when they took both Houses last November." Pasted from There are other reasons to buy the stock, too. Because it's backed by the government, Fannie Mae can issue bonds more cheaply than can private companies, Cramer said. It also has a great insurance business that no one talks about, and the company just boosted its dividend. And the extra capital it has could be handed back to shareholders or used for buybacks, Cramer added.

An even better bet is Schering-Plough (SGP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), a big pharma drug that Cramer said is "worth owning." Despite the fact that Deutsche Bank has been bearish on this stock and despite its not having any big drugs in the pipe, Cramer called SGP a buy for several reasons. First, he called the company's CEO, Fred Hassan, "a breeding ground for profit" and said that Hassan has sown seeds that are now starting to bear fruit. For example, SGP's cholesterol partnership with Merck is bringing in boatloads of money for both companies. But the "best reason" he believes investors should like the stock is that "the government might lift the consent decrees that it slapped on the company for sloppy manufacturing practices," Cramer said. "That should mean improved margins and cost-cutting." He called SGP his least favorite of his top three big pharma picks because it's had a big run. Cramer recommended that viewers pull the trigger and buy SGP below $28. The stock closed at $30.70 on Tuesday.

Though Wyeth is a good big pharma play, there is "only one that has good pipe and good patents, and that one is Novartis (NVS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating)," Cramer said. This one has the second-least exposure to patent loss, and though it too has some bad news, that has already been priced into the stock, he said. Novartis, Cramer said, reaffirmed its 2007 sales targets and iterated that it expects "record income." In addition, it "owns" the hypertension section. But the real reason the company works is because it has a great patent protection bench, he said. Novartis also has $8 billion in cash that it can use to pay for buybacks. Moreover, it has double-digit growth, while others are in single-digit territory. "Novartis is the bargain in big pharma," Cramer said.

LNET is a small $750 million company that people should consider getting into, Cramer said. But it is also a stock that people should be careful with, use limit orders for and not buy after hours, he stressed. LodgeNet, which offers interactive services to hotels and motels, earned $23.43 per room last quarter, most of which came from movie viewing. Now shares have pulled back, which is why Cramer said he's highlighting it. LodgeNet pulled back because of profit-taking, since its a big run-up, but now Cramer believes that the company is ready to go higher. Another major move should be coming, Cramer predicted, as summer vacation season kicks in. In addition, its recent merger with On Command helped boost its market share. Now, the combined company is a "powerhouse of in-room services," Cramer said. LodgeNet is "acquiring up the food chain," and that's working favorably for the stock, he said. The On Command acquisition gave LodgeNet international exposure, as well as 90,000 new customers in Canada and 20,000 in Mexico, Cramer said. Also, LodgeNet has lot of room to grow as it starts offering more services, he said. Additionally, the company is looking to get into time shares and hospitals.

Strong CEO

Piggy back on Icahn

Given Imaging (GIVN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) has a product that could revolutionize the health care industry, Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show on Speculation Friday. The Given System is a wireless imaging system that uses disposable video capsules, he explained. And the company sells a medical device called the PillCam, a pill-sized camera that people swallow to detect internal problems. Israel-based Given has already used its PillCam capsule for endoscopy procedures in which cameras have checked out patients' upper and lower intestines. This method, Cramer said, seems much more comfortable than checking out gastronomical problems the old-fashioned way. In the past, Cramer said, he's made viewers money in such medical device companies as Hansen Medical (HNSN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Micrus Endovascular (MEND - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), Kyphon (KYPH - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating). In Intuitive Surgical's case, Cramer speculated on much more complicated technology, whereas in Given's case, he said he's betting on the success of a simple PillCam. If people buy Given, they'll be taking a "calculated risk." But if the PillCam is as much of a hit as he believes it might be, the big earnings should start rolling in within a couple of years, Cramer said. For medical devices, he said, he looks at both rigor and pending approvals. Given is coming out with PillCams for the esophagus and colon. Plus, its guidance looks promising and is a sign that there's more to come from the company.

The Next aQuantive The next Internet-related advertising company that could get bought out is Omniture (OMTR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Cramer told viewers. Interestingly, the company recently had a secondary offering, in which it sold over 8 million shares at $18 and change. If Omniture can sell this amount of stock at $18, "no amount of stupid sellers can knock this thing down," Cramer said. "There's too much demand." In addition, the company has a "great niche," he said. It makes the software that lets companies know what people are watching on the Internet. It measures trends and customer behavior on the Web. "With Omniture, you can tell advertisers what is hot at the exact moment," Cramer said. If he were in charge of Google (GOOG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), Microsoft (MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) or Yahoo! (YHOO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), which he owns for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS, Cramer said he would have bought Omniture yesterday. Using comparative analysis, Cramer said that if Omniture's earnings are valued the same as Microsoft valued aQuantive's (AQNT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) earnings when it purchased the company for $16 billion, Omniture is a $35 stock. Omniture closed at $20.66 Friday. However, Cramer said he's recommending Omniture here on Speculation Friday not because of its margins but because it's a likely takeover candidate.