Jim Cramer has no problem with remaining in the bear camp on Wall Street. Recently, he spotted a new crisis on the horizon for the commercial real estate market, and on Thursday he outlined an eight-point plan to prevent another “Great Depression.” Indeed, Cramer remains as cautions and defensive as he has ever been before.

He knows that now isn’t the time when investors should be taking speculative positions. Instead, Cramer says investors should be patient and buy stocks that work during a slowing economic environment, high-yielding stocks with strong balance sheets or stocks of companies that are doing well despite the slowdown.

Cramer wants to highlight the bull markets for his viewers, but unfortunately, there just aren’t many bull sectors to choose from. Despite that grim outlook, though, through his hard work and long hours of research, he is still finding plenty of opportunities.

Recently, Cramer highlighted nine stocks that could be making a bottom, green stocks in trouble and bank stocks that must merge or die. Here are some Cramer highlights from over the past week as aggregated from his "Mad Money" TV show, the "Stop Trading!" segment on CNBC and his RealMoney blog posts (these blog post links require a RealMoney subscription).

Cramer’s 9 Stocks That Could Be Bottoming: Cramer sees opportunity in nine stocks that could be forming a bottom. In a Nov. 17 blog post, he wrote: “I am stuck with individual stocks, and when I go over the charts, as I do every weekend, I am hard-pressed to find any that look like they are bottoming. In fact, I only found nine of them.” Cramer’s 9 Stocks That Could Be Bottoming include JetBlue (JBLU) and Ultrapetrol (ULTR).

Cramer’s Top Russia Play: What is Cramer’s favorite Russian stock? On last Monday’s “Stop Trading!” segment, Cramer told viewers: “It’s not an easy market to invest in. Normally I’d say Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (WBD), but it has a lot of debt.” The Cramer’s Top Russia Play portfolio includes Central European Distribution (CEDC).

Cramer’s Oil & Energy Stock Picks: Cramer sees opportunity in some oil and energy stocks. On last Friday’s “Stop Trading!” segment, Cramer told viewers: “Refiners are really breaking out here, and you want to be part of that action.” Cramer’s Oil & Energy Stock Picks include Valero (VLO).

Cramer’s Green Stock Fades: Cramer says the green sector could be in trouble. On Monday’s CNBC “Mad Money” TV show, Cramer told viewers: “President-elect Barrack Obama is clearly in the ethanol camp. I see little chance for a resurgence for the natural gas alternative or in any of the wind or solar plays anytime soon.” Cramer’s Green Stock Fades include First Solar (FSLR).

Cramer’s Rally That Feels Real: Is the recent stock market rally real this time? In a Nov. 20 blog post, Cramer wrote: “I actually like this rally more than the last two or three rallies because it is not as repulsively short-squeeze-oriented and because there are such bargains out there, really honest-to-heavens companies trading at or near cash or with huge dividends that can pay them, that it is worth putting capital to work.” Cramer’s Rally That Feels Real stocks include Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Verizon (VZ).

Cramer’s No Market Bottom: Cramer says he knows why the market can’t find a bottom. In a Nov. 15 blog post, he wrote: “We still have no major bankruptcies other than Lehman. We still have no resolution to the credit problems that is tenable enough to break the hold of fear. One look at all the publicly traded media companies tells me they are not on any footing, at least most of them, to survive.” Cramer’s No Market Bottom stocks include GM (GM).


Cramer’s Merge-or-Die Bank Stocks: Cramer thinks it’s time that some banks either merge or die. In a Nov. 20 blog post, he wrote: “The whole nonsense of giving billions to the institutions to lend without restrictions was completely moronic -- just incredibly dumb.” Cramer’s Merge-or-Die Bank Stocks include Morgan Stanley (MS).

(Editor's note: At the time of publication and/or original publication of his posts and shows, Cramer owned Morgan Stanley for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)


Posted on Nov. 20, 2008