As expected, holiday season spending was down. However, Amazon.com (AMZN) did say this was their "best season ever," so there were pockets of strength.

But the real focus is already on 2009. What will the follow through look like? The market was up on Friday, again on light volume.

The primary news was that GMAC, the finance arm of GM (GM), qualified for TARP money. Both GM and Ford (F) were up nicely on the news.

But this week is simply a tune-up to the new year.

With this in mind, let’s look at the most searched stocks on TheStreet.com from the prior trading day and find out what Jim Cramer's take is on them.

These stocks could be in the news for a number of reasons. Some require immediate attention; others may not. Regardless, it never hurts to hear what Cramer (or any of the other professional investors on the site) has to say about them. The key is to gather as much information as you can in order to make the most informed investment decisions you can.

Despite the up day on Friday, we'll kick it off with Cramer's take on a gas tax and which stocks that could impact:

"With gasoline prices plummeting, I see that every major state has enacted some form of an emergency gas tax to help fill the diminishing coffers and patch up gaping holes in budgets. It may be one of those rare bits of good news stemming from the radical deflation of commodities. I am surprised that California doesn't have one, and I figure that New Jersey, one of the states with horrible finances (perhaps among the worst, although not rivaling California or Michigan), will put one in place shortly.

I think we continually underestimate the impact of still lower gasoline prices on a host of industries. Ford could get a windfall because it still has a big line of heavy duty gas guzzlers that are immensely popular. General Motors is a hard call because of its ownership structure, although I am sure it will pop with the GMAC deal. I'd sell it.

If United Parcel Service (UPS) had any traffic, it has a huge fuel surcharge that it can slowly diminish to help the margins. YRC Worldwide (YRCW) had a great one, but I think that company is now a goner. Obviously, I have already discussed the retail benefit, but it looks like that didn't matter much.

If we could get strapped states less strapped and if we could get stimulus going, we might have a chance to avert the longest slowdown we have had in 70 years. Gasoline's a good prop, so are government borrowings, so are lower mortgages.
Unfortunately, unless we make every institution a bank, we are not going to get the credit we so badly need flowing again."

For the rest of Cramer's take on Friday's top-searched stocks, including Sony (SNE), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Visa (V) and Alcoa (AA), check out the latest Cramer’s Take portfolio on Stockpickr.


Posted on Dec. 29, 2008