After some disappointing news about factory orders and the residential real estate industry, stocks rose moderately on Tuesday, led by Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Intel (INTC) and Ford (F).

The Commerce Department reported that in November, factory orders declined for a record fourth straight month. Some analysts believe that manufacturing will continue to suffer in coming months as the country continues to weather a recession.

Meanwhile, the Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales fell to the lowest level on record in November. Its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4% to 82.3 from 85.7 in October.

It seems everyone is feeling the pinch right now. Even the very wealthy are complaining. Spectrem Group, a consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets, reported that American millionaires have seen their assets shrink by 30% during the economic crisis. Not surprisingly, only 36% of the affluent were pleased with the performance of their financial advisers.

With this in mind, we thought we'd take a look at some of the stocks people have been searching for on TheStreet.com and see what Jim Cramer's had to say about them lately.

These stocks could be in the news for a number of reasons. Some require immediate attention while 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.

In a recent post to his RealMoney blog, Cramer had this to say about Google (GOOG):

"So 2009 starts with excruciating decisions right out of the box. We are more overbought than we have been in ages, yet we have tons of bears waiting to be converted. We haven't seen an ounce of good news, but you can't keep the cyclical down -- particularly the oils, but also the infrastructure plays. The techs want to rally -- witness the Nasdaq futures up to their old tricks -- but other than an allegedly clean bill of health from Steve Jobs at Apple, some decent gallop from Google (GOOG) (heaven knows why except for Microsoft (MSFT) share loss, certainly not ad pickup) and a bounce from Research In Motion (RIMM), we have nothing to hang our hats on. I recommended Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) last night on "Mad Money" because it is so obvious that tech wants to go higher, but that was the only tech that I felt good enough to push because the company has some visibility.

"Meanwhile, the Homebuilders Index (HGX) looks like it is breaking out, and as for whom the Toll (TOL) bells, it is ringing in the ears of the bears with that move back to $22. I am getting comfort from smart guys that the Bank Index (BKX) isn't as important as I make it -- including from my No. 1 guy, Matt Horween, or Helene Meisler, my fave tech person -- because there are too many zombies in it. Matt prefers preferreds, at least as a tell for the financials, and they are roaring.

"So, my thesis: China. China is going to be leading us out of this. We see it in the right-out-of-the-chute move there beginning with the new year -- I even paid up for a China ETF yesterday for Action Alerts PLUS -- see that product for the particulars. We see it with rate cuts and with off-the-chart stimulus. The moves in Asia are stunning, particularly when you consider that the gadget market is pretty moribund.

"I wish it were confirmed by the Baltic Freight Index, but it isn't, and one of the highest-profile dry bulk tanker companies, Armada -- a Singapore-based company -- actually filed for a reorganization last night. I wish it were confirmed by more than just a blip up in copper and some talk that steel is holding up after a precipitous decline. I wish it were confirmed by lending in this country, although the St. Louis Fed released numbers last night that showed lending is pretty strong. Go figure. And I certainly wish it were confirmed by any actual orders to actual companies.

"But it hasn't been.

"I thought the spike up in oil is entirely because of Gaza; however, I am hearing that China's buying, although that's not even money-in-the-bank info.

Why is it so important? Because I want a thesis for why people are so excited about this market, other than "they are done selling." I want something more than just "stocks are cheap," because my best macro earnings-per-share people are saying that the market's really at 13 times forward earnings: no bargain. And I want leadership besides the fertilizers -- obvious to expect good numbers from those well-based stocks -- to take us somewhere.

"So I settle on China. And the prospects that Europe joins with China in more rate cuts, which do matter.

"It does feel like a train-leaving-the-station market.

"Because of my discipline from long ago not to buy a market that is over +5 on the S&P oscillator that I use, available for a fee from the S&P Corporation (I endlessly push this and deserve a commission for it, for heaven's sake), I can't buy up here for AAPlus.

"However, at least I have a thesis, which is more than a lot of other buyers have. Good to have one. Otherwise we know that it is just euphoria, and euphoria has a funny way of ending."

For more of what Cramer's had to say about Tuesday's top-searched stocks, including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Itron (ITRI), check out the Cramer's Take portfolio on Stockpickr.

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

Posted on Jan. 6, 2009