By Stockpickr Staff
Updated at 4:55 p.m. on June 25, 2009 with stock prices throughout

Eyes are on Ben Bernanke today, as the Federal Reserve chairman delivers his testimony before a congressional panel regarding whether the Fed was involved in any sort of cover-up during Bank of America's (BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

BofA closed flat for the day on Thursday at $12.35.

In earnings news, Lennar (LEN) reported lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings, losing $125.2 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with analyst estimates for a loss of 64 cents a share.

Lennar added $1.37, or 17.5%, to close at $9.19 on Thursday.

ConAgra (CAG)'s fourth-quarter profit fell 13%, while sales have seen a 21% rise this year.

ConAgra slid 85 cents, or 4.2%, to close at $19.18 today.

And in analyst ratings news, Susquehanna downgraded Nike (NKE) to neutral from positive, while Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock to $49 from $48 and maintained its neutral rating, and Merrill Lynch/Bank of America lowered its 2010 estimates to $3.60 a share and maintained its buy rating and $65 price target.

Nike lost $1.74, or 3.3%, to $51.28 today.

Goldman downgraded ConocoPhillips (COP) to neutral from buy and lowered its price target on the stock to $53 from $60. The firm upgraded Deere (DE) to neutral with a $42 price target. And Citigroup rated Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) hold with a $53 price target.

ConocoPhillips added 6 cents to $41.76, Deere closed up $2.12 at $42.11, and Freeport gained $1.95 to $50.75 on Thursday.

With his in mind, we thought we'd take a look at some of the stocks in the news 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; others may not. Regardless, it never hurts to hear what Cramer (or any professional investors) 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 wrote:

" Yippee! Purchases of new homes in the U.S. declined in May! That's what we want to see. We want to see builders continually losing share to existing homes, because we don't want new homes being added to inventory, especially when the inventory is made up of foreclosed homes. We want to see it because as much as the Fed wants rates lower, I do not believe we can get them back to well under 5% because of the improvement in the economy.

"There is a gigantic tug of war playing out here between the homes being pumped out by Lennar (LEN) or Pulte (PHM) or Horton (DHI) and the homes owned by Bank of America (BAC) or Wells Fargo (WFC) or JPMorgan (JPM) -- repossessed homes that could really kill any recovery. The homebuilders cannot make the houses cheaply enough to compete against the foreclosed homes. That's terrific.

"We've had two back-to-back increases of existing home sales -- a key prop to my call of a bottom in housing.

"The builders are the enemy here. They have been the enemy since day one. We need to see bankruptcies and mergers if we are going to see appreciation in home prices, but stabilization is working right now because these new-home sales are so bad. We can't have the homebuilders be tempted. Oh, and remember all the stories that say the higher mortgage rates are killing the new homebuyers? Just do some calculations on the three-eighths-of-a-point climb vs. the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. Then consider that rates are 20% lower than last year.

"Again, that's why we are bottoming. That's why things are improving. It is vital that you read the data for what it is, not what the headline writers and editors tell you it is."

For more of what Cramer's had to say lately about stocks in the news, check out the Cramer's Take portfolio.

(Editor's note: At the time of publication and/or original publication of his posts and shows, Cramer owned Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and ConocoPhillips for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)