By Stockpickr Staff
Updated at 5:20 p.m. EDT on June 29, 2009

Bernard Madoff, perpetrator of the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that destroyed the financial health of hundreds, even thousands, of people, received a
150-year jail sentence on Monday morning.

Also making headlines, Microsoft (MSFT) might unload a 2007 acquisition, Razorfish, to a French marketing company. Microsoft closed up 51 cents, or $2.18, at $23.86 on Monday.

Swiss drug company Novartis (NVS) is reportedly considering a purchase of Elan's (ELN) multiple sclerosis treatment, Tsyabri, and other operations from the Irish biotech. Novartis closed down 17 cents at $41.17 on Monday, while Elan slid 41 cents, or 5.6%, to $6.95

And in analyst upgrade-downgrade news, Deutsche Bank downgraded Biogen Idec (BIIB) to hold from buy, Friedman Billings Ramsey downgraded Alcoa (AA) to underperform, and Credit Suisse upgraded KB Home (KBH) to neutral from underperform.

Biogen lost $2.75, or 5.5%, on Monday to close at $47.32; Alcoa slid 32 cents, or 3%, to $10.44; and KB Home added 69 cents, or 5.1%, to $14.11.

With this 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:

" Like Apple (AAPL) will be denied. Think of this stock: It just hit $133 the other day and is now reasserting its leadership because of smartphones, with Palm (PALM) verifying the movement. Research In Motion (RIMM) is quickly becoming an outlier.

"Plus, that whole Intel (INTC) foray turned out to be much ado about press releases, and I no longer think it is relevant to the fortunes of Qualcomm (QCOM) and Texas Instruments (TXN), with both experiencing breakouts. Do not forget that Skyworks (SWKS), RF Micro (RFMD), TriQuint (TQNT) and CommScope (CTV), as all play a role in this changeover.

"The Nasdaq selloff, reasonable after the run, I think will be checked. I think that the good news from Oracle (ORC) and Palm will prevail, and we are in a moment where leadership in tech is back, and I would use the weakness to buy.

"I would also be socking in some Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) to take advantage of some big quarters coming and the lethargy they are experiencing. They are resting; they could reignite shortly.

"Random musings: I thought that BHP Billiton (BHP) downgrade was not that right, as I see commodities ramping on a weak dollar. ... Still waiting on someone else to embrace the housing-bottom thesis, even though KB Home (KBH) fits the bill. ... Bloomberg with a story about stepping up jumbo loans: Wasn't that not supposed to happen, bears?"

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