Oil prices finally moved up, nearing $120 a barrel after a four-week slide in oil prices. Of course, this put the market on its heels a bit. The market also had to digest some tough earnings news.

AIG (AIG) posted a huge second-quarter loss, sending shares almost 20% down.

Meanwhile, the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart (WMT), reported a 3% rise in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year in July, slightly below Wall Street estimates. An increase of around 3.4% had been expected by some pundits. Wal-Mart had forecasted a gain of 2% to 4%.

So it was another tough day for the financials, including Washington Mutual (WM), Wachovia (WB), Bank of America (BAC), Merrill Lynch (MER). And the retail sector also struggled.

With this in mind, we thought we'd take a look at Thursday's most-searched stocks on TheStreet.com and see what Jim Cramer's had to say about them recently.

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.

Intel (INTC), Sirius (SIRI) and Fannie Mae (FNM) were all moving on heavy volume, but we'll kick it off today with General Mills (GIS).

In an Aug. 7 post to his RealMoney blog, Cramer said:

"General Mills hits another 52-week high. This company has been one of the great standout performers this year, just a juggernaut, even though it is a gigantic buyer of grains and a huge user of cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping. Plus, it needs gasoline to deliver product. Some of this move has to be attributed to projections of huge declines in raw costs. Those are going to happen, as we know from the commodities.

But perhaps it is worth noting that few packaged goods companies -- perhaps Heinz (HNZ) is an exception -- dominate and innovate as well as GIS does. It has always been one of the great brand producers and acquirers, and also a company that can take out costs better than anyone. When I compare how a Unilever (UN) or a Clorox (CLX) has handled the raw costs to how General Mills has performed, it is almost as if GIS is a pharmaceutical with no raw cost exposure whatsoever.

Stocks don't get to their 52-week highs for nothing with the market all the way down here. When we get the inevitable futures program that takes down everything, certainly not an unlikely prospect as it has happened every time we have gone up a great deal, this is the one stock you must bid on now that the commodity costs are also going the right way. Who knows how much money they can make; remember, it sells at only 17 times earnings, when more inconsistent packaged goods companies routinely sell at 18 times earnings."

For more of Cramer's opinions on Thursday's most-searched stocks, including CBS (CBS) and Alcoa (AA), check out the Cramer's Take on Top 10 Most-Searched Stocks portfolio at Stockpickr.com.


A note from James Altucher:

Every weekend I send an email to Jim Cramer and several hedge fund managers about the most interesting portfolios posted on Stockpickr that week. Usually those portfolios not only list stocks according to a theme but also offer significant analysis as to why the stocks are cheap.

Here are some examples:

Stocks related to drilling the Marcellus Shale

MLPS with yields above 7%

Microcaps trading for less than tangible book

Stocks that do well after Hurricanes

Here's the challenge: Build a portfolio at Stockpickr.com with great analysis, and send me the link. Each great portfolio (with analysis) will get posted on TheStreet.com with your byline (as a "Stockpickr Guest Columnist") and will be included in my email I send to Jim and the other
hedge fund managers on my list.


Posted on Aug. 7, 2008