So, how does Black & Decker (BDK) fit into a "less bad" prism? I think that at $40 you had to be betting that things were getting darned good. (In fact, as with Home Depot, Best Buy's "upside" was largely derived from expense control.) At $29, Black & Decker is all about "less bad." And in the low $20s, where it was, you had a "getting worse" scenario.

The largest power tools maker in the U.S. was among the most active names on the NYSE Tuesday.

dividend

From a recent Mad Money show:"This one got smacked. Holy cow, they've got that thing by a third. I'm a buyer at $26 to $27 a share."

From a recent Mad Money show:"This one got smacked. Holy cow, they've got that thing by a third. I'm a buyer at $26 to $27 a share."

Cramer: How to Trade Obama's Stimulus Plan: I've lowered my expectations for certain sectors, says Jim Cramer.
Click here to watch the video.

Those who believe the stimulus will work can buy Black & Decker (BDK) or ITT (ITT) or Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). They can buy Ingersoll Rand (IR) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX).

Maybe even some heavy duty ones: Black & Decker (BDK), Fortune Brands (FO) and the dreaded twosome, Masco (MAS) and Ethan Allen (ETH) because the dividends feel, uh, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX)-like.

Here's three stocks making nice moves that seem to have bottomed: Fortune Brands (FO), Masco (MAS) and Black & Decker (BDK).

“Here's three stocks making nice moves that seem to have bottomed: Fortune Brands (FO), Masco (MAS) and Black & Decker (BDK).

These unlikely three, all early-cycle stocks, have been moving up with the HGX and are really starting to break out, particularly Masco. These are all fine firms that have been clubbed relentlessly because of their exposure to housing, but, alas, might be generating some performance for a bit.

I owned Black & Decker for Action Alerts Plus but got in it too soon before the huge downturn in housing that occurred before the July 15 bottom. You can see that it got to the mid $50s and then was able to top relentlessly lowered earnings estimates, which led to a nice move.

It's just had a little retracement, but acts well now. In fact it acts a bit like Sears (SHLD).

Masco bottomed right on July 15th--boy was that day bad--and it has had a monster move, the only one of these that seems to have come too far too fast, considering it's just really a glorified cabinet and bathroom appliance maker. But it is a well run one.

The stock that might be most intriguing but has been a big disappointment is Fortune Brands, a company addicted to buying back stock that has a liquor division that should be helping it more, as you can see from looking at a chart of Brown Forman (BF).

This one, if you can handle some earnings shade down that some bull might have to give you on the sell side, is probably the most attractive of the three.

I wish it didn't have that golf division. Golf without Tiger is sinking fast. But that's probably not enough to cause a further decline in the numbers.

I think this group is still another one that people want to rotate back to because the multiples are so cheap and the downside seemingly quantified by what might be a 2009 housing bottom.

If we have 300 days left of housing pain--my stick the neck out call--I think it is too early to load the boat up. But this group seems to be a good one to go to on the next big bank failure.

One by one, the bottoms get put in even after the action overall remains one step forward and another step back. And don't think the shorts that hate this market have gone away for a minute.

You get one more round of whacks at a Lehman (LEH) or a Citigroup (C) or a Goldman (GS).

Remember, all but one analyst has to cut numbers severely, plus a rumor that the FDIC is broke coupled with a Barron's article that says Fannie Mae (FNM) common gets wiped out--remember that?--and you get a chance at lower prices.

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