Segment 1: Where are We Now?
Cramer is back from vacation, and is looking ahead to 2009, where he thinks we are in better shape than we were in 2008 because there are no new major problems looming in the future, but the market depends on Washington to get us back into a good place to invest. He is happy to see that commodity stocks were higher today, but thinks that we need Obama's stimulus bill to send stocks higher, even if we have avoided another Great Depression. He still wants to wait for pullbacks to buy stocks with accidentally high yields, and sell into rallies like the one that is going on right now.
Cramer took phone calls on the following stocks:
Tiffany (TIF): Cramer is still bearish on retail, other than dollar stores and Wal-Mart (WMT).
Segment 2:
Cramer is going to give out his 5 best Dow stocks for 2009 this week, and today's recommendation is Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) because it has dropped about 40% from its 52 week high, it is better run than other tech plays, and Cramer is a fan of CEO Mark Hurd. He also thinks that their acquisition of EDS will help the company continue to grow as other competitors like Dell (DELL) get weaker. Cramer likes that they are number 1 in PCs and printers, and have diversified into more services and other areas to reduce risk, and that their CEO has affirmed earnings estimates for 2009. The stock its cheap right now at 8.7 times forward earnings, when it has historically traded at 17 times earnings. If it goes back up towards its usual multiple, the stock will head much higher.
Segment 3: Outrage of the Day
Cramer is outraged that it turned out that Bernie Madoff was investigated 8 times by the SEC without any wrongdoing found, while investigators now have found inconsistencies in statements issued to his investors, plus the strategy he claimed to use has been underperforming the market for years. He didn't make any stock picks in this segment
Segment 4: Lightning Round!
Bank of America (BAC): Cramer is bearish because he thinks other bank stocks like Wells Fargo (WFC) are better picks.
Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE): Cramer said that clean energy usage in cars has been stopped cold by Washington, so this stock has been hurt by that and is too speculative.
Best Buy (BBY): Cramer is bullish on this stock with Circuit City's bankruptcy, plus there are some new TV products coming out that he likes.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY): Cramer thinks the dividend is safe, but this stock has been hurt by a weakening dollar, so he gave it a "Don't buy."
Google (GOOG): Cramer thinks the company is having a good quarter and a decent stock, but it is hurt by weak advertising, so it's not a good buy.
Ultra Petroleum (UPL): Cramer is bullish because he thinks natural gas has bottomed.
Goldman Sachs (GS): Cramer is bullish because he thinks the stock is cheap, the balance sheet is strong, and management is good.
Itron (ITRI): Cramer is bullish on this stock, though he recommended it before and the stock has dropped since then.
Cabela's (CAB): Cramer is bearish on this stock.
Segment 5: Mad Money Mail
BB&T (BBT): Cramer is bullish on this stock and thinks it will be safe.
Caterpillar (CAT): Cramer is bullish on this stock.
U.S. Steel (X): Cramer recommended this stock at $20, but he is now waiting for a pullback with the stock at $40. He added that he is also waiting for a pullback on Nucor (NUE).
