Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: The Market's Inconvenient Truth
Macy's (M Quote), is another retailer that blew away earnings, while the media is zeroed in on the company tempering expectations, he said.
Cramer said analysts are still worried about Urban Outfitters (URBN Quote) despite the fact it posted earnings that were much better than anyone expected.
Cramer said the negativity also extends beyond retail to companies like Caterpillar (CAT Quote). He said at this point in the economic cycle, Caterpillar should be losing money, but it's not. Instead, through sizeable cost cutting, the company remains profitable. Cramer said the media is missing the big picture by focusing on sales.
Then there's the badmouthing of "Cash For Clunkers," he said. "Isn't it impressive that people are shopping for cars at all," he asked.
He also said people are still "worried" about Ford (F Quote), which had momentum even before the Clunker's program.
Cramer said the media just wants it all, but unfortunately you can't have it all at this point in the recovery. He said the real story, the one the media "should" be reporting on, is that all of these companies are still alive and kicking at all.
In the Thursday "Sell Block" segment, Cramer said sometimes a company's biggest threat doesn't come from the economy or a competitor, it comes from Washington.
He said that seed giant Monsanto (MON Quote) might be on a collision course with the Justice Department, and investors need to take notice.
Cramer said he's been a big fan of Monsanto, partially due to the fact that the company has a practical monopoly on genetically engineered seeds and is years ahead in its technology. But with Obama's Justice Department now taking a hard line on antitrust enforcement, these once positives may now be negatives.
Recent rhetoric from Washington has stated that the government may be taking a hard look into the marketing of genetically altered seeds, Monsanto's bread and butter. As issue is the company's practice of focusing farmers to destroy unused seeds and not use them the following year. Making matters worse, the company just pushed through a staggering 42% price increase on its latest seeds.
But Cramer said oddly, neither Monsanto's conference calls, nor any Wall Street research, has even mentioned these warnings from Washington as a potential threat, and that leaves the stock vulnerable. He said Monsanto might be in a tough spot, given that its monopoly and practices do appear to be anti-competitive.
Cramer said he still likes Monsanto's story, but given the risks, advises investors to take profits.
New Life
Investors looking for a green energy stock that can make them money need to look no further than Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS Quote), said Cramer.
He said new initiatives in both Washington and Europe will finally help realize some of the promise of natural gas and propel Fuel Systems higher.
Cramer said he was wrong when he last recommended the stock in August, 2008 at $36.50 a share. He said he was confident that Obama would endorse natural gas, but when that failed to happen, the stock crated to $10 a share before recovering back into the $30's. "I jumped the gun," he said.
But now there's a new natural gas act working its way through Congress, and he's confident that the alternative fuel will get its due. The bill, if passed, will extend both tax incentives and credits for natural gas vehicles and infrastructure, and mandates that 50% of the government's vehicles convert to the fuel in the coming years.
Cramer said this would be huge for Fuel Systems, which makes the parts needed to make this happen.
Also on Cramer's radar are new standards in Europe, which also bolsters natural gas's position in the race for alternative energy. Likewise, Fuel Systems delivered a great quarter, beating estimates by 13 cents a share.
Cramer said there's no hurry to buy Fuel Systems, as the bill in Congress will not be passed tomorrow. He called the company a "strong, but speculative" play.
