Jim Cramer's best Favorite Stocks

Jim Cramer is the host of CNBC's Mad Money show and the chairman of TheStreet.com. In 1987, Cramer started his own hedge fund and returned an average of 24% per year between 1987 and 2001. Cramer also authored six money management books.

During the last 30 days, his favorite buy recommendations (based on number of mentioned days) on Mad Money were as follows:

Company	No. Of Times Picked	First Date*	Return**	Excess Return (wrt S&P500)
Apple (AAPL)	7	2-Aug-10	49.9%	26.9%
Google (GOOG)	4	1-Jun-11	15.5%	16.1%
Netflix (NFLX)	4	14-Mar-11	32.7%	30.9%
Amazon.com (AMZN)	3	4-Aug-10	74.4%	47.9%
Caterpillar (CAT)	3	10-Aug-10	44.5%	21.9%
Chesapeake Energy (CHK)	3	6-Jan-11	25.9%	21.7%
Chipotle Mexican Gr (CMG)	3	29-Apr-11	21.0%	25.8%
Cummins (CMI)	3	28-Jul-10	40.5%	16.8%
ConocoPhillips (COP)	3	5-Aug-10	31.4%	11.3%
Consolidated Edison (ED)	3	11-Aug-10	17.1%	-3.9%
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)	3	7-Sep-10	28.1%	5.4%
Intl Business Mach (IBM)	3	5-Oct-10	33.4%	16.9%
McDonald's (MCD)	3	17-Mar-11	19.5%	15.9%
Annaly Capital (NLY)	3	5-Aug-10	16.3%	-1.5%
VF Corp (VFC)	3	15-Nov-10	47.2%	33.4%
Average			33.2%	19.0%

*Represents latest recommendation change from sell to buy. The study interval includes only past one year.

**Includes the duration from first date till July 27.

Cramer's favorite stock recommendations returned 33.2% on average since they have been recommended. The average relative performance of these stocks against the S&P 500 is 19%. 13 out of 15 of his favorite stocks have managed to beat the market.

Cramer's most favorite stock during last 30 days was Apple. He repeated his buy recommendation of AAPL seven times during the last 30 days. AAPL has a market cap of $364.3 billion and P/E ratio of 15.5. AAPL recently traded at $392.59 and has gained 49.9% since August 2, 2010, beating the SPY by 26.9 percentage points. Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management had $633 million invested in AAPL at the end of March. (See Citrone’s top holding here.)

Cramer repeated his buy recommendation of GOOG four times during the last 30 days. GOOG has a market cap of $196.8 billion and P/E ratio of 23.7. GOOG recently traded at $607.22 and has gained 15.5% since June 1, beating the SPY by 16.1 percentage points.

On July 25, Cramer said the following about Google:

In the changing landscape of tech, right now, repeat after me: Social media, mobile, the cloud .... You've got to have all three. That's what Wall Street wants to see. Google has all three, which is why it's worth buying even up here, as it goes higher.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation produces natural gas in the United States. Cramer repeated his buy recommendation of CHK three times during last 30 days. CHK has gained 25.9% since Jan 06, 2011, beating the SPY by 21.7 percentage points. CHK has a market cap of $21.3 billion, P/E ratio of 28.4 and dividend yield of 1%. Chesapeake is also one of the 11 energy companies hedge funds are buying like crazy. Twelve hedge funds had CHK among their top 10 holdings. Hedge funds collectively own 5% of CHK’s outstanding shares. Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management and Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital had large CHK holdings at the end of March.

On July 26 Cramer said the following about Chesapeake Energy:

If you want "steady as she goes," I want you to buy CHK ... buy, buy, buy ... which has been creeping up nicely, even though it doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Netflix has gained 32.7% since March 14, beating the SPY by 30.9 percentage points. Leonard Brecken predicted that Netflix (NFLX) is going to fall 70% within 12 months. He was on CNBC’s Fast Money and told viewers that Netflix is playing accounting games and that content costs are skyrocketing. Blue Ridge Capital’s John Griffin had $125 million invested in Netflix shares at the end of 2010.

CMG has a market cap of $10.1 billion and P/E ratio of 55. CMG recently traded at $325.2 and has gained 21% since April 29, beating the SPY by 25.8 percentage points. CMG plans to open 135 to 145 new restaurants in 2011, bringing the total restaurant count to roughly 1,220. CMG’s revenue for the first quarter was $509.4 million, up 24.3% from the prior year period. Net income for the first quarter of 2011 was $46.4 million, compared to $37.8 million in the first quarter of 2010. Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies had the largest positions in CMG. Manatuck Hill Partners was the second best performing hedge fund during second quarter. by Insder Monkey

Gold Prices Set Daily Record Highs ? GSD , Gold !

The 2009 gold rush continues as high demand and smaller supplies send gold to yet another record high. The price climbed over $130 per ounce, pushing it up 30% for 2009. Gold has gone up from around $300 an ounce in early 2000, to it's lofty levels over the weekend. Clay Teague with Scotsman Coin and Jewelry says they are seeing an added interest in gold among investors in the St. Louis area. "(Gold) is proving to be a stable investment as time goes on. As demand increases and supplies stay low, it appears this price trend will continue."

The weak dollar is also helping push up the price of gold. Investors are fleeing from the dollar and putting money in precious metals to hedge against inflation. Gold market analysts are saying that $1300 an ounce is a possibility for gold as the world recession stretched into 2010. Platinum also hit a record over the weekendCentral banks will be net buyers of gold this year as they diversify away from the U.S. dollar, marking a reversal of a decades-old trend, global commodities investment fund BlackRock said on Monday in comments that helped drive bullion to fresh record highs.


Investment in gold by central banks has picked up recently, with India buying 200 metric tons from the International Monetary Fund, and Taiwan's central bank is studying whether to raise the amount of gold in its forex reserves, with China and South Korea also debating the issue.


BlackRock is one of the world's largest fund managers, boasting a total US$1.4 trillion under management across all asset classes. It is manager and adviser to the U.S. Federal Reserve and its views can influence the direction of global markets.


Evy Hambro, who runs two of the world's largest commodities funds, BlackRock World Mining Fund and Gold & General Fund, gave an upbeat outlook for gold during a media briefing in Australia.


His forecast for net central-bank purchases of gold this year would, if met, mark the first year in two decades when the world's central banks bought more gold than they sold. They have been net sellers each year since 1988.


Gold stored in central banks worldwide has dropped more than one-sixth since 1989.


"The most recent break-out in the gold price in U.S. dollars has caused most gold prices to start trending higher at the same time," Hambro said, adding that investors were now looking for gold to rise in other commodities as well as U.S. dollars.


"When you start to see the price rising in a range of different currencies, it is a clear sign of a very strong market to come," he added.


Spot gold stood at US$1,123.70 by 9:16 p.m. EST after touching US$1,126.30 per ounce, a record, versus the notional New York close of US$1,118.50, helped higher by Hambro's bullish outlook, according to financial broking group IG Markets.


Bullion has been on an upward spiral as a hedge against the U.S. dollar's weakness and rising inflation risks, traditional reasons to lap up gold.


Based on the dollar index of major currencies, the U.S. dollar has dropped 7.5% this year versus a 33% rise in the U.S. dollar gold price.


In other currencies, gold has not reached new highs since early 2009. In Australian and Canadian dollars and the South African rand, it peaked in February.


But Hambro said investors were now "looking for price rises across all currencies" as central banks built up their gold holdings and global supplies tapered off.


"Gold's role is gathering a lot more attention in terms of risk diversification," he said.


By 1999 central bank selling was so commonplace that the big European banks signed a pact capping sales at 400 metric tons a year to keep the price from collapsing.


It worked. Gold has gone up just about every year since.


Hambro also said the high level of gold production in China, which has replaced South Africa as the world's biggest producer, was not sustainable, pressuring world supply.


China's output rose 13.49% in the first half of 2009 from a year earlier to 146.505 metric tons, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.


China is widely assumed to be buying domestic gold production after revealing in April it held 1,054 metric tons of gold, a jump of 76% from its last word on the subject six years earlier.


The Reserve Bank of India last month bought 200 metric tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund, and Sri Lanka's central bank governor told Reuters this month his bank had been buying gold for the past five or six months.


But not all banks are trading foreign currencies for gold.


Korea has the world's sixth largest foreign exchange reserves but ranks 56th in terms of gold holdings. Its governor has said it would not be easy for the bank to suddenly increase gold holdings because of the market impact.


Japan has kept its gold reserves steady at 24.6 million troy ounces since mid-2001. The Royal Bank of Australia has not bought any gold since selling two-thirds of its reserve in 1997.


Hambro also said U.S. demand for commodities was starting to show signs of recovery. This, along with stronger Asian demand, set the stage for a prolonged bull market, he added.




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Will gold hit 2,000 , Jim Rogers say "s ??

Jim Rogers "Quite Sure" Gold Will Hit $2000, Dollar Will Lose Reserve Status
by A Task
Related: GLD, GDX, TIP, TBT, SLV, ^DJI, ^GSPC
Famed investor Jim Rogers is "quite sure gold will go over $2000 per ounce during this bull market."
Rogers' confidence gold will continue to rally stems from a view the U.S. dollar is on its way to losing status as the world's reserve currency.

"Is it going to happen? Yes," Rogers says. "I don't like saying it [and] I'm extremely worried about it but we have to deal with the facts. America is not getting better [and] the dollar is going to be replaced just like pound sterling [was]."

Rogers didn't offer a timetable, and it's likely gold would exceed $2000 per ounce if the dollar were to lose its reserve status.

Still, "I wouldn't buy gold today," Rogers says. "I think I'll make more money in other commodities, which are cheaper," as discussed in more detail here.

Among many others, Rogers is "worried about the fact the U.S. government is printing huge amounts, spending gigantic amounts of money it doesn't have," the investor and author says. "People are very worried [and] skeptical about paper money [and] looking for places to protect themselves. The best way is to buy real assets. [That] has always protected one during currency turmoil, and it will again."


thoughts?
Governments all over the world, not just in America, are debasing their currencies, rendering gold the currency of choice. As for basic commodities, demand is weak and supplies large due to the global depression. People who say gold is not useful simply do not understand the utility of money. Gold has been money for 5000 years, which makes it very useful indeed when paper alternatives are being rendered worthless by financial corruption and mismanagement
Investing in any other commodity will only give you returns in fiat money. Gold and Silver is currency! If our dollar goes to hell, then try to buy a loaf of bread with a lump of copper or aluminum. They will gladly accept my gold and silver.It's time to destroy the money printing monopoly aka THE FED. Burn the elite at the stake like the catholics and protestants used to do in imperial Europe. Maybe a giant sinkhole will swallow up the GOLDJEW building in Manhatten. Woudn't that be a pretty sight. Revolution by the majority. Tryanny by the minority. If my money become useless??

Is Silver a Buy ? Gold or Silver ?

The market’s just too volatile, the economy too depressed for investors to attempt much more than capital preservation right now. And it doesn’t help that President Obama’s spending plans are just killing all kinds of stocks. So Cramer recommended that viewers take shelter where they can.
The bulk of Mad Money’s recent picks have been dividend-paying companies, especially less economically sensitive names like Kimberly-Clark and Verizon Communications. But Cramer also endorsed precious metals like gold and silver because they, too, offer protection against the wild swings of a troubled market. There’s also inflation to worry about, as the Federal Reserves continues to print large amounts of money, and gold and silver defend against that as well.
Cramer thinks gold, now at $917.60 an ounce, is buy, and he suggested that investors start to build a position. He’s recommended all types of gold plays, from bullion to coins to the SPDR Gold Shares
. Any of them work. It’s just a question of which strategy you like best.
But silver, too, is worth a look. Not only is it historically cheap, but also silver has been outperforming gold this year. While gold is up about 6% in 2009, silver’s jumped 15%. And since 1968, the average price of an ounce of gold was 52 times that of an ounce of silver, but right now that figure’s up to 74 times.
Cramer likes the iShares Silver Trust
[SLV 12.78 0.13 (+1.03%)
as the best silver investment. This exchange-traded fund actually owns silver and usually tracks its price closely.
There are other options, though, but Cramer’s less enthusiastic about them. Silver bullion, much like gold, is bought in bulk, so this is largely a play for the wealthy. Coins often get marked up 15% to 30%, but people compelled to buy them should look to the Canadian Maple Leaf and U.S. American Eagle, sold at these countries’ respective Mints.
Silver Wheaton

has the best growth, Cramer said, even though the company has exposure to underperforming base metals. If the Mad Money host could recommend any miner right now, he’d stick with Agnico. As attractive as silver might be, he likes gold more.
Cramer does believe that both gold and silver will decline in the short term. So his stance on these precious metals in bearish. He just thinks that they’re a great insurance against the market, and he wants to give investors the chance to buy them on the way down.
Cramer recommended that investors build a position in gold and silver equal to 20% of their portfolio. If, say, they want 100 shares of the GLD, they should buy 25 shares right now, the next 25 at $85 and so on. Follow the same model for buying the SLV. Grab some shares at $12, then $11.50…Worst-case scenario? The share price reverses direction and you don’t get a chance to buy more at discounted prices. That sounds like a win-win to Cramer.
cnbc.com