After John Flannery, General Electric’s new CEO, saved his company’s stock by giving a candid interview on its “horrible” state of affairs, CNBC’s Jim Cramer gained some renewed hope.
“John Flannery … can fix this very broken company. He can fix it because he’s willing to admit from the get-go that GE’s been very poorly run,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Cramer still has a lot of questions — can GE’s power division really be fixed? Could its insurance business be ringfenced without jeopardizing the dividend? — but given Flannery’s clinical take on the company’s problems, he thinks GE’s new leader can bring the company out from under.
“Flannery’s going to run this company like other great industrials are run, by the books, for cash and cash flow. Not the way that I would describe as being the GE way, which was totally opaque and totally nauseating,” Cramer said. “I wish Mr. Flannery luck. He’ll need it, but his candor and rigor tell me that he’s the right man to turn around this once great American company.”
Cramer is expecting big things for next week’s earnings reports.
“We are coming in hot going into the biggest earnings week of the year, and the stakes have been ratcheted up so dramatically that we better get some darned good numbers from these companies,” Cramer said.
After the stock losses from GE’s dismal earnings report were reversed by frank, hard-line talk from Flannery, Cramer was encouraged by the market’s action.
“I always feel emboldened when we get a real doozy of an earnings report like we did from General Electric and the stock in question comes out the other side unscathed,” Cramer said.
With that in mind, and with Washington hiking expectations around tax reform, Cramer turned to the stocks and events he’ll keep an eye on during a busy week for the markets.
When the broader market is strong, sometimes Cramer likes to zoom in on specific companies to review what they’re doing right.
On Friday, Cramer turned to Honeywell, the massive industrial conglomerate manufacturing aircraft engines, climate control systems, security equipment and other specialty products.
“Honeywell’s stock has roared up over 25 percent year to date and I think a lot of that strength comes down to the fact that the company’s management is quite simply very thoughtful and very rigorous,” the “Mad Money” host said. “They’re patient, they’re deliberate, and they know how to establish smart processes then let them play out.”
With Honeywell having just announced a three-part split of its massive business, Cramer looked into the breakup to see if it could be a buying opportunity.
When CNBC’s Jim Cramer first recommended Callaway Golf and Dick’s Sporting Goods as ways to invest around golf a little over a year ago, he wasn’t entirely sure where the industry would go.
“At the time, the conventional wisdom held that golf was dead, but I thought we were seeing some green shoots and there might be a few smart ways for you to make money with it,” the “Mad Money” host said.
So, to see if his recommendations held any weight, Cramer checked in on the golf cohort, starting with Callaway, the maker of all things golf and the largest “pure play” in the industry.
Though its shares are up 25 percent since Cramer’s recommendation, investors who bought shares of Callaway had to have guts to stick out the ride.
In Cramer’s lightning round, he gave callers’ his take on some of their favorite stocks:
Macy’s: “Macy’s is trying to bottom here. It’s been $20, $21, $20, $21. It’s got a yield and I think it could be supported. I wouldn’t mind buying some, especially if Lord & Taylor’s going to get a bid, for heaven’s sake.”
Walt Disney Co.: “I think Disney’s a good long-term hold. I believe in BamTech, I believe in what Bob Iger’s doing, but it’s got to be long term and in the interim you may have to do a little bit of suffering.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of General Electric.
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Source: Investment Cnbc
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