Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Next Week's Game Plan (Final)

"Good things can happen in Europe," Jim Cramer told a special Veteran's Day audience of his "Mad Money"TV show Friday.

He said that for months, Europe had been held hostage by inept leaders, but now with the European central bank along with Greece and Italy all having new, competent leaders, the light at the end of the tunnel may no longer be a train.

So for Cramer's game plan for next week's trading, he told his audience and viewers to keep an eye on Lowes (LOW), which reports on Monday. He said if Lowe's is strong, buy some Home Depot (HD) ahead of its quarter on Tuesday.

Also on Monday, JCPenney (JCP) reports its first earnings with new CEO Ron Johnson. Cramer said that call is definitely worth a listen.

On Tuesday, Cramer said he'll be watching Wal-Mart (WMT), which has reported three good quarters in a row. While on Wednesday, it's Tyco (TYC) that will have Jim's ear. He said if Tyco reports strong earnings, he'd be a buyer.

Thursday brings Ross Stores (ROST), a great regional to national story, said Cramer, along with Salesforce.com (CRM), a battleground stock that Cramer said he'd take a wait-and-see stance towards.Finally, on Friday, Heinz (HNZ) reports. Cramer said this stock which he owns for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS has pricing power and should deliver good news.

Also on Friday, the German producer price index will be released. Cramer said a low number will be a green light for the markets.

Protecting Your Portfolio

Continuing his salute to the troops, Cramer paid special tribute to his father, Ken Cramer, who served in World War II. He also said that lik! e our co untry, your portfolio also needs to be protected from investments that will harm it. He recommended Abbott Labs (ABT) as one stock that can protect a portfolio from wealth destruction and gave five reasons to support his pick.

First, he said that Abbott is a defensive health care company and will be able to hold its own, even during a recession.

Second, Abbott offers a 3.5% dividend, which serves to cushion the blow when markets get hit hard and also acts as a floor if prices get really depressed.

Third, Abbott is one of the fastest growing drug companies and has no big patent cliff in front of it. He said the company will have only minor patent losses over the next few years.

Fourth, Abbott's plan to split itself up into two companies and unlock value. He said the new branded drug company and medical products company will be just what investors are looking for.

Finally, Abbott is cheap, trading at just 10.7 times earnings. After the breakup however, the company will be worth at least $65 a share.

Pricing Power

In his "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer sat down with Don Knauss, a veteran as well as the chairman and CEO of Clorox (CLX), a great American company with brands such as Kingsford charcoal, Pinesol, Hidden Valley Ranch and of course, its namesake, Clorox bleach.

Knauss said that Clorox is still on track to see 3%-to-5% top line growth going forward, thanks to the strength of its many brands, 90% of which are first and second in their categories. He said these brands have pricing power, with 48 of the 50 price increases the company instituted still in place.

Knauss also said that commodity prices are likely to move in the company's favor beginning in the first half of 2012. Another plus for Clorox will be the introduction of new products in December that will offer 95% natural alternatives to some of the company's other products.

Being Veteran's Day, Cramer also asked how Knauss' ! military training helped him at Clorox. Knauss said frankly that he wouldn't be CEO, if not for the leadership and training that the Marines taught him. He said the vets make for great employees, which is why about 10% of Clorox' workforce are veterans.

When asked how current veterans coming home can find a job in a tough economy, Knauss said that vets need to be persistent, make contact with the companies they're interested in and never give up the hunt.

Helping the Homefront

In this segment, Cramer took questions from his audience.

When asked why to even bother investing in such a turbulent market, Cramer said that investors need to start young and keep with it because of the power of compounding. He said that wealth builds over time and every investor needs dividend stocks so they can reinvest those dividends.

When asked what the differences should be between a 28-year-old's portfolio vs. an 88-year-old's portfolio, Cramer said that seniors are having a hard time finding income in this market. He once again recommended dividend stocks like Verizon (VZ) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) for a retiree's portfolio.

For the 28-year-old, Cramer said that portfolio also needs some dividend protection, but also can take some risks in growth stocks like Phillip Morris (PM) and Celgene (CELG).

Finally, when asked to choose between Google (GOOG) and its Chinese rival Baidu.com (BIDU), Cramer said he'd take them both.

Lightning Round

Cramer was bullish on Ameren (AEE), T. Rowe Price (TROW), Walt Disney (DIS), Visa (V), Caterpillar (CAT), Alcoa (AA), Ford Motor (F), Deere (DE), Public Storage (PSA), Accenture (ACN), CSX (CSX) and Union Pacific (UNP).

Cramer was bearish onTerra Nitrogen (TNH) and Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH).

Closing Comments

Cramer said that it's never too late to start investing. He said when compared to real estate, bonds and bank CDs, stocks and gold are the only compelling investments left. Better still, stocks are cheap when compared to their fundamentals.

Cramer said that new investors should watch the show and do their homework to get comfortable with the companies they're investing in.

No time or inclination for stocks? Cramer recommended working with an advisor and investing in low-fee mutual funds. He recommended 20% of a portfolio be international, 10% be in gold and another 10% stay in cash for the next big opportunities. To contact the writer of this article, click here: Scott Rutt.

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