For the quarter, Kraft Foods announced that its profit dropped 13% to $608 million, compared with $702 million a year earlier, dragged down by higher expenses for ingredients. The 2007 earnings results included a one-time interest benefit related to the spin-off from Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO). On an adjusted basis, the company posted quarterly earnings of 44 cents per share, slightly higher the 40 cents per share that analysts expected.

The food giant posted solid growth in its first-quarter revenue, which climbed to $10.37 billion, up from $8.59 billion reported in the same period a year ago. Analysts had forecast lower revenue of $9.77 billion in the quarter, according to Thomson Financial. The increase in revenue came as the company benefited from both the weak dollar and gains related to acquisitions.

Continue reading Kraft Food (KFT) Q1 profit slips but tops estimates

Kraft Food (KFT) Q1 profit slips but tops estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading My best stock ideas: Looking through Q2 and into the second half of 2008

My best stock ideas: Looking through Q2 and into the second half of 2008 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stocks are cheap on an earnings basis -- unless they have earnings risk. If they have no earnings risk, they are not cheap.

Therein lies the conundrum on a day like today. Let's say you went CAMPing today: You bought Coke (NYSE: KO) (Cramer's Take), Altria (NYSE: MO) (Cramer's Take), Merck (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take). Do you know that even after the precipitous falls last week and the declines we expect today, that none of them is historically cheap? Do you know that most of them are up significantly since last summer?

That's a real issue. You aren't buying them at rock bottom prices because they are up so much already.

Now, let's take the examples of the cyclical stocks in the Dow. They are cheap: United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take), Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take), Alcoa (NYSE: AA) (Cramer's Take). But their earnings estimates are considered vulnerable to the worldwide slowdown and a U.S. recession.

You can chicken out, buy some Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take), which has good earnings, or IBM (NYSE: IBM) (Cramer's Take), which just had great earnings, and in many ways those will be cheaper.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Today's game plan: What you can safely buy

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Today's game plan: What you can safely buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We are holding by the strikes, so typical of expiration week. You get a floor on Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take) for certain, maybe catch a bounce. Obviously, people listened to Intel last night when it said PCs weren't a problem, but it traded at $42 last night and I fear that it could trade lower and would be trading lower if it weren't for the $45 tug.

I don't like the tape and feel that we are underestimating the CITs (NYSE: CIT) (Cramer's Take) and the Ambacs (NYSE: ABK) (Cramer's Take) and overestimating the power of a JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) or a Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) to make a stand.

Here's what I am watching, though: Coke (NYSE: KO) (Cramer's Take), MO (NYSE: MO) (Cramer's Take) and the Drug Index, the DRG. As soon as everyone knows we are in a recession, then these will be bought again. I pick those because they have the least inflationary pressures. Allergan (NYSE: AGN) (Cramer's Take) holds up and Schering-Plough's (NYSE: SGP) (Cramer's Take) trying to bottom; good signs, again.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Find some bull markets in the bear maw

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Find some bull markets in the bear maw originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Colgate Palmolive (NYSE: CL) (Cramer's Take) is menacing. That's right, its action is downright menacing, because it is one of my absolute favorites when I need an indicator of what the market is thinking.

And this stock's action is screaming "Recession." Can one stock be so important? Indeed, if anything, this is the "perfect" security, the also-ran to Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) that, without a recession, would be too dicey and marginal to make a bet on.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: When Colgate goes way up, look out below

Cramer on BloggingStocks: When Colgate goes way up, look out below originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Friday, a federal appeals court judge ruled that Altria Group's (NYSE:MO) Philip Morris will not be able to sell low-tar or no-tar cigarettes anywhere in the world. In August, it was ruled that the company could not sell low-tar or no-tar products in the United States. Judge Gladys Kessler (great name, by the way) said in her ruling: "To rule otherwise would ... allow the defendants to spread fraudulent and misleading health messages and descriptors about their products throughout the world, even though they are prohibited from doing so in the United States."

To me, the fact that Philip Morris even went to court for this is indicative of just how serious they are about their mission statement as it's listed on the website: "Our goal is to be the most responsible, effective, and respected developed manufacturer of consumer products, especially products intended for adults."

Note to CEO Mike Szymanczyk: There is nothing responsible or respectable about seeking to market products internationally as no-tar when it has been ruled in the United States that such a description is "fraudulent and misleading" because the implication is that it is somehow a safer cigarette.

Judge: No low-tar for Philip Morris originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Riddle: How is Jim Cramer like Daniel Boone?

Answer: They are both required to wrestle a bear now and then ...(pronounced, rassle a bar).

I'm going on record right now. It is my opinion that the bear is stalking Wall Street. A big, nasty, ugly, smelly, sluggish old bear is lurking around the corner, and he's going to park his fat, furry butt right on the DJIA. I don't like it any more than you do, but as I've said before, I can't help but see what I see. I see very few bright glossy gadgets slated for release in the electronics/technology sector. I see retail sales flagging. I see hopeless attempts to prop up crude oil prices. I see home sales and construction in a blue funk. I see satellite communications saturated along with their associated markets. I see banks raising their service fees to augment flat-lined profits. I see managerial bloat. I see speculators scurrying to and fro trying to grasp a slice of any 6% or better spike. I see a Democratic Congress damning the consumer by trying to place an increased capital drag on energy producers, (yeah, tax the oil companies ... that'll help the little guy, you idiots). I think it's time to button up and hunker down with some of your hard-earned profits. I think it's time to lock into some value positions that portion of capital that you don't consider to be a gambler's share of your wealth.

Is there a bear market coming? I do most assuredly think so. I select a quote from Jim Cramer: "If you're in the market, you have to know there's going to be declines. And they're going to cap, and every couple of years you're going to get a 10 percent correction ... They're gonna happen. When they're gonna start, no one knows. If you're not ready for that, you shouldn't be in the stock market."

Continue reading GE, Jim Cramer, and the bear market: Opinions? I have a few ...

GE, Jim Cramer, and the bear market: Opinions? I have a few ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Woman sues Kraft over 'fake' Avocado dip originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.