Still plagued by health and obesity concerns, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE:KKD) introduced a new, healthy donut yesterday. This is a whole wheat donut with a sweet caramel flavoring covered in the original Krispy Kreme glaze.

This donut is hitting headlines because it is only 180 calories -- a great reduction from the company's "original recipe" donuts. Despite the calorie reduction, Krispy Kreme's Senior Vice President of Marketing said the donut "delivers the delicious taste that our customers have come to expect from us." The donut will be available starting February 26, 2007, at participating locations.

This product could potentially begin bringing back consumers the company has lost during the original health and low-carb scares and accelerate the company's coffee and drink businesses. Still, I wouldn't touch the stock (KKD) with a ten-foot-pole, whole wheat donuts or no, due to the ridiculous uncertainty surrounding the company and the premium valuation (on a P/S basis) to the Dunkin Donuts buyout price.

Poor Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE:KKD), battered by stock analysts for its poor performance, by the health community for nutrition, and by Atkins devotees for its carboliciousness.

The company has begun to respond, though. In the past month, it has announced plans to remove trans-fat from the cooking process. (Will January of 2007 forever be remembered as the month trans-fat died?) Now it is about to unveil a whole wheat doughnut.

While a regular Krispy Kreme ring has about 200 calories, the whole wheat version will trim this to 180. By my calculations, this means that I can now eat 11 and still consume fewer calories than my normal breakfast of 10.

Looking at the aging U.S. population, I wonder if KK might not drive even more sales to the health conscious by adding Metamucil or Ducolax for some needed fiber?

KK is also pushing a Valentine's Day program for schools that still haven't noticed their students don't fit in their desks any more. Share the Love with Krispy Kreme will offer Valentine's Day cards good for a free ringer with the purchase of a dozen. Better yet, locations will be frying up special heart-shaped doughnuts, iced and sprinkle coated, that KK suggests would be perfect for your kid to take to school for the VD party!

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Today on MAD MONEY: sweet nothings. Jim Cramer said on this evening's show that, while there are some analysts whose recommendations he wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, Prudential's Howard Penney isn't one of them. When Prudential initiated Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE:KKD) with a 'buy' recommendation last week, Cramer agreed. [But disagreeing with the general consensus among BloggingStocks writers, it should be pointed out.]

Although Cramer admitted he has made a joke of KKD for five years, but he says now it is worthy of a "Buy." Prudential's analyst report converted him thanks to his "honest y" and previous good calls, such as OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. (NYSE:OSI).

Cramer explained that Prudential has no conflicts because the company does no investment banking. There is risk here, but if you look rationally at the stock the call makes sense. The company's doughnuts are good and, as Prudential points out, international prospects can outweigh the historically dismal financial performance.

Cramer said that anyone who owns the stock now has already weathered a storm and isn't going to panic. They are all strong holders and the shorts are out in force on the name still.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 247 Wall Street and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

When I went to college, I ventured far from my safe liberal hippie Portland, Ore. home -- all the way to a little town in Virginia. Robert E. Lee's horse was buried a few feet from my freshman dorm room, if that's any description. And that's when I was introduced to Krispy Kreme.

My immediate reaction? Eww! "Krispy Kreme" sounded like something that had been left in the hall's refrigerator since the early 80s. I didn't even try the doughnuts until five years later, and swayed by a friend who loved them and the convenient location in New York's Penn Station, I grew to hunger for their swift sugary rush. When I moved back to Portland at about the same time embarked on its wild expansion across the U.S., I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a little stock.

A year later everything in my portfolio was doing brilliantly with the marked exception of Krispy Kreme, which had lost roughly two-thirds of its value, closed 100 of its 400 stores, and initiated a program of franchise buybacks that is now being "informally inquired" about by the SEC. I let it sit there, soaking up the juice thrown off by winners like eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) with its nutritionally empty sweetness. It's still there, and let me tell you, I'm not planning on utilizing those 12 shares as a down payment on my retirement vacation home.

That's why when I saw Prudential had initiated with a 'Buy' and a $15 price target. My reaction was one of gaping, open mouth.