Game Plan for the Week of March 19

Monday:National CineMedia reports after the close Monday. The company only came public a month ago, so it’s still in that quiet period. But it’s a fast-growing company in the fastest-growing form of advertising – it makes the ads you see onscreen before a movie starts. Cramer says this stock is a must-do on Monday morning.

Wednesday:AAR reports. This is a company that sells and refurbishes airplanes, a good business. The problem is that AAR is at its 52-week high. If you see some weakness, it might worth pulling the trigger on, Cramer says, ahead of the Wednesday report.

Thursday:General Mills will report, and it’s in the same position as AAR. It’s a good company, but it has been on a run, and some people are worried about food costs. It could be a good quarter, but Cramer would only buy before the report if there’s weakness to take advantage of.

Another thing to watch would be the contest for a nice government phone contract that will have Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and Qwest elbowing for position. Cramer says the best play is Qwest on this one, because AT&T and Verizon are so big the contract might not mean much and Sprint is already up on takeover talk. But if Qwest wins the bid, the stock could pop to $10 from $8.

Finally, you might remember Cramer telling you to stay away from financials until after they reported. Well, they have. Goldman Sachs hit with an unbelievable number – better than Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers – but the stock got pulled down by subprime. Cramer would be buying Goldman next week, hand over fist. It typically goes up after options expiration (it’s on a six-for-six streak, so it’s got that going for it). Plus, the buyback ought to start on Tuesday, meaning you want to get into your GS on Monday morning. Expect this stock to climb to $25.

Bottom Line: Cramer likes NCMI as a play on the theaters, AIR and GIS on weakness, and Goldman Sachs on Monday morning.

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