High Growth Is a No-Go

High growth does not make a stock bulletproof, Cramer said during Monday’s Mad Money.

He learned that lesson the hard way. Back on Nov. 8, Cramer gave Homegamers a basket of five “indestructible” stocks that were supposed to grow regardless of the market. He likened them to a bulletproof vest, which protects as much of the body -- in this case, your portfolio -- as possible. These stocks didn't equal total protection, because in this market there's no such thing, but they were a good defense.

Unfortunately, though, Cramer got them wrong. His not-so-indestructible picks are down about 4%, while the S&P 500 is down 3% over the same period.

Foster Wheeler and Freeport-McMoRan , the companies with the biggest growth, are down the most, 15% and 20%, respectively. Medco Health Solutions , Altria are down a modest 0.5% and 1.8%, respectively. Transocean is actually up 1.9%. It’s these dependable little gains that investors want in this environment, Cramer said.

Jim's charitable trust owns Altria, Freeport-McMoRan and Transocean.

Questions for Cramer? [e-mail]

Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? [e-mail]