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May.16

11:41 AM ET

Friday, 16 May 2008

Cramer's Advice to Baby Boomers

Posted By:Carlo Dellaverson

Topics:Agriculture | Retirement | Baby Boomers | Stock Picks | Stock Market

Sectors:Oil and Gas | Aerospace & Defense

[Adapted from Cramer's appearance on CNBC's Boomer Angst, premiering Friday, May 16 at 9p/12a ET]

The future is bright and stocks are cheap. That’s according to Mad Money’s Jim Cramer who urges Baby Boomers to embrace stocks with long-term bullish themes as a way to invest without worrying unnecessarily about the volatile hand of the market.

Half of a stock’s move is almost always related to its sector, Cramer always says. So find themes that you think will last forever and aren’t tied to the ebbs and flows of the day-to-day market. Here are the sectors Cramer recommends for Boomers looking to invest in their retirement:

   Aerospace & Defense
   Agriculture
   Oil & Oil Services
   Minerals & Mining
   Infrastructure

These sectors all play into global themes that show no signs of slowing. Our infrastructure is always going to need to be rebuilt. The world is in the midst of a long-term energy crisis. We need more food to be planted to avoid famine and skyrocketing costs. Nations will always pay for their security. Commodities are dwindling.

By investing in these themes, you are afforded some confidence because, inevitably, the stocks will go down. But the key is to believe that there are forces at work that will make them ultimately go higher.

Here are the Mad Money host’s thoughts on some other themes and stocks:

Accenture [ACN Loading... () ]: This is a play on another long-term thesis: outsourcing to India. Cramer doesn’t think ACN should fluctuate too much and is “very confident” in the stock.

Pfizer [PFE Loading... () ]: Many major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer included, are struggling to find drugs to beef up their pipelines. And with many big-ticket drugs scheduled to come off patent in the coming years, most of this group – especially PFE – is “too dangerous” to Cramer.

Apple [AAPL Loading... () ]: CEO Steve Jobs has managed to create the first fashion brand of technology, Cramer said. As long as Jobs remains at the helm, Cramer says he will stay with the stock.

Schering Plough [SGP Loading... () ]: While Cramer believes pharma is weak, SGP benefits from an outstanding CEO in Fred Hassan, who Cramer believes is an one-of-a-kind turnaround artist. Because of Hassan, the stock is a “screaming buy, buy, buy” to him.

Citigroup [C Loading... () ]: The world’s biggest bank might end up being just fine in the long run, Cramer says. But why invest in Citi when you could buy a much healthier, better run firm like Wells Fargo [WFC Loading... () ]? If Citi just turns around, Cramer thinks Wells Fargo could double.

Verizon [VZ Loading... () ] and AT&T [T Loading... () ]: The big telcos are often thought of as boring, slow growing dinosaurs. But Cramer doesn’t see it that way. These companies are constantly innovating, growing and have great yields to boot. Either T or VZ should always make a great investment, he says.

Corning [GLW Loading... () ]: This company has a diversified set of businesses from LCD displays to fiber optics to diesel engines. It is successfully reinventing itself and should be a good stock for the long term, according to Cramer. But it could also level off in the short term as demand for digital television finally slows. Just be patient, he advises.

Cramer also opined on how to invest in emerging markets. He believes a lot of these new economies are tricky investments because they’ve become so overheated. That’s true for China and India. Then there’s Russia, which still doesn’t quite embrace the free market as far as Cramer is concerned. But Brazil is another story.

The Latin American nation is proving to be a fabulous place to put money, Cramer says. It is energy self-sufficient, pro-capitalist and sits on top of great natural resources. He recommends Banco Bradesco [BBD Loading... () ] as a play on Brazil’s rising middle class and the commodities giant Vale [RIO Loading... () ] as a long-term buy.