“Goldman’s hard money right now,” Cramer said during Tuesday’s Stop Trading!.
Not even a much better-than-expected earnings report from Goldman Sachs was enough to counter the Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud charge, which was brought against the bank on Friday. Now investors are wondering whether or not to sell the stock given the company’s legal troubles or if today’s decline is an opportunity to buy more.
This back and forth has turned GS into “a battleground,” Cramer said, making a recommendation on the stock “too hard.” He said that investors might be better off looking for another place to put their money for now.
“You can waste a huge amount of time and energy talking and trying to understand Goldman and what’s going to happen,” Cramer said, “or you can go find Illinois Toolworks .”
He was bullish on the industrials, saying they maintained their revenues despite massive layoffs. Now the earnings “are exploding” just as the economy is revving up. And investors most likely don’t have to worry about SEC investigations into these companies. At least not now. In addition to saying he wanted to find “the next Illinois Toolworks,” Cramer also singled out Parker Hannifin in this group.
For investors intent on buying a bank stock, Cramer recommended Citigroup for its “amazing” growth. He called the company’s most recent report “the best quarter we’ve had” so far this earnings season.
In oil, Cramer pointed to Halliburton’s earnings call on Monday as proof that “things are getting better” in industry. Even with natural gas prices as low as they are, there’s still a push for drilling. This is why he thinks Schlumberger’s coming report on Friday “looks good.” Cramer credited the demand to China’s need for oil, saying the country is constantly looking for ways to supply itself for the long term.
“It is amazing to see this group,” Cramer said of the drillers, “really breaking out.”
Cramer's charitable trust owns Goldman Sachs.
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