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If you're 50, Cramer thinks you'd be a millionaire right now had you started buying stocks in college. If you're 20, he doesn't want you to miss out.
"Don't wait if you are young," said the Mad Money host. "Put a couple of bucks away in some stocks, today. No matter how broke you think you are, find a few extra bucks to invest," he said.
Cramer believes good stocks hold the key to future prosperity. That is, he believes that owning small pieces of several great businesses will generate far greater wealth than any savings account or CD ever could.
The trick is to identify companies with forward-thinking management teams, solid balance sheets, admirable profit margins, terrific growth potential and other strong fundamentals. These are companies that leverage big themes and appear well poised to dominate their industry for some time to come.
Where can you find companies, such as these? Jim Cramer profiles them regularly on Mad Money. Here's what he's watching right now.
One theme Jim Cramer likes for the long-term is pharma, largely because he believes that right now there are companies developing treatments that will conquer the worst diseases known to man. "Gilead, Celgene, and Biogen," said Cramer, "those are some of my favorite ways to invest in the future of medical breakthroughs."
Another theme Cramer advocates is social media, the cloud, mobile, and the web. "They will be integral to everyone's lives," he said. "I believe in Google and Facebook and also think Twitter, when it comes public, will be a dominant player."
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Cramer also believes our nation will become far more energy independent in the year's ahead. I believe the winners will be Conoco Phillips, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Cummins," Cramer said. "Why them? Conoco is the largest major oil company with the exposure to the fuel, Kinder Morgan transports it to where it can be used, and Cummins is a tremendous truck engine manufacturer that has the natural gas engines that trucking companies will convert to."
In addition, Cramer expects a manufacturing revolution in this nation. "We have some dominant manufacturers in this country that are getting stronger as parts of the world grow weaker." In this space Cramer thinks Caterpillar, Boeing and Honeywell are all 'the best of the best.'
Cramer also believes a balanced portfolio has some international exposure, and although other pros often talk about BRIC nations, the Mad Money host is a fan of Mexico. "With its bountiful natural resources, fantastic labor force and democratic government, I think Mexico is a winner. I'm a buyer of the EWW. I'd buy and put it away."
Of course Cramer always says belongs in every portfolio and despite the recent decline, he still believes that. Gold provides a hedge against inflation as well as an alternative to currency as central banks around the world flood their economies with cheap money.
And Cramer believes no portfolio is complete without a spec stock, that is one which could have tremendous upside in the not too distant future. "As a spec, I'd bet on US Airways," Cramer said. "I believe the deal with AMR goes through and largely it's not priced in."
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com
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