Game Plan: Four Hopeful Signs for Market

It wasn’t the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that Cramer saw in Friday’s market – no, he spied four signs of health, glimmers of hope, that a rebound rally is possible.

The Dow lost 45 points, but the Nasdaq finished up about 12, thanks to a better-than-expected quarter from Google . That followed a great report from Apple earlier in the week, and Research in Motion’s stock has been breaking out recently, too. So maybe technology as a whole isn’t moribund like Microsoft, Cramer said. That’s sign number one.

He attributed the peak performance from those three sector leaders – RIMM, GOOG and AAPL – to the cool factor. Yup, the cool factor. These companies make trendy products, and that matters right now. Just compare them to Sony, maker of the Walkman, or Nokia and M-soft. The suggestion may sound funny, but Cramer thinks investors should be buying the cool tech stocks.

Sign number two? Oil. When oil prices rise, so does the market. In fact, Exxon Mobil makes up 5% of the S&P 500 right now. That’s more than all of the big banks combined. If XOM can work its way higher, a rally should follow. Pressure on the stock actually took the market down today, but if oil prices stay firm for just a couple of days, that could be enough to turn things around.

The Pfizer -Wyeth merger is sign number three. That $60 billion deal could spark some radical changes in the sector, Cramer said, as consolidation alters the industry landscape. It also gives investors an opportunity to make money speculating on whom the next buyout target is. A number of key players reporter earnings this coming week – Bristol-Myers Squibb , Novartis , Pfizer, AstraZeneca , Eli Lilly and Wyeth. But instead of trading off quarter, Cramer recommended buying Forest Labs . These companies are going to need strong partnerships to grow their earnings, and FRX has a history of doing that well.

Last sign: The resurgence of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley . Neither company has mortgage exposure, they don’t lend to consumers, nor do they issue credit credits. Goldman, especially, has the potential to pop. The bank’s rising stock price could put Goldman in position to do another equity offering, raising cash to pay back borrowed TARP funds. If that happens, GS becomes even more attractive.

Cool tech, oil, the M&A activity in pharmaceuticals and strong financials like Goldman and Morgan – even Northern Trust – will be behind the next rally, Cramer said. So buy RIMM, GOOG, AAPL, FRX and GS if you want to ride that rally up.

Cramer’s charitable trust owns Bristol-Myers Squibb, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

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