Game Plan: Ahead of the Fed

In anticipation of next week’s Fed meeting, Cramer devoted Friday’s Game Plan to picking the right stocks that should benefit no matter what Bernanke says Wednesday.

Cramer recommended Annaly Capital Management , possibly the only mortgage player not knee-deep in the subprime morass. It's the "anti-real estate play," with a 6% yield that will look mighty fine as the Fed cuts, Cramer said. Also, the company’s bond portfolio has no credit risk, meaning no defaulting paper, and NLY has a vehicle set up to take advantage of the distressed real estate merchandise that everyone is dumping. Cramer called NLY the “best bet for next week.”

Cramer would also get behind Transocean going into the new week. RIG has virtually no exposure to the dismal North American market. It is only exposed to deep water drilling and its huge deal with GlobalSantaFe closes next month. RIG and GSF are the two largest offshore drillers in the world and when the merger is completed, investors will get shares of a new company with a dividend of $33. Buy RIG before this deal closes, Cramer said.

FMC Technologies , an oil service company that helps deep-water drillers find more oil, works in this environment as well, Cramer said. As crude creeps toward $100, every extra barrel counts. FTI provides those extra barrels.

All three companies – NLY, RIG and FTI – report earnings before the Fed meets Wednesday. Given the volatility, Cramer strongly recommended Home Gamers take in half a position ahead of the quarters and then wait until after the Fed meeting to buy the rest, as the market could trade down if there’s no rate cut.

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