Game Plan for the Week of Aug. 20

So what’s the Game Plan for next week now that traders have room to move?

Cramer likes Sears Holdings. Eddie Lampert has a five-year lockup on his investors, which means they can’t pull money out of his fund for five years after they invest with him. That means Lampert is flush with cash.

“Unlike like many of these other hedge funds, he has investors with patient, deep pockets who have made fortunes with him,” Cramer said. “They’re not running from him. They’re running to him.”

The investment banks are good for the short term: Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. Downey is Cramer’s favorite savings-and-loan play. Washington Mutual got the nod as well.

Countrywide Financial and Thornburg Mortgage are buys because Cramer said they’re cheap enough to be taken over.

He hates Beazer Homes USA as a stock and a company, but in the short term, Cramer said it should go higher. Centex should too.

The selling pressure should ease and minerals should come back, and that will be good news for Freeport McMoRan.

Lastly, NYSE Euronext should, finally, work now, Cramer said. NYSE had its biggest volume ever this week, and the numbers are still way too low.

The short-covering should push these stocks higher. But a month from now, these stocks might not be worth buying. Some of them are, Cramer admits, troubled companies. But he said they may have bottomed, so the Game Plan is to focus on the short term.

“Bernanke rescued things,” Cramer said. “Don’t let this rate cut go to waste.”

Jim's charitable trust owns Freeport McMoRan and Goldman Sachs.

Questions for Cramer? [e-mail]

Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? [e-mail]