DOJ or Not, American Express Is a Buy

After settling its cases against Visa and Mastercard, the US Department of Justice has now turned its attention to American Express, suing the company “for allegedly violating antitrust law over credit card acceptance rules,” Reuters and CNBC.com reported. Cramer doesn’t care, though. He’s still bullish on AmEx.

“I would buy it here,” Cramer said during Monday’s Stop Trading!. “I think under $40 it’s terrific.”

The “Mad Money” host called American Express a “really well-run company” and noted that the credit trends right now are “great.” Also, these DOJ suits “tend to play out over multiple years,” he said. “Another three months from now we won’t be thinking about it.”

Cramer commended Morgan Stanley’s latest research report on Ford Motor , though he said he prefers the Ford preferred shares to the common stock right now.

And lastly, Hewlett-Packard’s choice to replace Mark Hurd as CEO, Leo Apotheker, is a “nobody,” Cramer said, who got a “gigantic,” undeserved pay package. Cramer likened the former SAP boss to a minor league pick, when what HPQ really needed was a major league player.

“No one thought he did a great job at SAP,” Cramer said of Apotheker.

Who should Hewlett-Packard have picked instead? How about “the fifth guy at Cisco” or “the fourth guy at Accenture,” Cramer said. Not necessarily a brand name but someone with “great bloodlines” being prepared for the top spot at their respective companies.

“Wall Street wants someone from a big firm who’s doing really well,” Cramer said, “and they didn’t get that.”

When this story published, Cramer’s charitable trust owned Accenture.

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