NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Maybach

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by The Bellwether Report.

The hope is that banks will resume lending, and an economic recovery can begin. For housing prices to bottom, we will need to see the lending freeze that has made getting a mortgage loan nearly impossible for most people that don’t have stupendously attractive credit. A recent study suggested that one in eight U.S. jobs depends [...]

Sometimes insiders are selling for all the right reasons.

Home Depot (HD) was covered in a Lee Allen Report today and the stock is now at $25.81, down $0.11 (-0.42%) on volume of 1,431,543 shares traded. To see the report go to http://www.iotogo.com/la100208 . Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $20.76 to a high of $34.55. Home Depot stock has been showing support around $24.98 and resist...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Meet TED, your new best friend.

Market-trouncing returns could be written in this 4-star.

Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Home Depot (HD), Citigroup Inc. (C), Money and Finance Today, Bank of America (BAC), Wachovia Corp (WB), AMR Corp (AMR), Lilly (Eli) (LLY), Wells Fargo (WFC), ImClone Systems (IMCL)

In the News:
Keeping Customers in a Crummy Economy
With recession expectations growing, some companies are taking extraordinary steps to hold on to customers. Telephone companies' offers for two months of free service and reduced rates, discounted gym membership renewals, and generous gift cards from high-end department stores all underscore a pervasive fear on Main Street: With the uncertainty around the credit seize-up, consumers may be digging in for a long hibernation.
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2008/pi2008103_779103.htm?campaign_id=twxa

Why Do Failed CEOs Keep Getting Rehired?
Poor stock performance? Weak sales? No matter! If you were once a C.E.O., you can surely be one again. Failed CEOs like Home Depot's Bob Nardelli who ended up at Chrysler and American Airlines' Don Carty who is leading Virgin Atlantic failed CEOs regularly end up at the helm of other companies. Here's why.
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/10/05/Why-Failed-CEOs-Get-Rehired

Continue reading Recycled CEOs, keeping customers in a crummy economy & 7 money traps to avoid - Today in Money 10/6

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Good setups are few and far between, but I managed to find a few I like. I am approaching with care, considering the distinct possibility of a strong counter-trend rally. - Partner Communications (PTNR) is sitting under resistance after a high volume drop earlier in the month.

Conn's is a regional appliance and electronics retailer. That's a tough business with a lot of competition, but a focus on customer service and a profitable in-house credit department makes this a decent MFI play. Read More...[More...]

US Stocks edged higher in afternoon trade on signs that bailout plan will be finally approved by lawmakers at US House Of Representatives.Earlier, US markets crashed on Monday after lawmakers unexpectedly rejected the proposed $700 billion bailout plan me[More...]

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), General Electric (GE), Pfizer (PFE), Wal-Mart (WMT), Coca-Cola (KO), Intel (INTC), General Motors (GM), Home Depot (HD), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, McDonald's (MCD), Walt Disney (DIS), International Business Machines (IBM), AT and T (T), 3M Corporation (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Alcoa Inc (AA), American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Boeing Co (BA), Chevron Corp (CVX), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Procter and Gamble (PG), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Verizon Communications (VZ), duPont(E.I.)deNemours (DD), Merck and Co (MRK), United Technologies (UTX), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT), Qwest Communications Intl (Q), DJIA, Cramer on BloggingStocks, Financial Crisis

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says without the Paulson plan, every component is in trouble. Let's take a look.

Without the Paulson plan, or if the plan is so watered down and delayed, I have been saying all bets are off and we could be in for a huge swoon. How huge?

I like to sit down and noodle on the actual components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to give you a real sense of what can go wrong. And there is so much going wrong. The credit markets are vanishing, the earnings are vanishing and the only hope is a plan that ignites credit markets, forces money off the sidelines and gets this economy and the worldwide economy moving again.

Not long ago, I postulated that this market is literally repealing all of the moves since the Brazil-Russia-India-China emergence that gave us better markets to sell into than just the U.S. With the collapse of Chinese growth -- they have simply ceased to be importers since the summer -- the inflation in India, the war in Russia and a U.S.-led slowdown in Brazil (although that remains a robust market) BRIC is more like having a brick around your neck than a wind at your back.

Meanwhile, the peak in energy and the collapse of the financial system have left both of those groups in disarray with valuations simply too difficult to pin down, so you retreat to worst-case scenarios where you can at least find some terra firma -- mainly where stocks were last time things were this bad.

Given that most of these companies bought back stock at high prices and issued stock to executives, the actual value of the buybacks seems almost nonexistent, so the value that was created since those hard times is hard to see.

Finally, in a recession like we are having, one can only guess how badly the consumer will be scalded. This list of prices is about a scalded consumer.

I don't want to bury the punchline, but when you add these worst-case prices together you get Dow Jones 8378, which, reluctantly, I admit is where we are going if everything fails with the plan and the economies here and worldwide are left to their own devices.

Let's run through the Dow 30.

1. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) can retreat back to $43 where it started both before the housing boom and before the energy boom and before BRIC became a dominant force. All of its markets will be challenged with housing downturns worldwide and energy prices retreating from highs, something that I think will happen as economies slow.

2. Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) -- $14. This is where it traded before the short-selling rules were created on July 15, and this is where it is going without a financing and a big investment. It might not stop there if there is no relief at all. I am really bearish on this stock without a plan.

3. Du Pont (NYSE: DD) (Cramer's Take) has a lot of businesses that are less cyclical than people think and a safe dividend. I would be surprised if it went much below $40, where I would like to buy it.

4. American Express (NYSE: AXP) (Cramer's Take) has turned into a terrible lender with a product that is viewed as something that is no longer indispensable, courtesy of great marketing by MasterCard (NYSE: MA) (Cramer's Take) and Visa (NYSE: V) (Cramer's Take). This stock's headed to $31, maybe lower, as it is really a weak sister in the Dow now.

5. Disney (NYSE: DIS) (Cramer's Take) traded at $25 when people thought there was nothing to it other than a declining advertising business and an expensive group of theme parks. This is a company I will buy for Action Alerts PLUS if it hits that downside target.

6. United Technologies (UTX) (Cramer's Take) is a BRIC derivative for certain with too much aerospace and a defense business that could be hurt by an Obama election. Knock it back to $51, which would be a repeal of the whole BRIC move.

7. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) (Cramer's Take) talked recently about how it is not immune from a retail sales slowdown; when it did, the stock retreated to about $48, where it would surely be headed again.

8. 3M (NYSE: MMM) (Cramer's Take) is a play on worldwide growth in a number of industrial areas, and worldwide growth is on the decline beyond what this fine firm is ready for. It could have a huge decline in earnings, and I am putting it at $50.

9. General Motors (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take), without a plan and without a handle on Delphi and on the right kind of cars, will burn through the bailout money quickly and disappear. Yes, it goes bankrupt. Stocks don't get down to where they are like this one if something hasn't become out of control. This one's out of control.

10. General Electric (NYSE: GE) (Cramer's Take) -- I think it could trade down to $20. The decision to end the buyback, which was just wasting a gigantic amount of money, is now behind them, so all it would have to contend with is lower earnings and a less turbo-charged report.

11. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) (Cramer's Take): This one's going to suffer for pennies by a stronger dollar, but not much more, and it just boosted the dividend. I think it would be a gift below $57.

12. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) (Cramer's Take) retreats to where it was on that July 15 low, $21, where it finds buyers for that dividend.

13. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take): With the plan, this is the biggest winner in the Dow. Without the plan? Sorry, it revisits the low of July 15 as it has to get rid of these bad mortgages it is stocked with. Target is $18.

14. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (Cramer's Take): This is a slow-growth company with decent oil assets that would quickly go down to where its dividend made it compelling. Call it $54 as in a falling-oil environment -- perhaps down to $70. You will see price/earnings shrinkage continuing.

15. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) (Cramer's Take): This company's acquisition of EDS is going to work and help numbers for years, but the stock will still have to revisit at least its recent lows on fears of a worldwide tech slowdown; call it $41.

16. JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take): This company keeps doing everything right, but the plan would make this the best bank on earth other than Bank of America. Without the plan, it goes to its July 15 low of $31.

17. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) (Cramer's Take): Here's a company that can only make more money by firing people, which is a good strategy until you run out of people. Still, the dividend is safe for at least another two years, so I think the stock stays at $18.

18. Kraft (NYSE: KFT) (Cramer's Take): A food company that is getting better run is nothing to rave about, but this new addition to the Dow sure beats the disastrous run AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take) has had. I think it can drop a couple to $30 but not go much below that because it is so defensive.

19. Alcoa (NYSE: AA) (Cramer's Take) is a great mystery. During the great 21st-century commodity boom that saw Phelps Dodge and Alcan disappear, this homely little aluminum company has done nothing! Now it is free to go to $19, as the boom is totally over.

20. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (Cramer's Take) is a super stock. Well managed, great earnings, good pipeline, I think it goes up a couple from here.

21. Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take): Here's one that could get cut in half if the strike doesn't settle and the airlines around the world contract. It could go as low as $24. It's one of the most vulnerable stocks in the Dow because of its clients' stress and voracious need for hard-to-get capital.

22. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take) retreats back to where it was during the last tech recession -- $13. Think of it this way: It bought back a lot of stock. That money was wasted.

23. AT&T (NYSE: T) (Cramer's Take) faces landline challenges and corporate weakness. In a disaster scenario, it could lose a third of its value. Call it $21. I only say that because look at what the competition, outfits like Qwest (NYSE: Q) (Cramer's Take) and Winstar are selling for with slackened to no growth. Bad geographies. At the bottom, there will be a lot of fretting about the dividend.

24. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) (Cramer's Take) needs more phone lines, more frivolous texters and photo-senders and a heck of a lot of clients for FiOS. None is likely to happen in this environment. I could see the stock retreat back to $26. It didn't help that they bought Alltel ... for now. Same dividend worries as above.

25. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take) is like Intel. Bought back a lot of stock. Nothing to show for it, and it now goes to $21.

26. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) (Cramer's Take) either stays the same or goes up, because that's where everyone will shop -- they'll all be trading down in retail.

27. Merck (NYSE: MRK) (Cramer's Take) is pretty much where it is going to go. It's a challenged company with safe yield. $31.

28. IBM (NYSE: IBM) (Cramer's Take) could be facing a huge headwind of global recession, and I think that its business is far more economically sensitive than people realize. It could lose as much as 50 points -- it used to be that low for a long time -- sending it to $60. This and Boeing are probably the two most severe cuts, and the ones I am most likely going to be too pessimistic about if things get a little better.

29. Procter (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) stays at $68 or goes a little lower, not much. The company is set up to win in this environment.

30. Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take): If you repeal the whole oil boom, which is what will happen in a worldwide recession or worse, Exxon's failed buyback strategy will be revealed for what it was: a giant money pit. The stock could retreat to $57, as it has minimal dividend support.

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RELATED LINKS:
Cramer: Dow's Most Bearish Scenario
Bailout Talks Break Down
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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long GE, Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, JPMorgan and Hewlett-Packard.

 

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Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot (NYSE:HD), came on Mike Norman's show to discuss a bill that would allow unions to gain a little more power in the world. Hear the debate between these two men as they try and pin down exactly how much power we should be giving unions and what principles we may or may not lose if this bill is passed.

Colleen S. King takes a look at news on the Street after the market closes.

Colleen S. King takes a look at news on the Street after the market closes.

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Schaeffer's Colleen S. King takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close