Cramer Effect Lifts Retailers

The Dow Jones industrial average finished the week strong, gaining 113 points on Friday to close at 9,370. Better than expected jobs data helped lift the broader market, with the national unemployment rate actually falling slightly to 9.4% in July. Some of the day’s big gainers were retail stocks that got a big lift from Jim Cramer’s comments on Thursday nights Mad Money show. 

JC Penny’s (JCP: 31.36 +0.58%) jumped 9.7% after Cramer said he thinks the retailer will have a great back-to-school season. He also recommended Urban Outfitters (URBN: 35.44 -1.94%) which gained 6.8%. 

One financial stock that Cramer continues to recommend is Huntingdon Bancshares (HBAN: 5.3216 -3.24%). The stock jumped 6.6% on Friday after Cramer said the stock is “dynamite” and he prefers it over KeyCorp (KEY: 7.56 0.00%). Cramer recommends investors continue buying Huntingdon. 

Cramer all tried to reassure the market in the wake of the accounting scandal at Huron Consulting (HURN: 21.46 -2.10%). While Huron has seen its stock price fall nearly 70% in the last few days and probably has completely destroyed its reputation, Cramer sees opportunity in some of the other accounting firms that have fallen along with Huron. Cramer recommended Duff & Phelps (DUF: 17.61 -0.17%), but also likes FTI Consulting (FCN: 39.135 -0.97%). The stocks reacted positively to Cramer’s bullish recommendation gaining 2.7% and 2.9% respectively. 

Citigroup managed only a 1.3% gain on Friday despite Cramer spending a great deal of time on his show outlining the merits of investing in Citigroup. While Cramer believes that investing in Citigroup is like investing in America, he also laid out five reasons for investors to be buying Citi’s shares: 

1. It is very cheap. Cramer believes the book value is about $4 per share and thinks the stock should sell at 1.5x book value for a $6 price target.

2. The governments 34% stake. The government can sell its 34% stake in Citigroup on September 10. The government has already made $5 billion on its position, and could have a $20 billion windfall from the sale.

3. Geographic positioning. Citigroup is the dominant bank in 108 countries. In spite of its domestic woes, Citigroup is still the leader in emerging markets.

4. Good bank vs. bad bank. Citigroup is spinning off its toxic loans by dividing itself into two companies. This will leave the main bank with three profitable businesses; retail banking, global services and investment banking.

5. Solid management. Cramer likes the current management team at Citi and believes the government would be crazy to replace CEOs Vikram Pandit and Ned Kelly.