XTO Energy Rises As Cramer Pumps Natural Gas

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose nearly 50 points to close at 9,547 on Wednesday. The stock market’s big rally since hitting bottom in early March seems to have continued into September with the Dow Jones average rising for the fourth consecutive day.

Here is a review of the performance of Jim Cramer’s stock picks from Tuesday’s Mad Money show.

optionsXpress (OXPS: 0.00 N/A)
OptionsXpress jumped 2.3% after CEO David Fisher joined Jim Cramer on Tuesday’s Mad Money program to talk about the increasing popularity of options trading. Ten years ago, only Wall Street insiders traded options, but these days it’s becoming increasingly popular for the individual investor as well. Mr. Fisher indicated that only 10% of options traders use his company, providing the company with a large untapped market potential.

XTO Energy (XTO: 0.00 N/A)
Mr. Cramer again was extolling the virtues of natural gas on Tuesday’s Mad Money show. Carbon emissions could be reduced by as much as 50% if natural gas was used in place of coal or oil. XTO Energy rose after technical analyst Bob Simpson lauded the company for selling 40% of next year’s output at $9 when current natural gas prices are only at $3. The stock finished up 2.3% today.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Potash (POT: 46.46 0.00%) dropped 0.8% – Cramer remains convinced that the stock is a buy and will likely go back up.
Altria (MO: 28.84 0.00%) rose 0.4% – Cramer likes Altria’s management and their unbelievable 7.4% dividend yield. “This stock has $20 all over it”, said Cramer.
Sprint-Nextel [[S]] fell 0.5% – Cramer doesn’t believe the stock will turn in a good quarter and wouldn’t recommend buying unless the stock dips below $3.
Peabody Energy (BTU: 36.82 0.00%) fell 0.2% – Cramer provided a lukewarm recommendation of BTU saying that if you have to own a coal stock then Peabody Energy is the best of the lot.