Jim Cramer’s Stock Picks Soar To Begin 2010

The stock market ended the second trading day of 2010 with some modest profit taking. The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 12 points to close at 10,572. Jim Cramer’s stock picks from Monday’s Mad Money show posted strong performances as investors appear optimistic of further stock gains in 2010. .

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

Westport Innovations (WPRT: 40.27 0.00%)
Westport Innovations shares soared 8.6% fueled by the “Cramer Effect”. Cramer advised investors that the best way to play natural gas is to invest in a company that is developing technologies to utilize natural gas. Westport Innovations fits that bill and Cramer feels the company has tremendous potential given their low market penetration. Currently, only 15% of WPRT’s sales come from North America. Increasing adoption of natural gas in the U.S. could push this stock much higher. “The underlying long-term story here could be incredible,” said Cramer.

Baker Hughes (BHI: 49.91 0.00%)
Baker Hughes jumped 5.9% after Cramer warned that the global economic recovery would lead to increased oil consumption. This will lead to much higher oil prices and potentially even gas shortages. Obviously this would be great news of Baker Hughes as well as other major oil companies such as Marathon Oil (MRO: 32.69 0.00%), Chevron (CVX: 106.76 0.00%) and Weatherford International (WFT: 17.90 0.00%).

Boeing (BA: 75.46 0.00%)
Shares in Boeing gained 3.3% on Tuesday after Cramer remarked that “2010 will be the year for Boeing”.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

• Akamai Technologies (AKAM: 34.44 0.00%) gained 3.0% – Cramer called Akamai a “high quality play on the internet tsunami.”

• Citigroup (C: 34.23 0.00%) jumped 3.8% – While not without risk, Cramer likes the stock and told investors that Citi is a “speculative situation that we like very much.”

• Apple (AAPL: 476.68 0.00%) inched up 0.2% – Cramer remains Apple’s biggest fan and told investors that he stands by his $300 price target and believes AAPL could go even higher.