Starwood Hotels reported a monster quarter with earnings of $0.51 per share. Wall Street analysts were only looking for earnings of $.22 per share. The resulting 132% upside surprise has gone largely unnoticed.

It is important to note that Starwood’s earnings performance was not just driven by aggressive cost cutting as we have seen from many other earnings “beats”. Business at the hotel chain seems much better than Wall Street anticipated and the company increased their guidance for the remainder of 2010. The company is already benefiting from improving economic conditions as both business and leisure travelers are starting to spend once again.

Cramer believes that Starwood is also well positioned to capitalize on the economic recovery as the company was active during the past recession by opening new locations and closing underperforming hotels.

With the vast majority of their hotels located overseas, Starwood seems like a perfect play on the return of business travel.

Cramer is clearly very bullish on Starwood Hotels and recommends that investors buy Starwood stock.

Jim Cramer said that the fourth quarter was “magnificent for retailers” despite the doom and gloom forecasts that seem to be daily in the headlines.

Deckers Outdoor (DECK: 87.25 +1.21%) – with its highly successful Ugg boots brand, saw an impressive $0.94 earnings beat.

Gap (GPS: 21.28 -1.85%) – the retailer reported earnings that were $.02 above the Street estimate and their positive outlook was accompanied by an 18% dividend increase. Although Cramer did express some concern over the Gap pursuing both a dividend program and a stock repurchase program.

True Religion (TRLG: 37.00 -0.78%) – despite the very high price of their products, the company was able to report a good quarter with earnings at $.04 ahead of consensus estimates.

Home Depot (HD: 45.17 -0.64%) and Sears Holdings (SHLD: 48.80 +3.17%) – strong earnings by the home retails signal a potential turnaround in the housing markets.

Saks (SKS: 10.88 +1.49%) and Macy’s (M: 35.86 -0.03%) – sales were even strong in apparel stores.

The positive results from retail stocks are a very bullish indicator and seem to have sent the bears into hiding for the time being.

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

International Paper (IP: 30.95 -0.51%)
International Paper continues its recent rally, gaining another 2.1% after Jim Cramer called the company a “turnaround story” during his interview with CEO Jim Faraci. With the economic environment improving, Mr. Cramer feels that IP’s earnings could “explode” as shipping volumes increase once again. The company is benefitting from cost cutting initiatives and Cramer recommends the stock.

3Com (COMS: 0.00 N/A)
3Com jumped 6.5% after receiving a strong bullish endorsement from Jim Cramer on Friday. The company recently reported a strong quarter which seemed to have gone largely unnoticed. 3COM generates 40% of its sales from China and continues to take market share. Cramer likes 3COM’s pristine balance sheet and attractive valuation and recommends investors buy now.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMA: 0.00 N/A) gained 2.6% – “I wish that I had not sold it… that is the highest compliment that I can pay.”
Westport Innovations (WPRT: 40.27 +0.73%) jumped 7.2% – Cramer likes the stock and likes Fuel System Solutions (FSYS: 24.10 +1.90%) even better.
Visa (V: 108.35 +1.28%) rose 0.7% – Cramer says to “buy, buy, buy” this stock.
McDonalds (MCD: 100.05 -0.85%) gained 0.4% – Cramer believes this is a stock that doesn’t get the respect it deserves and recommends that investors buy.

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

Hain Celestial (HAIN: 40.90 -1.11%)
The Hain Celestial Group saw their stock jump 6.6% on Monday after Jim Cramer suggested that Kraft Foods forget their pursuit of Cadbury and take a look at Hain as a potential takeover target. Cramer is bullish on the trending popularity of healthy food choices. Hain Celestial products clearly fall in this sweet spot, with many of their products sold in popular stores like Whole Foods and Walmart. Meanwhile, Cadbury products will continue to be flagged as unhealthy options. Regardless, Cramer believes that Hain will likely be acquired either by Kraft or by some other suitor. When that happens, Cramer believes the stock will see an 85% takeover premium.

Tekelec (TKLC: 0.00 N/A)
Shares of Tekelec surged 6.1% after Cramer focused the spotlight on the telecom stock. Mr. Cramer has been the leading cheerleader for mobile internet companies and even created his own Mobile Internet Stock index in early August. Since that time the index has climbed over 13%, but investors seemed to have overlooked Tekelec. However, Cramer believes that investors are overlooking a great opportunity as TKLC trades at only 12 times earnings. Cramer believes the stock could gain another 68% and recommends investors consider this speculative stock.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Ebay (EBAY: 33.05 +0.55%) fell 0.7% – Cramer is bullish on the stock and expects it to go to $30.
Trinity Industries (TRN: 33.48 +1.95%) dropped 6.4% – Despite the poor performance last year, Cramer likes Trinity.
Caterpillar (CAT: 114.04 +0.20%) fell 1.8% – Cramer still recommends owning CAT.
Manitowoc (MTW: 16.38 +3.41%) dropped 2.2% – Cramer clearly dislikes the stock.

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

Baker Hughes (BHI: 49.91 -2.19%)
Baker Hughes’s stock soared 7.9% after Jim Cramer commented yesterday that he is bullish on the deal with BJ Services (BJS: 0.00 N/A). Cramer said that he has always liked Baker Hughes and “saluted” the company.

Yahoo (YHOO: 15.78 -0.32%)
Shares of Yahoo fell 0.6% despite bullish comments from Jim Cramer yesterday. Mr. Cramer said that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is being unfairly slammed and he thinks she’s doing a good job and deserves more time. He also believes that Yahoo is so far behind right now that the company is struggling to play catch-up. Cramer believes that Yahoo’s stock will rally to $21 which would provided investors with a 20% gain.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

B&G Foods (BGS: 22.84 +1.51%) spiked 3.1% – Cramer sees this as a stable business that offers an incredibly high 8.5% dividend yield.
Terra Nitrogen (TNH: 210.50 +4.31%) jumped 2.0% – Another high yield stock that Cramer recommends for their 8.2% dividend yield.
STEC (STEC: 10.33 -2.46%) fell 4.6% – Continued its sell-off following yesterday’s price cut from Wedbush Morgan, but Cramer is bullish on the stock and recommends buying.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS: 52.07 +1.98%) dropped 0.7% – Cramer warned investors that this is a very speculative play and he is bearish on the stock following their recent rally.

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

Gold Stocks
Yamana Gold (AUY: 16.62 -1.25%), El Dorado Gold (EGO: 14.06 -2.97%), Agnic-Eagle Mines (AEM: 35.50 -1.77%) and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD: 168.50 -0.71%) also posted impressive gains today after Jim Cramer announced that gold stocks were cheap on the Lightning Round segment of yesterday’s Mad Money show. His favorite gold play remains the SPDR Gold Shares ETF.

Airgas (ARG: 79.73 +1.12%)
Airgas stock jumped 2.6% today after Cramer interviewed CEO Peter McCausland on yesterday’s Mad Money program. Mr. McCausland reported that demand from infrastructure builders is beginning to return. The company is seeing increased demand for its industrial gases. Cramer announced that he liked the management team at Airgas and recommended that investors buy this stock.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Tenet Healthcare (TNH: 210.50 +4.31%) rose 0.6% – “I think the hospitals are in the sweet spot they are the winners under Obama. They are a protected class.”

CenturyTel (CTL: 37.89 +1.07%) jumped 0.8% – Cramer is a big fan of their unbelievably high 8.9% dividend yield.

AMD (AMD: 7.25 +1.68%) jumped 2.8% and Nvidia (NVDA: 16.31 +3.62%) spiked up 2.1% – Cramer was bullish on both stocks with AMD being his preference.

Research in Motion (RIMM: 16.49 -1.32%) jumped 2.1% – Cramer claimed that RIMM has “got the Mojo” and believes the stock will be a winner.

Apple (AAPL: 476.68 +1.67%) inched 0.8% higher – Even at their current 52-week high, Cramer is still a big fan of Apple and thinks there even better than Research in Motion.

Whirlpool (WHR: 70.20 -0.71%) climbed 2.1% – Cramer likes the company’s booming business in Brazil and believes the stock will go even higher.

Dominion Resources (D: 50.20 -0.44%) up 0.8% – Another high yielding (5.3%) dividend stock that Cramer likes and he believes their dividend will remain safe.

Sinovac Biotech (SVA: 2.17 +0.46%) jumped 4.5% – While Cramer usually stays away from Chinese stocks, he was very bullish on this stock.

Emdeon (EM: 0.00 N/A) rose 1.6% – Cramer recommends investors buy this stock and believes it will hit $18.50.

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

Healthcare Reform Stocks
MedcoHealth Solutions (MHS: 60.82 +0.33%), Express Scripts (ESRX: 50.78 -0.42%), St Jude Medical (STJ: 43.51 +0.21%) and Boston Scientific (BSX: 5.95 0.00%) also posted nice gains today after Jim Cramer predicted that President Obama’s healthcare reform plan was unlikely to go through. Cramer was bullish on these healthcare stocks and urged investors to buy given the unlikelihood of Obama’s reform program getting through Congress.

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS: 24.28 +2.49%)
Skyworks Solutions stock jumped 12% today after Cramer interviewed CEO David Aldrich on yesterday’s Mad Money program. Cramer has been very bullish on the mobile internet revolution and included the stock in his Mobile Internet Index that he created on August 11.

The Skyworks CEO believes the company’s outlook is improving due to increasing consumer demand. The company is also benefitting from the increasing adoption of Wifi technology. Cramer reiterated his strong bullish views on Skyworks and the mobile internet sector in general.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

XTO Energy (XTO: 0.00 N/A) jumped 3.9% – Cramer recommended that investors stick with the stock for the second consecutive day.
Brigham Exploration (BEXP: 0.00 N/A) fell 0.3% – Cramer was bearish on the stock and believes its run is over.

Here is a review of the performance of Jim Cramer’s stock picks from Thursday’s Mad Money show that shows the “Cramer effect” in action.

Devon Energy (DVN: 66.26 +0.36%)
Devon Energy posted a 0.7% gain after Jim Cramer interviewed Devon Energy CEO Larry Nichols on last night’s show. Mr. Nichols reinforced Cramer’s view that natural gas is likely to be used as a bridge fuel and that officials in Washington are just now realizing its value. Cramer iss bullish on Devon based on the company’s diversified energy portfolio that includes both oil and natural gas.

Ross Stores (ROST: 51.64 -0.63%)
In part 4 of the weeklong series, Jim Cramer profiled Ross Stores as a potential candidate to be the next “discount king”. The discount clothing retailer has recently posted positive same-store sales and has aggressive growth plans to nearly double the number of existing stores. However, Cramer is worried that Ross Stores will face the same challenges as TJ Maxx (TJX: 34.42 -0.52%) as department stores reduce their inventory providing fewer opportunities for the discount retailers.

In concluding this week’s search for the next “discount king”, Mr. Cramer crowned BJ’s Wholesale (BJ: 0.00 N/A) as the best candidate to take the crown. The retailer stands to benefit from its membership base and diversified product offerings and yet the stock still remains cheap compared to its peers.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

EMC (EMC: 26.33 +0.69%) gained 0.6% – Cramer is bullish on the tech stock because of their potential partnership with Cisco Systems. “That is one red hot sizzling tech stock.”

Chesapeake Energy (CHK: 22.11 -0.32%) rose 1.7% – Cramer still prefers Devon Energy over Chesapeake Energy.

Yahoo (YHOO: 15.78 -0.32%) dropped 0.5% – Cramer expressed his disappointment with Yahoo and CEO Carol Bartz, “I like Carol Bartz, but she hasn’t delivered yet. I can’t think of a reason to buy it”.

Principal Financial Group (PFG: 26.73 -0.52%) increased 0.6% – While Cramer feels that the financial stock is “out of the woods”, he still doesn’t recommend investors buy the stock.

Rockwood Holdings (ROC: 54.21 +0.82%) jumped 3.0% – Cramer gave this stock a very bullish recommendation and believes this “hot” stock will go even higher.

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

Williams Sonoma (WSM: 36.96 +1.01%)
The retail stock gained 5.0% today after Cramer’s recommendation on last night’s Mad Money show. Cramer believes that back to school sales are going strong and recommended Williams Sonoma along with Tiffany’s (TIF: 64.01 -0.97%), Family Dollar Stores (FDO: 57.48 +0.70%) and Ralph Lauren (RL: 171.49 +9.18%).

Big Lots (LOTS: 0.00 N/A)
In part 3 of the weeklong series, Jim Cramer profiled Big Lots as a potential candidate to be the next “discount king”. The company has been able to beat Wall Street’s estimates and has increased its 2009 guidance. While same-store sales have been declining, Cramer believes that trends will change by the end of the year. With the stock trading at a discount to peer Costco (COST: 84.28 -0.05%), Cramer believes the stock is cheap and recommends buying.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Caterpillar (CAT: 114.04 +0.20%) dropped 0.4% – Cramer believes the stock will likely dip back down to $40, but is bullish over the long term.

Kirklands (KIRK: 16.80 +1.82%) rose 6.6% – “They put up some good numbers and I think it goes higher.”

Oracle (ORCL: 28.73 -0.76%) dropped 0.2% – This tech stock bucked the “Cramer effect” and fell despite a strong buy recommendation from Jim Cramer.

AT&T (T: 30.02 -0.07%) fell 0.3% – Cramer feels the telecom stock is going from $25 to $30, but the markets seem to shrug off the recommendation.

Verizon Communications (VZ: 37.92 0.00%) dropped 1.3% – Cramer believes that Verizon is going from $30 to $35.

Cinemark Holdings (CNK: 20.07 -0.59%) fell 0.1% – Cramer dislikes the cinema business due to their high debt loads.

CNH Global(CNH: 43.97 +2.40%) gained 0.5% – Cramer was bearish and recommended selling the stock.

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

BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ: 0.00 N/A)
In part 2 of the weeklong look at the next “discount king”, Jim Cramer focused on Costco (COST: 84.28 -0.05%) and BJ’s Wholesale Club. Cramer likes their membership model which also encourages customers to continue regular shopping habits. However, Cramer prefers BJ’s because the company is currently increasing their same store sales, while Costco has been flat or even slightly declining. Cramer also likes the fact that BJ’s offers nearly twice as many products as Costco, but has only one third as many stores as Costco. This presents the company with tremendous growth opportunities which BJ’s management intends to capitalize on. Finally, BJ’s currently trades at a discount to Costco’s valuation, but Cramer believes that will soon change. BJ’s stock was up 1.4% on the recommendation, while Costco gained 1.2%

Vale (VALE: 26.42 -0.34%)
Shares of the mining company dropped 0.7% despite a moderate recommendation from Jim Cramer yesterday. Morgan Stanley and HSBC recently put out conflicting reports with one upgrading and the other downgrading VALE’s stock. Cramer sided on the side of the upgrade due to rising iron ore and nickel ore prices and continued demand outside of China.

Cramer’s Lightning Round stock picks:

Medivation (MDVN: 68.68 -4.14%) dropped 0.7% – Cramer recommends the stock only as a speculative play.

Babcock and Brown Air Limited (FLY: 13.54 +0.15%) rose 4.2% – Cramer was bearish on this stock because he doesn’t like the aircraft leasing business and has been burned before.

Union Pacific (UNP: 114.35 -0.29%) dropped 1.0% – “Union Pacific is a great company that I think, at any pullback you pull the trigger. There is a lot more room to run.”

Seaspan (SSW: 16.09 -2.19%) fell 0.3% – Cramer feels that the stock is doomed.

Alcoa (AA: 10.67 0.00%) dropped 0.7% – “I think Alcoa is dead money.”

Boise (BZ: 8.35 +0.48%) fell 2.8% – “I think we missed that stock already.”

Hexcel (HXL: 26.71 +1.21%) declined 0.4% – “I don’t want to be in Hexcel.”

First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG: 9.74 -0.81%) rose 0.4% – “I think First Niagara might be best in show. It’s got a dividend.”

Weyerhaeuser (WY: 20.56 +0.88%) jumped 0.9% – Cramer is bullish on the stock and believes it is cheap.