If you've got some cash tucked away somewhere not doing anything (and not already invested in AAPL), Jim Cramer said Tuesday that Toyota is his favorite automotive pick. Actually he said, " BUY! BUY! BUY!"
Cramer says that while General Motors and Ford are busy cutting staff and production, Toyota is spending to ensure future growth. He expects Cerberus to take Chrysler down a similar path as GM and Ford, which will make Chrysler "a teeny-tiny little auto company."
"Do you want to buy Ford? Or maybe GM? What, are you nuts!?" Cramer said. "There is only one large car company that will be left in the United States when this is through, and that company is Toyota." He went on to say Toyota stock is in a downturn currently only because of a conservative forecast. But Cramer says the company is underpromising so it can overdeliver. "GM may be the largest single buyer of Viagra for its workers, but Toyota may soon be the largest buyer of cold-rolled steel. To actually make cars!" Ouch.
Watch the video (free subscription) to hear more of the TV show host's insight and to see him slap a Toyota logo to his forehead. Oh, and he suggests Toyota could sell more Tundras if they just made it "one large gunrack."
Toyota closed Thursday at $121.50, down $1.01; Ford closed down 1 cent at $8.75 and DaimlerChrysler down $.68 at $86; and General Motors closed down $.15 to $31.59. Honda was unchanged at $34.45.
[Source: CNBC's "Mad Money" via The Street]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Brian @ May 18th 2007 11:18AM
We all see where this is going...
Let the battle of the nations begin!!!!!
Ed @ May 18th 2007 11:28AM
Cramer is being a bit of a tool. He has told several callers, including myself, in the past few weeks to BUY BUY BUY Ford based on Mullaly's leadership.
And now this...
P to the C @ May 18th 2007 11:39AM
Cramer is an entertainer 1st and a stock picker second (if at all). He's the Jerry Springer of Wall St. He'll be wrong on this just like he's wrong on so many other picks.
GreenDragon @ May 18th 2007 11:40AM
Cramer is the king of assclowns. I'd rather take financial advise from my pet iguana.
Big Mike Wood @ May 18th 2007 11:44AM
Do sane people even pay attention to Cramer any more? I was somewhat surprised to hear he was still on the air. Move along, nothing to see here....
brimg87 @ May 18th 2007 11:44AM
Always listen to a guy who bites the heads off of toy bulls.
Matt @ May 18th 2007 11:48AM
How is $121.50 cheap?
Erik @ May 18th 2007 11:50AM
This guy is the most obnoxious person on television. Also, what does he really know about the auto industry? I'm sure less than most autoblog readers. It is currently the fashonable trend in America to poo-poo the big 3 and worship Toyota. All he is doing is following the popular trend - I don't need him to tell me what is fashonable at the moment.
Seminole @ May 18th 2007 11:58AM
He's a moron. I had to make a stock presentation to my finance class about what a trade I thought would be good for our class's stock portfolio. I chose to short sell Toyota. I listed all my reasons, such as mediocre products, poor Tundra sales, increased competition, and most importantly of all I used the Corolla. To me it says a lot about a company when they delay a car 3+ years because it can't compete against the Civic. Toyota had to eat all the development costs to redesign the Corolla to beat the Civic. The downside is, as soon as the new Corolla comes out a new Civic will be out in two years to kick its ass. Well my class was a bunch of bumbling morons and voted down my proposal. At the time Toyota stock was trading at 129.95. If my class had listened to me we would have been up 5.46% since then. Toyota is over-rated and riding on the coattails of its past products.
FLR @ May 18th 2007 12:01PM
If he really followed the auto industry he would know a few things.
First, GM is actually profitable again. With all their problems they're still making money. They have several new cars on the near horizon (Malibu, G8, CTS, VUE)and more in the not too distant future (Camaro, STS, DTS, Volt).
Second, Toyota has expanded so quickly they have lost sight of what made them popular, quality. Their recalls and quality issues are now worse than GMs. Who would have thought that?
Third, Toyota has just peaked in the last 10 years where GM has languished for 20-30 year only recently waking up. GM is getting more competitive by the day and eventually the market will notice this, thus increasing their sales.
My non-financial insider take...buy GM stock.
ZenerDiode @ May 18th 2007 12:02PM
Anyone that pick stocks by listening to Cramer instead of doing proper financial research deserves to have their portofolio nosedive.
That said, I've dumped all my GM and Ford stock long ago and have since switched over to Toyota and Nissan/Renault. Nissan was a mistake but Toyota...sitting pretty.
on a tangent, if americans and american corporations bought enough stock of toyota...say at least 51%...would people still consider it japanese? Just saying, cause I notice a large chunk of the Vanguard and Fidelity foreign markets mutual funds are japanese automotive companies. my point is, ALL automotive companies right now are quite global in nature, with international ownership and international customer base...so it's quite ridiculous to be so blindly loyal to brand out of misguided patriotism.
ZenerDiode @ May 18th 2007 12:03PM
@Matt
the price of the stock has nothing to do with it's value. For instance, if you had bought GOOG at $120 a coupla years back, you would've said then, and now, that it was a real cheap price.
Lithous @ May 18th 2007 12:25PM
"on a tangent, if americans and american corporations bought enough stock of toyota...say at least 51%"
If your aunt had a D she'd be your uncle. It isn't gonna happen. My guess is that GM stock is probably more than 51% owned by Americans. But we all know that is not what really makes a company American or not. We can start with being there when we really really needed them. How many U.S. tanks, Jeeps, and anything else the U.S. military needed did Toyota build? How much taxes (to dozens of states and federal gov't) and jobs has GM and Ford given over 100 years?
Tell you what, when Japan gets rid of all logical borders (walk right in and walk right out anytime you want no matter who you are and what you're doing) then and only then can we complete this discussion.
UPDOG @ May 18th 2007 12:25PM
Toyota, regardless of where they have stood in the automotive world, has always managed to be profitable, and represents a well managed business. GM & Ford sell millions and millions of vehicles, they just don't make money.
It doesn't matter how great the cars GM and Ford are producing or are about to produce...it's so much deeper than that. The big 3 are good examples of how how not to run a business.
UPDOG @ May 18th 2007 12:28PM
My finacial advisor would require me to sign a waiver if I wanted to move funds into GM stock.
The Other Bob @ May 18th 2007 12:42PM
"on a tangent, if americans and american corporations bought enough stock of toyota...say at least 51%...would people still consider it japanese?"
Good question. Problem is, Japanese law forbids a Japanese company from being more than 33% foreign owned. Which, by no coinsidence is what Ford owns of Mazda.
rwdmtparkingonly @ May 18th 2007 12:43PM
Toyota is in a better situation than Ford and GM, but with Hyundai already making almost as good if not better cars for less money, and China coming online very rapidly (2nd largest auto market), I don't think Toyota is a buy, much less a BUY BUY BUY!
Aetius @ May 18th 2007 12:51PM
I agree. I see no point buying a Toyota anymore. If I want an appliance for getting from Point A to Point B for a good price, I'll get a Hyundai. You get a better coverage, cleaner-design and well it's the same damn boring car, except I can save money.
LaughingTooHard @ May 18th 2007 12:54PM
I've watched Jim Cramer more than once and every time he is no less painful. But then again watching CNBC in generally is pretty painful so he is just the best at being the worst.
What he is really good at is talking people who have no knowledge of economics or financial forecasting and telling them "Market Cap" "Job cutting" "BUY! BUY! BUY!".
He is the investment equivalent of Consumer Reports "This one is best. Why? Don't ask why. We know what is good for you”
Toyota is still laughing at us behind the Japanese currency manipulation policies, a thick bank-roll for the automotive press and US tax credits by short sighted local politicians - who honestly don't care what happens in a 10-20 years.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Congress_hears_currency_manipulatio_05092007.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117874946970497736.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.26047/pub_detail.asp
Get educated folks. This happened in the 1980's and poor Japan took quite a tumble then. I suppose that their recent unchecked moves toward a WWII Imperialist constitution has them full of pride.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/05/18/japans_lower_house_oks_patriotism_bill/
It is a shame the harsh lessons of past have been lost on Modern Day Japan - there are plenty of memorials to remind them.
Lucky for us soon enough, Mr Cramer will be just a footnote in the "Wacky-Angry-Screaming-Investor-Advice" Wikipedia page.
The FedEx Man @ May 18th 2007 1:22PM
Bit off topic but...what the hell. I knew US news was bad but that just looks like a joke. Thank god we've got the BBC.