Jim Cramer's Real Money Radio Show Recap 5/22

Recap of Jim Cramer's radio show on Monday, May 22. Click on a stock ticker for more analysis:

General comment: Retail Slump

With skyrocketing gas prices, consumers are looking to save money and are buying less. Retail stores, such as Lowe's (LOW), Home Depot (HD), and Target (TGT) are feeling the pinch. Cramer predicts that Best Buy (BBY) is the next outlet to suffer from consumer caution. However, the giant retailer, Wal-Mart (WMT), has not declined during the 10 day stock market drop. Cramer cites Wal-Mart's rock-bottom prices as a factor in this company's stability.

Circle the Wagons

While Cramer usually recommends "defensive stocks" in companies which do well even in down times, such as Procter & Gamble (PG), Merck (MRK), and Pfizer (PFE), he notes that these companies are not doing very well during the current slowdown. He recommends avoiding drug and beverage stocks and suggests taking a look at Wrigley (WWY) and Cadbury Schweppes (CSG) instead. Cramer says that the best strategy now is to "circle the wagons" by picking up a few commodities stocks and some defensive stocks to form a secure, diversified portfolio.

Global Worries

The stock market slowdown has been contagious, and even the BRIC countries are feeling the pain. Cramer suggests dividing emerging markets into two sections to distribute the risk. Although Cramer has been touting Latin American stocks, political unrest in countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and, even to a certain extent, in Brazil, is making investment risky. Cramer suggest holding on to Asian stocks, paying special attention to Tata Motors (TTM), a large Indian car company, and waiting until June to invest in Latin America.

Cramer blames the Federal Reserve for discouraging speculation in emerging markets by making borrowing money more difficult. He suggests having a food and drug stock, a mineral and mining stock, a machinery play and an aerospace or defense stock for a secure portfolio. He cautions that one should never borrow money to buy stocks, and says that this practice intensifies panic-selling.

Bullish calls:

*BP (BP): BP is down 15%, has a 3.75% yield, and is a good choice, along with Chevron (CVX). However, Cramer suggests buying into oil with caution, because it is difficult to determine when it has bottomed out.

*Qualcomm (QCOM) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Cramer says that these are among the few tech stocks that he would buy at this level, because they enjoyed solid earnings in the midst of a selloff.

*Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Cramer is considering buying this stock on weakness, because he thinks it is a solid stock with good fundamentals and is being sold cheaply.

*Marvell Tech (MRVL) and Brocade (BRCD): Cramer suggests taking advantage of the bear market to buy a little bit of these stocks.

*ConocoPhillips (COP): Cramer calls ConcoPhilips "the single best oil company out there today" and would take a look at it, although he suggests buying only a small amount for now, since it is hard to know if oil has bottomed out.

*JDSU (JDSU): Although Cramer is not as excited about this company as he used to be since they have issued a convertible bond, Cramer believes that JDSU's strong fundamentals and the fact that it is now half-price make JDSU a good buy.

*Corning (GLW): Cramer recommends buying this stock if it falls from $23 to $20.

*Conexant (CNXT): Cramer likes this stock.

Neutral/Bearish calls:

*Intel (INTC), Cisco (CSCO) and Dell (DELL): Cramer is bearish on these technology stocks.

More: Cramer's latest stock picks, including: Mad Money Recap, Lightening Round, Stop Trading and his Radio Show.