Cramer's 'Mad Money Recap': Waiting for the Housing Turnaround

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"I want to be bullish on the housing stocks, but I just can't pull the trigger yet," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Tuesday.

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Cramer said that while he's been waiting for a bottom in the housing market, Toll Brothers' most recent quarterly results didn't instill enough confidence. The company reported revenue of $818 million, which was more than the year-ago quarter, and its backlog did shrink 13% to just $2 billion. However, Toll Brothers still only sold 1239 homes, down 49% from the same period last year.

Toll said that he feels confident the housing market may return after November's general election. Asked to grade the current sales performance in his communities, Toll said he'd give F's to just about all of them. On a positive note, Toll sees some strength in the California housing market and that Naples, Fla. is also starting to stabilize.

Overall, Toll reiterated that he's not willing to bet on any short-term recovery in the housing market. He said Toll Brothers is buying additional land, but only if it sees incredible value and is able to wait several years to realize that value.

Cramer asked Toll about his support for a Federal tax credit for home buyers. Toll replied that he is in favor of a $15,000 tax credit and felt that if implemented by Congress, could jump start the ailing economy. He said that he's not in favor of the proposed $300 billion injection of capital into the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Cramer told viewers that for him, the jury is still out. He did not hear any reasons to buy homebuilding stocks. Instead, he gave them a "don't buy."

The Lure of Glass

Cramer once again recommended bottle-makerOwens-Illinois (OI) as a green stock that is taking advantage of opportunities around the world.

He last recommended the stock back on March 18, 2007 at $53 a share. Since then, the stock spiked to a high of $61 before retreating slightly.

Owens-Illinois recently reported a blow-out quarter, beating Wall Street estimates by 29 cents a share, and delivering $1.08 a share in earnings. The company also raised free cash flow guidance for the year and pushed through a 7% price increase to its customers. However, despite all of the positive news, shares sank on the news.

Cramer explained that while the bears have been circling Owens-Illinois, concerned with rising raw material and energy costs, many of them fail to realize that much of these costs have already been passed onto customers. He welcomed Albert Stroucken, Chairman, President and CEO of Owens-Illinois, to the show to confirm his thesis.

Stroucken said demand is increasing worldwide for low-cost packaging and that bottle recycling is very widespread in low-income countries. He also discussed how health and environmental concerns over plastic bottles may swing public opinion back towards glass bottles in the near future.

Stroucken also said that his industry suffers from old processes, some of which haven't changed in 50 years, which leaves significant opportunities to use innovation and technology to increase productivity and decrease costs.

He explained that although Owens reacted too slowly to the rising raw costs, it is now focused on new initiatives.

A Matter of Wine

Cramer welcomed Gary Vaynerchuk, author of the new book 101 Wines to the show to discuss the wine business.

Cramer likened the wine business to the stock market, saying there are many hidden gems on the shelves that are underpriced and many others that significantly overpriced.

The two discussed wine and spirit maker Diageo (DEO). Vaynerchuk said that Diageo is excellent at branding and thus is more levered to spirits, where brand names matter more.

Cramer asked about Constellation (STZ), which Vaynerchuk said is the opposite of Diageo, and is very levered to wines. He said he was a bit concerned with the company since they don't build brands and instead prefer to buy existing brands.

Vaynerchuk said he's a fan of Fortune Brands (FO). He said the company has a knock-out with its Jim Beam brand, but is not levered to the wine market.

When asked about Brown Forman (BF-B), Vaynerchuck said that company is unstoppable with its Jack Daniels brand, but is a mess when it comes to their wine marketing. He wanted to see more buzz and more sex appeal from the company.

Vaynerchuk also expressed concern that none of the major wine players embrace Web 2.0 social networking to create buzz for their products. He felt this was a big mistake and a huge missed opportunity for all of the companies.

Mad Mail

In this segment, Cramer told a viewer that he's concerned with recent spikes in Marvel Entertainment (MVL) and Hasbro (HAS) ahead of the smash hit Ironman and recommended taking profits in those names.

Cramer called True Religion (TRLG) a cult that's willing to pay anything for the company's hottest products, but did not recommend the stock at these levels.

Sudden Death

Cramer was bullish onCVS Caremark (CVS).

Cramer was bearish onWalgreens (WAG)and (QI).

Lightning Round