Thursday, 01/03/08 Posted 01/04/08,  12:39 am	(Scroll down to see Jim's comments below)

Today's date:  Thursday, 01/03/08
	Dow Jones:	13,056		+ 12
	NASDAQ:		2,602	- 6
	S&P 500:		1,447	+0

.  .  .  .  .

The Bottom Line!:    I believe natural gas goes much, much higher this year.  You need a natural gas stock.  You want a stock like Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL) that's going to be producing a lot more of it, thanks to the Bureau of Land Management and thanks to the mule deer... 

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Stock Snapshots - Includes all stocks mentioned above

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Jim Cramer's rating on this stock	STOCK SYMBOL	Closing price that day	Opening price next day	Full Company Name/Comments (see comments above for each)
	UPL	71.45	72.42	Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL)

 

Jim Cramer's rating on this stock	STOCK SYMBOL	Closing price that day	Opening price next day	Full Company Name/Comments (see comments above for each)
	HCBK	14.81	14.82	CEO Interview Ronald E. Hermance, Jr., CEO Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) Jim's comments BEFORE interview:     Tonight... a very special night on Mad Money... We're unveiling my new award!... It's the Bailey Award... That's right!... It's a wonderful life, Banker of the Year... For most banks, 2007 was a horrendous year, but not every banker made loan after loan to people who probably couldn't afford to pay it back... Not every banker issued those CDOs (i.e., collateralized debt obligation)... where we now know to fear and loathe them... There's at least one man who knows how to run a bank the old-fashioned way...  You take deposits and then you lend that money out to hard-working people, and then they pay back the loan... I'm talking about Ron Hermance.  He's the CEO of Hudson City Bank (HCBK)... the only bank that we're recommending, and the clear winner of the Bailey Banker of the Year Award of 2007. Here's a guy who never did a CDO... He kept all his mortgages... that means on his books... insisted people pay back their loans... No sub-prime loans here.  In fact, Hermance's company has only 191 non-performing loans.  Those are the bad ones that have been wreaking havoc with most other banks' balance sheets... but not with HCBK... One, because if there is a loan, so much money is actually put down that, when he recovers it, he actually makes a profit... and because Hermance was careful and diligent about the kind of loans he made, HCBK has been able to turn a profit on the handful of loans, where they actually ended up owning the profit, and had to auction it off. Hermance runs a lean, mean banking machine... and serves the middle class and wealthy areas of New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County (NY) and New York... Now we've reached 2008... the year when I believe the Fed will finally get its act together.  We're going to start making some meaning rate cuts eventually.  The Fed controls the interest rates the banks pay you... and their profit, called the spread, is the difference between the interest rates they give depositors, and what they get for their loans... The spreads going to widen, and who do you want to invest with as the spread widens?  And it's widening right now... even before the Fed's even done its job. Now, every other bank, who foolishly lent money to people who couldn't pay them back... or with HCBK, where this was never a problem... But you don't need to hear it from me... Let's go right to the man himself...    .  .  .  .  . Jim's comments AFTER interview:     Ron, congratulations.  You deserve it.  You made money for your shareholders, which is what we care about on Mad Money...  Thank you so much...

[ end of opening segment ]

Go to the next segment from tonight's show here >> See current quotes on Yahoo! Finance from tonight's show stocks here >>
Symbol keys: A Charitable Trust stock. - An asterisk next to a stock symbol indicates that Jim mentioned it is a stock that he manages within his charitable trust portfolio.  You can see the complete portfolio of stocks here >> Thumbs up - indicates he would buy the stock or, at the very least, not sell the stock.  We do our best to interpret Jim's opinion on stocks, as we think it is indicated by his comments during the show.  Please read his comments to decide for yourself. Thumbs down - indicates he has said not to buy or to sell the stock, based on his comments  We do our best to interpret Jim's opinion on stocks, as we think it is indicated by his comments during the show.  Please read his comments to decide for yourself. Back up the truck - indicated by Jim, when he says the stock is so good, that he would do a 'mon-back' on the stock... In other words, this is the sound someone would say to a truck driver, "Come on back... " as he is "backing up the truck" to load up on his cargo.  Translation for buying stocks:  This recommendation by Jim indicates that, after you do your own homework on the stock, you should feel comfortable loading up on it, as it is in a good position to be bought at this point. Stumped. - Of the 2,000+ stocks that Jim Cramer has in his head, for which he has an informed opinion, he sometimes comes across a caller with a stock he does not know well enough to opine on...  He then indicates he is stumped and will have to come back to it, after he does some homework of his own on the stock.  This usually occurs during the Lightning Round, when Jim does not know in advance who is calling, or what their stock question is about.
Definitions of key phrases used by Jim, known as "Cramerisms":
	Definition:   'Pull the trigger' is Jim's phrase for making the decision at that point to trade - either to 'buy' or to 'sell' (although he usually uses the phrase for buying), as if to say you should feel comfortable enough to make the final decision without looking back...
	Definition:   'Ring the Register' is Jim's phrase for selling a stock, and making it a final sale, that you should not look back on.  Put it behind you.
	Definition:  'Let It Come In' indicates how you may wait for it to pull back, or have the stock price come down briefly, as your chance (after letting it come in) to buy the rest of your position (i.e., total number of shares you own in that stock).
	Definition:  'backing it up' or 'doing a 'mon-back' is Jim's phrase for the metaphor of backing up a truck to load up on a stock by buying it.  'Mon-back is short for the imaginary worker saying, 'Come on back...' as the truck is backing up to receive its load... Notice that we use the little truck icon to indicate where Jim has mentioned this.  Translation for buying stocks:  This recommendation by Jim indicates that, after you do your own homework on the stock, you should feel comfortable loading up on it, as it is in a good position to be bought at this point.
See more "Cramerisms" & other financial phrases here >>
Helpful Websites:
	See the stocks currently known to be in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust at: jim-cramer-charitable-trust-stocks.com
	See the stocks currently known to be in Warren Buffett's portfolio of stocks at: warren-buffett-portfolio.com
	Stock Homework 101:   This is an excellent upcoming site that provides resources and links to help you do that homework that Jim Cramer recommends after hearing his suggestions... StockHomework101.com This site is coming soon.   Thank you.
	FastMoneyRecap:   This site will be a quick summary of recommendations made by the great Fast Money TV show crew, that will offer you a unique service, to compare their picks to Jim Cramer's past comments about those stocks. Fast Money Recap - Trades for next day... Compare these picks to Jim's comments for the same stocks.