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Schering-Plough Delivers 'Kitchen Sink' Quarter

The future of the company lies with its Zetia/Zocor franchise. Find out what Cramer sees ahead for it.
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Dear Action Alerts PLUS Subscriber,

Time to buy some more Schering-Plough (SGP) . CEO Fred Hassan gave the market another "kitchen sink" quarter, and I want to buy another 500 shares here around $15.30. There wasn't much good news, but this new management team continues to be very upfront with investors. Essentially, Schering's future rests on the success of the Zetia/Zocor franchise.

Merck's (MRK) warning will only add time to how long the drug stocks are going to be in the penalty box. This purchase gives me a total of 10,500 SGP shares, and I'll buy another 500 if the stock moves closer to $15.

I'm also going to sell 1,000 of my 3,000 FleetBoston Financial FBF shares. Not only will we not see another 35-cent dividend from the company for another six weeks, but I'm also very leery about the company's specialist operations. The latest numbers from LaBranche (LAB) show that this business just isn't profitable anymore.

The value of a seat on the New York Stock Exchange has dropped to $1.3 million, and I think this is only the beginning of the decline. This exposure threatens to delay Fleet's turnaround efforts, and I don't want to be caught holding the bag.

Editor's note: Chat live with Jim Cramer Thursday at noon. Go to this URL for more information and to sign up: https://www.thestreet.com/c/index.html

Regards,

James J. Cramer

DISCLOSURE: At the time of publication, Cramer was long Schering-Plough and FleetBoston.