Cramer made another defensive pick on telecom stocks after seeing weak retailers, weak autos, and even weaker housing. His first pick was Verizon (VZ-NYSE) over AT&T (T-NYSE), but his second defensive stock in telecom land is Alltel (AT-NYSE). Cramer thinks this wireless telecom play could be acquired. Cramer didn’t think this would be a winner until going over the wireless comments out of Verizon and AT&T, particularly since this has the rural telecom advantage. Cramer thinks that Sprint (S-NYSE) could acquire it (even though Sprint could be acquired by AT&T or Verizon if the stock falls too hard). Cramer also noted that the WSJ discussed merger speculation in the sector. Any of the major telco’s could decide that Alltel is cheaper to just buy than to try to build. In the recent press release and conference call management refused to address its strategic review, and Cramer thinks that it is close to a deal. He likes the fundamentals of the stock so he is not just speculating only a buyout.
Jon C. Ogg
May 1, 2007
Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.
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