Thursday, 01/17/08 Posted 01/18/08,  8:16 am	(Scroll down to see Jim's comments below)

Today's date:  Thursday, 01/17/08
	Dow Jones:	12,159		- 306
	NASDAQ:		2,346	- 47
	S&P 500:		1,333	- 39

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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)
	LVS	74.46	73.55	Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)
	WYNN	96.89	97.03	Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN)
	MGM	67.81	67.61	MGM Mirage (MGM)

 

Hey, the market's horrible... you don't need me to tell you that... but it doesn't mean I'm ever going to stop looking for a company that could be a value to another company, if not to you.

We're not going to be looking at a blind opportunity... we're not going to be aggressive.  We know it's a bear market, but we've got to keep looking...

I mean, that's why we've been hunting all week for notes from the tech underground...  I've been doing a series on tech stocks that have been beaten down and washed out, and I have said that they could go lower, but I have also said that they are below their intrinsic value, and their businesses are still going strong.

.  .  .  .  .

Tonight, my down-but-not-out tech stock... it's a little guy, you'll like it, but don't pay up for it, because it's little... is Wind River Systems (WIND).

It's off 33% since November.  Nothing's happened...  This is actually better than November.

In light of the BEA Systems (BEAS) deal we got yesterday, I'm thinking WIND makes a great takeover candidate.  It could make you a bundle at these prices, and the business is good.  It's not like I'm recommending something bad that I hope gets taken over...

.  .  .  .  .

It makes what are called embedded systems... These consist of a microprocessor and an operating system... the operating system is the software the processor runs...

See WIND's website and profile to do more homework on what this company does.

.  .  .  .  .

All right, what's the real hook here?...

WIND has teamed up with Google Inc. (GOOG)...  GOOG's open handset alliance, along with LIMO, they were the only Linux OS (i.e., operating system) provider that was highlighted in Google's Android press release...

In other words, in a bull market, we'd be paying twice this already, because of just the relationship with Google... but we're not in a bull market, we're in a bear market...

On December 20th, an analyst from Benchmark - a good firm - talked about a meeting he had with WIND's management, when they hinted that there are "several trophy deals" in the pipe...

Hey, what do I think?... I think it sounds like a good, big deal and maybe works for Google... You probably want to get in ahead of it... no urgency. 

.  .  .  .  .

This $619 million stock has only gotten cheaper, about a quarter above its 52-week low right now...

You'd think it has a lot of debt, right?  But it has an immaculate balance sheet... It has $111 million in cash, no debt at all.  That's what a good takeover target should look like.

For a takeover to happen, WIND needs a suitor... and I think it would be attractive to the usual suspects...  SAP (SAP), Oracle (ORCL), Cisco (CSCO), especially IBM (IBM), Motorola (MOT)...

IBM bought Telogic, a company that makes embedded software, part of what WIND does, and we know that IBM's making hay with their acquisition, actually up today... They just did that in June... they're clearly interested in the space...

Given WIND's work in the mobile handset - think of Google's contract - this one should definitely be attractive to MOT, which needs growth...

We wouldn't be surprised if Icahn, looking at how much money he made on the last deal, valued this one in the mid-teens.  He could be skeptical about gains this big, given the weakness in the market, and we're not calling for a turn in the market... We think it's a bear market, and we think it goes lower... We're not calling for a turn in this market...

But we're talking about tech players with hoards of cash... cash that they're desperate to spend on growth, and will pay.   Remember, these guys don't need to borrow to acquire anybody, and this is a natural.      

.  .  .  .  .

Even without a takeover, WIND's fundamentals are solid, and you can bet there are some upcoming catalysts, thanks to their work with Google and the open handset alliance.  There could be some big gains.

.  .  .  .  .

The Bottom Line!:     We are not saying the market's done going down...  We are saying please don't buy in the aftermarket, because these stocks aren't necessarily going to run right now.  We're saying, maybe it's a tech needle in a haystack...  It's been sold off in a panic... it's gotten too cheap... and we think it recovers.

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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)
	WIND	8.15	8.59	Wind River Systems Inc. (WIND)