Stock Smackdown: Cramer vs. CAPS

There's no denying that "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer is entertaining, popular, and passionate. On many occasions, he's even right. So he's smart, funny, and the closest thing to a stock market rock star -- but is he smarter than you?

Cramming for Cramer
The Fool's free investing community, Motley Fool CAPS, aggregates the opinion of more than 130,000 members to assign ratings for each stock's likelihood of outperforming or underperforming the market.

Below, we look at some top stocks that Cramer picked and panned during last week's "lightning rounds," and compare them to how the CAPS community sees their future.

Cramer says...
This isn't the first time that Jim Cramer has mauled Yamana Gold in his lightning round. Last November, he pointed out that while there's always a place for gold in your portfolio, the current deflationary period made Yamana a poor choice in his opinion. Nowadays, Cramer says he prefers two of Yamana's rivals, Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) and El Dorado Gold, for their stability and cheap share prices:

Well, I have got to tell you, Yamana doesn't surface anymore on my list that I want to own ... if you want a good stable cash flow, steadily improving with the possibility of a good dividend, that is going to be Agnico-Eagle ... and if you want the cheapest in terms of finding costs, that is going to be EGO ... which is Eldorado Gold Corp... I would buy those over AUY ... I would sell Yamana, and buy either of mine.

CAPS Says
Although Yamana's CAPS rating has fallen from a top-rated five stars to just four, 97% of the nearly 3,500 members rating the gold miner believe it will outperform the market. No wonder -- its recent quarterly report proved that Yamana was still able to earn more than $179 million, despite absorbing a $74 million tarnishing from its copper operations.

Fool contributor Chris Barker believes that with copper prices having finally stabilized, and gold production expected to increase 35%, Yamana Gold is no longer endangered by copper's vagaries. He nearly caught the bottom last October, just before Cramer urged investors to stay away. The gold producer's shares have more than doubled since that call. Even though the stock surrendered some of its gains in recent days, Yamana remains well off the bottom.

CAPS member speedybure believes the massive Chinese stimulus plan is just one of the factors that propel Yamana higher:

… Low cost producer- expect margins to drastically expand over the coming 5 years. The intrinsic value of gold has increased to $824 in my model due the exponential increase in the money supply that is still taking place as I write this. Yamana can hedge oil via futures keeping input costs down while also realizing both production growth and gold price increases. In addition they produce copper which should start to increase after the Chinese stimulus kicks into full gear. Potential takeover target

Don't get mad, get even
While CAPS members may stand with or against Jim Cramer, the investor intelligence community amounts to more than the opinions of a handful of All-Stars -- even if they are TV personalities. What do you think? Is Cramer on the mark or off his rocker? Hop over to CAPS and share your thoughts on whether Yamana has lost its luster.

Motley Fool CAPS is a great place to start your own research on these stocks. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page. Best of all, it's free!