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 135,000 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 we then compare them with how the CAPS community sees their future.

Cramer says …
Competing against government-assisted car companies GM and Chrysler is a formidable task for Ford, but Cramer thinks the last remaining holdout against federal aid is up to the challenge: 

I happen to think the world of [Ford CEO] Al Mulally, I think he is doing an unbelievable job ... he is going up against two governments spots and enterprises in Chrysler and General Motors, that is daunting … I would prefer to buy the preferreds of Ford … but I tell you what, I think that it is a speculation … Ford is a good one on the pullback … remember they did a gigantic equity offering at $4.34, so maybe we need it to come in a little bit more before we buy more.

CAPS says …
Will the troubles of the U.S. auto industry impart a sense of patriotic duty among consumers? CAPS member JeffT56 thinks so, as long as the cars on offer are more efficient. In both instances, the payoff will be to Ford's advantage:

The buying public wants to buy American made cars, and many want to switch to hybrids. The bankruptcies and dealer closings at GM and Chrysler are going to hurt their sales materially for at least the next year, and probably the next several years. After all, who wants a car that's under warranty when they don't know if the company will be able to honor it, or if the local dealer will be closed? Ford will be the beneficiary of this uncertainty. Ford also has finally begun to have a decent selection of hybrids.

Although there's a small window of opportunity that Ford could exploit to gain market share as its rivals restructure, clutedog thinks the Obama administration is erecting a roadblock in front of Ford:

Ford had a great opportunity being the only stable US brand ... but now the Administration is stepping in placing demands on fuel efficiency ... I just don't think the Ford management team is going to be flexible enough or bright enough to respond. Toyota and Honda are already poised with a fleet of fuel efficient cars in varying price and quality ranges. Ford is on the back end of the slope. They may be able to compete, but buy the time they start seeing $$$, the S&P will be above 1200. Don't look for Ford to go away, but they won't surpass the S&P.

Have your say
Some CAPS members stand with Jim Cramer, and others are on the opposite side of the field. But the investor-intelligence community is more than what our All-Stars think, even if some of them are TV personalities. But what do you think? Is Cramer right, or is he off his rocker? Why not head off right now to CAPS and sound off with your thoughts on whether Ford's motor is running hot?

With its two-star rating, Ford fits right in with the average company in the CAPS Automobiles tag. 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, CAPS is free.