The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of WRAL Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Jim Whitehurst, chief executive officer at Red Hat, really likes Jim Cramer, the whirlwind of a host at CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

“Jim does his homework,” Whitehurst recently told The Skinny.

So Whitehurst appears frequently on Cramer’s often zany, antic-filled but also financial insight packed daily show. Cramer also runs TheStreet.com, one of the more popular financial news websites. He’s even donned a Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) fedora.

But Cramer, as funny as he is, can slash and burn and start a stampede in or out of a stock as a bull or bear with the best.

He did so Tuesday in the “Lightning Round” with a “bearish call” dump on Durham-based Cree (Nasdaq: CREE). After the brief rant with a play on rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, will Cree shareholders run through the jungle?

Here’s how the few seconds of biting criticism went:

Cramer: “It is time. Time for the Lightning Round.

“Are ready, skee-daddy, for the Lightning Round?

“We’ll start with Charles in Florida.”

Caller: “This is Charles in Palm Beach.”

Cramer: “Hit me.”

Caller: “I like the LED lighting story. I like Cree …”

Cramer: “No! No! Creedence Clearwater No-Revival. I want you out of that stock tomorrow morning.”

Boom. Bear roars as the bearish graphic covers over Cree’s stock graphic.

CNBC notes on its website that Cramer “recommends selling CREE.”

You think?

Cree closed at $23.61 Tuesday. Its stock has ranged from $20.35 to $33.45 over the past year. But the unsettled LED market in which Cree is invested so heavily must be giving Cramer jitters.

Cree is not the first Triangle company to absorb a withering hit from Cramer. Remember Motricity? Ryan Wuerch, the former CEO, once was a guest on Cramer’s program and was treated to a gentle, positive interview as Cramer hailed Motricity’s play.

Not that much later, Cramer turned on Motricity – with a vengeance.

And if Red Hat ever turns in a bearish quarter, will Cramer turn on the Hatters?

(By the way, watch Cramer’s Cree call here.)