TheStreet.com Staff
Tuesday's soft earnings at retailer Best Buy (BBY Quote - Cramer on BBY - Stock Picks) and steelmaker Nucor (NUE Quote - Cramer on NUE - Stock Picks) are "worrisome" but not a sign of consumer weakness, Jim Cramer said Tuesday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.
Cramer said the consumer is still "on fire" despite Best Buy's third-quarter margin shortfall. Cramer also shrugged off a comment by credit card processor Visa that spending hasn't been as strong as expected. "There are lots of price wars going on," Cramer said, pointing to efforts to gain share on the part of competitors ranging from Costco (COST Quote - Cramer on COST - Stock Picks) to Wal-Mart (WMT Quote - Cramer on WMT - Stock Picks). "There's a lot of spending going on." Cramer said a key report this week will be Thursday morning's update from Best Buy rival Circuit City (CC Quote - Cramer on CC - Stock Picks), whose shares were hit hard Tuesday on Best Buy's earnings miss. But Cramer said he doesn't believe the retail sector is about to get hit, and he believes the consumer will keep charging up a storm. He said even if Circuit City posts soft numbers, that merely shows it "may be time to try to own MasterCard (MA Quote - Cramer on MA - Stock Picks) instead." Cramer also called Toll Brothers (TOL Quote - Cramer on TOL - Stock Picks) CEO Robert Toll "a terrific guy." But Cramer said Toll was bullish on his business at what turned out to be the top, and more recently bearish at what appears to be the bottom -- which could show that housing stocks have longer to run.
Sponsored by:
RSS
