A Bottom in Blockbuster and Rite Aid?

Are Rite Aid (RAD - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Blockbuster (BBI - commentary - Cramer's Take) bottoming?

They sure look like they are. But we have been fooled so many times by these two we almost have to wait and see.

I am still reeling by the poor reaction the market gave Blockbuster after a really good quarter and pay down of debt. Just because Blockbuster spelled out the debt covenants doesn't mean it's going to be defeated by them, but that was the sense of things.

I urge people to go back and look at that quarter, which was reported right in the middle of a fixed-income tsunami. Citigroup offered the best report on this one if you want to know where to look at the basic story.

Rite Aid is tougher. I don't know if the strength in CVS (CVS - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Walgreen (WAG - commentary - Cramer's Take) is coming at the expense of RiteAid or if things are just getting better.

It is possible that all drug stores had a tough non-flu season and that explained the earlier shortfall. Or it could be something like the lack of integration with the giant acquisition that Rite Aid made, an acquisition that could now finally be settled. It has been a nightmare, and the look of all the stores has suffered.

I believe that both of these stocks have more room to run but that you might have to wait until April 10, the Rite Aid fourth-quarter earnings release, to feel comfortable that the Rite Aid rally is strictly a belief that things are getting better in all drug stores and not that it has become zero sum. Too tough a call for me.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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