Listen for Improvement From the Brokers

"I can't tell you how the numbers are, but let me just say we are having a much better September than August."

That's what I expect Lehman (LEH - commentary - Cramer's Take), Bear (BSC - commentary - Cramer's Take), Goldman (GS - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Morgan Stanley (MS - commentary - Cramer's Take) to say when they report next week.

You have to ask yourself why these stocks have stabilized. I think it is with a hope that they can paint a picture that the problems are in the past, the estimate cuts are being made and the private equity deals get completed -- or at least some of them.

People have to recognize that when someone at a Goldman Sachs or a Morgan says, "We need this to get done for everyone to win," it gets done, whether it be private equity or mortgage backs or whatever. Plus, we have had markets begin to make adjustments to the declines in those bonds, and we've had vultures come in to buy some of the merchandise.

Now I know that there has been some serious impairment to future earnings, particularly from those more reliant on mortgage backs: Lehman and Bear. There will be some impairment from pricing of private equity for all of the banks, but especially Goldman Sachs.

There will be some slowdown in prime brokerage business -- servicing hedge funds and loaning them money, although I think a lot got loans to take down the business that is being pushed right now.

All in all, though, estimates, at least these estimates, have been hacked enough to make surprises more likely to the upside.

Plus, the Bear Stearns buyer, Joseph Lewis, has suddenly made people recognize that these franchises have become interesting on an enterprise basis, not just an earnings basis. And we don't know whether one of these companies just got the overall situation right and profited from it. I have to believe the lack of number cuts for Goldman Sachs makes that a possibility.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order his book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

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