Tech Unfazed by Dismal Dell

That wasn't so bad, was it? This market is a slave to everything but earnings. Think about it: Dell (DELL - commentary - Trade Now) blows up, and tech doesn't even get hurt. Why is that? Because options so pushed down tech yesterday that it was immunized. Fortunately, of course, people got wise to the ways of Dell, how second-rate this company has become.

To me, the story of the day remains health care. As we try to figure out how Blanche Lincoln is going to vote -- as if I actually knew who that was before this debate started -- the companies that keep rallying are all those that should be hammered! Merck (MRK - commentary - Trade Now) has been so strong as to believe that it will get the Congressional Medal of Pharmaceutical Development, although Abbott (ABT - commentary - Trade Now) is clearly a runner-up.

I am also struck by the continued rally in Monsanto (MON - commentary - Trade Now), one that I think presages more gains next week in ag. MON has been up ever since its analyst meeting last week, yet it's still nowhere long-term. This is one where the round-up worries are off the table. I like it still.

Finally, I am worried about Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - commentary - Trade Now). It should have been down a tad off Dell. It was, instead, pinned at $50. I wish it hadn't run ahead of the quarter on Monday.

Makes the stock a much riskier proposition!

Random musings: Sorry for the out-of-pocket filings today for all but Action Alerts PLUS. We had a regularly scheduled TSCM board meeting, and I am chairman, so it was difficult to duck out to file!

At the time of publication, Cramer was long ABT.

---

Special note from Jim: You can learn my time-tested ways to trade smart, even in this market. All my latest thinking is in my brand new book, Getting Back to Even, which I'll send to you as part of a special promotion when you sign up for my Action Alerts PLUS service for a limited time. So if you sign up now, you'll get to see how I'm playing these stocks in my portfolio today, plus, I'll teach you how you can play these stocks to help your portfolio get back to even.

ALL JIM CRAMER BLOG ENTRIES | POST A COMMENT | READ COMMENTS  

---

Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman 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. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Amazon.com under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Amazon.com purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.