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It's happening. The well-capitalized banks are beginning to flex their muscles. We have already seen First Niagara (FNFG - commentary - Trade Now) buy the PNC (PNC - commentary - Trade Now) branches that the government made that company sell as well as Harleysville National (HNBC - commentary - Trade Now). We now see this morning an electric move by People's United (PBCT - commentary - Trade Now), perhaps the best-capitalized bank in the country, buying Financial Federal (FIF - commentary - Trade Now), an equipment leasing firm. Given that People's United has so much excess capital, the company could have bought the whole thing with cash, but putting its stock to work will be wildly accretive, and you also turn a sleepy local bank into a regional powerhouse with an aggressive leasing business.
I mention People's United as one of the few banks in the country that can pull off this kind of trade because of its well-capitalized nature. Another one that I think is ready to make a solid accretive move would be New Alliance Bancshares (NAL - commentary - Trade Now), also of New England. Judging by how People's United is reacting this morning to this move and how First Niagara has been creeping up when most bank stocks are stalled, this cohort makes a ton of sense to put money to work in. Random musings: Allergan (AGN - commentary - Trade Now) in the crosshairs of this Senate health care bill? The bill unveiled last week includes a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery. Not necessarily devastating to Allergan but certainly has impact. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned. 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.
At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned. 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. Brokerage Partners
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