How to Play a Nasty Market

This is a mean market. A nasty one that makes you look really stupid in minutes. I say on TV that Salesforce.com (CRM - commentary - Cramer's Take) is having a good quarter, and before I can even get back to my desk, it is down a dollar and a half from where I talked about it. My friend Guy Adami from "Fast Money," who is REALLY GOOD, says, "Buy some Freeport (FCX - commentary - Cramer's Take), because it is having a terrific quarter and hasn't rolled over," and he is dead right, but then it drops more than 2 points.

It is that kind of nasty market.

No rhyme and no reason.

I wish I could tell you that this was any sort of victory for the bulls after being down really badly, but the endless selling in the momentum names was reminiscent of the forced-down ETF-selling from before this nat gas/ag rally.

I would say it spells trouble, but, alas, who knows whether the trouble is for a day, two days or two hours -- it is that ridiculously mercurial right now.

What to do? If you have something that you know you like -- for instance, I like Trinity (TRN - commentary - Cramer's Take) and am buying it for Action Alerts PLUS -- then use a wider scale. That's what I just decided to do. Instead of buying 500 right here, I am buying a couple of hundred and then stepping away for 2 points.

That way, I let the market help me instead of working against me.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Trinity and Freeport-McMoRan.

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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. 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.

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