Downgrades Mean It's Time to Pounce

Remember last week when American Express (AXP - commentary - Cramer's Take) got knocked down for no real reason, given the storms and the change in the bankruptcy law? Remember when that bonehead over at Merrill downgraded Qualcomm (QCOM - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Broadcom (BRCM - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Or how about today's downgrade to sell of Rohm & Haas (ROH - commentary - Cramer's Take) by Prudential? Or the Goldman Sachs downgrade of Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take) that brought it to $71 -- in the litany of downgrades that we need to watch for!

These are what will now come to be your chances to pounce. When the market is in one of these modes, you have to use any opportunity to strike. Take Legg Mason (LM - commentary - Cramer's Take) right now. I don't even know why it is down. That's an opportunity. I saw earlier that CBOT Holdings (BOT - commentary - Cramer's Take) is down on some sort of bubble talk. That could be an opportunity. You get the picture.

Otherwise you are going to stay sidelined and miss this move, the move that always happens when the Fed blinks.

Those of you who remember what happened when the Fed blinked in 1998, you know what happened to those financials. They ripped. How about buying a little Morgan Stanley (MWD - commentary - Cramer's Take)? That would make sense here. Unless you want to bet against John Mack. Not what I call a great idea. Or how about Toyota (TM - commentary - Cramer's Take)? That's been down for a day and a half -- that's an opportunity.

Yes, I am just trying to be helpful. I need you to know that this is November of 1998, and you can't start getting worried yet.

Too much ahead!

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At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria and Qualcomm.

James J. 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 ActionAlertsPLUS. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click here. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" at 6 p.m. ET weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest 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.