'Bad Acting' Altria's Worth Sticking With

Such and such a stock is acting poorly. I have heard it so many times in my life that I have adopted an attitude toward all who believe that something is wrong with a stock they own because it "acts poorly."

In every case, those who believe it "acts badly" should sell.

I've been hearing it for days now about Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take), a stock I own for Action Alerts PLUS.

The reason is that unless you have a 10-minute attitude toward a stock -- like I did back at my hedge fund -- there's no reason to take your cue for the intermediate- or long-term from the stock.

National Oilwell Varco (NOV - commentary - Cramer's Take), for example, acted horribly last week. St. Joe (JOE - commentary - Cramer's Take) acted horribly last quarter.

Part of the process of investing is deciding whether you like something, not whether the crowd likes something. I have liked Altria for about 20 years. If I had blown out of it every time it acted badly, I would have made nothing.

Here's what you need to do if you are at a hedge fund, you own Altria and you are "worried": Short it. If that's how shallow your conviction is, for heaven's sake, bet against it.

If you are an individual investor and are worried about the action, wait until whatever happens that you are worried about and then buy more, because Altria is cheap and worth less than the sum of its parts, as we'll see when it's broken up.

That's about all I can say about a stock that "acts" badly.

Because it simply isn't a substantive way to look at securities.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria.

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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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