Exxon's Lead Proves the Market's Benign

Well, I'll be. Not since 1984 have I seen a market led by Exxon (XOM - commentary - Cramer's Take). You need calls on that stock, for heaven's sake. It is amazing.

When Exxon rallies, this market rallies. It is the stock that matters and it calls the tune.

What's truly amazing about this market, though, is that when oil goes up, retail stocks don't go down -- at least, not today. Could be that I paid $2.79 at the pump the other day.

Or it could be that the big mutual funds own the oil stocks and feel emboldened when they go higher. Whatever.

I have never seen this pattern, ever. In the big run in the oils leading up to the first Gulf War, you saw a dramatic decline in other stocks. When we saw the Oil Service HOLDRs (OIH - commentary - Cramer's Take) go up anytime in the last year, you saw a decline in consumer stocks. And in the early 1980s, the rally in the oils was the death knell for pretty much everything else, particularly autos and airlines.

Again, I come back to the fact that we have a benign market. It overlooks the oil run and likes it when Exxon goes up.

Great tape.

Random musings: These coal stocks keep getting knocked down and then they spring right back. With oil at $73 a barrel, these should be much higher. ... So who buys whom over the weekend -- Alcan (AL - commentary - Cramer's Take) for Alcoa (AA - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Alcoa for Alcan? BHP (BBL - commentary - Cramer's Take) for both? ... Level 3 (LVLT - commentary - Cramer's Take) is still ramping. ... Can Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take) break free of the $70 strike? It is making a nice move now. ... Nice squeeze in the homebuilders. ... Bill O'Connor has another great Columnist Conversation post on contango, stop and read it now.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria.

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