Even Consumer Stocks Offer No Place to Hide

There is no safety in safety. That's one of the things that really stand out in this market. How many times have I reached out for Kimberly-Clark (KMB - commentary - Cramer's Take) when it yielded 3.6% and made money? Nope. Not this time. KMB's diapers are oil-based!

Or Procter & Gamble (PG - commentary - Cramer's Take). That company has done everything right, selling off weak divisions like coffee, introducing fabulous new products and getting the most out of Gillette and a weak dollar. Doesn't matter: Head and Shoulders comes in a plastic bottle. PG's a huge user of oil-based product.

Or Clorox (CLX - commentary - Cramer's Take). Boost in dividend, big buyback. But its product packaging is so filled with energy that it's hard to get your arms around the numbers.

No one believes in Pepsi's (PEP - commentary - Cramer's Take) ability to control raw costs, so that stock now sells at 17 times earnings with 11% growth. But 17 times earnings is a huge multiple given the worries, and the stock doesn't yield all that much. PEP has positioned itself as a snack-foods company, and that's smack in the crosshairs of the ag inflation gushing. Kill ethanol, and the stock goes to $75.

Coke (KO - commentary - Cramer's Take) has a much more sustainable soda business with a good control of raw costs, but that stock is at 18 times earnings in a market where inflation is high. That multiple seems high.

General Mills (GIS - commentary - Cramer's Take) seems just plain too high given what we know. It is less than a point and a half from its high and sells at 18 times earnings despite just 88% growth. No thanks.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL - commentary - Cramer's Take) missed the last quarter. No thanks.

And on and on.

There is no hiding place in this group, and it worries people.

We always used to reach for stuff that we washed with, ate or drank. Other than Anheuser-Busch (BUD - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- still waiting for that takeover -- the trade's not working.

That's distributing, and it's not changing any time soon.

Random musings: AIG (AIG - commentary - Cramer's Take) still has Sullivan as CEO despite these investigations? I am sick of that stock. But fortunately I got sick of it in the $60s.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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