The Markups Have Begun

Some pretty interesting markup action starting today, proving once again that the buying ahead of the quarter-end is happening earlier and earlier. I think that's because if you move 'em up now so much, it won't even matter if they come down, because they will not come down to these levels.

Take a look at the steels: U.S. Steel (USX - commentary - Cramer's Take) is a fabulous stock this quarter, and people want to show they own that one. I think Nucor (NUE - commentary - Cramer's Take) is cheaper right now, a la Goldman's recommendation today to swap into it. Iron ore producer Cleveland Cliffs (CLF - commentary - Cramer's Take) isn't going to quit either at this pace. What a fabulous markup candidate that one is.

Fluor's (FLR - commentary - Cramer's Take) been a big winner here, so that one's off to the races, taking up a lot of other infra names; I prefer Foster (FWLT - commentary - Cramer's Take), McDermott (MDR - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Shaw (SGR - commentary - Cramer's Take) at these levels.

The fertilizers are on the move, with Agrium (AGU - commentary - Cramer's Take) as the leader. Mosaic's (MOS - commentary - Cramer's Take) down -- that could be an opportunity -- and I like Deere (DE - commentary - Cramer's Take) best in the group.

Coal's obvious: Peabody (BTU - commentary - Cramer's Take) is still the best because of China and I like Arch Coal (ACI - commentary - Cramer's Take), but remember the pick-and-shovel thesis and I would go with Bucyrus (BUCY - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Joy Global (JOYG - commentary - Cramer's Take).

And then there is oil and gas. There, everything is on fire: Southwestern (SWN - commentary - Cramer's Take) is not keeping pace, so I would buy that one, and El Paso (EP - commentary - Cramer's Take) is well behind.

But they are all great, including Ultra (UPL - commentary - Cramer's Take), Apache (APA - commentary - Cramer's Take), Anadarko (APC - commentary - Cramer's Take), Chesapeake (CHK - commentary - Cramer's Take), XTO (XTO - commentary - Cramer's Take) and all of the wildcatters I have been profiling on "Mad Money." Today people are buying every driller, with Halliburton (HAL - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Nabors (NBR - commentary - Cramer's Take) doing the best today because of their natural exposure. Here, frankly I would buy ANYTHING right along with them. It is the strongest group out there, and it's not done yet.

What a quarter for these winners. So the pile-in isn't over. Not until two days before the end of the quarter. Oh, and needless to say, the losers -- the banks and the brokers -- are so nauseating and awful that no one can possibly show they own them. Big downward pressure on these. You do have to be an idiot or have brain-dead clients to own these this week.

Random musings: Altucher was dead right on the 3Com score. Found money here.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Southwestern, El Paso, Deere, Foster Wheeler, and XTO.

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