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Of course it is bad out there. No kidding. I just sat through an hour of "Squawk Box," and Joe Kernen and I chatted between breaks about the absurd nature of so many people coming on who are now bearish who had thought things were fine! People who say the worst is yet to come.
The time to get bearish was last year. The time to be constructive is now. Troubled banks? They can raise money because the psychology has changed. Bankers can catch their breath and put in plans, as I think Wachovia (WB - commentary - Cramer's Take) will -- I really want to own that one if it would just pull back. Many companies have put through price increases just as raw costs could be falling, leading next year to be a gigantic profit machine. And now people are negative. I sit there and listen to jibber-jabber about credit spreads and bond markets failing and telltale signs of trouble that are allegedly not reflected in stocks, and all I can say is, "Did you see where Fannie (FNM - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Freddie (FRE - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Citi (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Wachovia and Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Lehman (LEH - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- why didn't Dick Fuld do what Bob Steel did? -- traded last week? Those reflected BANKRUPTCIES. Ford (F - commentary - Cramer's Take) and GM (GM - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Bankruptcies. The banking system? Collapse. You don't get bearish after that. You get bullish. For the last two weeks, we have had bull-bear readings with the bulls under 30, the lowest I can recall. We had the market the most oversold that I can recall just last week. These are not levels from which you get a snapback bear-market rally and then it is over. These are levels that launch new bull markets with new leadership and new names. Even I am not that bullish, but at least I feel that I have a better case to be made than the bears I hear. I am simply tuning them out. They are way too dangerous. Random musings: I didn't get to ask the Dow (DOW - commentary - Cramer's Take) CEO, but if he has a $20 billion natural gas bill, is he a buyer or seller of nat gas here? At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.
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. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here. TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Amazon.com under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Amazon.com purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.
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