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RealMoney.com: Jim Cramer Blog
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Here's Where We Are

By Jim Cramer
RealMoney Columnist

1/29/2009 11:20 AM EST
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Crummy stimulus plan plus terrible industrial earnings equals what you see on your screen ... and a rally in the soft goods companies.

That's the recipe. It isn't just Colgate (CL - commentary - Cramer's Take), which gave you a great number, because the other day Kimberly-Clark (KMB - commentary - Cramer's Take) gave you a miserable number, but it didn't matter at all in retrospect because the stock is climbing. Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take) was really cautious, no buyback -- worrisome -- and the stock is up anyway. I would circle back to some of the beat-up drugs -- Bristol-Myers (BMY - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- as well as the McCormicks (MKC - commentary - Cramer's Take) on this, maybe Campbell's Soup (CPB - commentary - Cramer's Take), although I would say that Hershey (HSY - commentary - Cramer's Take) has moved up too much, and I am still worried about Procter's (PG - commentary - Cramer's Take) earnings. Don't forget the biotechs -- a real bottom is being put in there, too, a la Celgene (CELG - commentary - Cramer's Take).

It isn't all over for the industrials. If you cut back enough, you win: 3M (MMM - commentary - Cramer's Take), Nucor (NUE - commentary - Cramer's Take) and U.S. Steel (X - commentary - Cramer's Take) are either up or barely giving back gains.

I think it comes back to the stimulus plan, which we now are all revolted about and feel betrayed by. You simply can't make a case for any infrastructure or tech play off that miserable piece of pork. And that's the only way to describe it -- some actual manufacturing stimulus within a whole pork load of nonsense. The stunning lack of help to the economy is what's more upsetting to this market than the decline in the Black & Decker (BDK - commentary - Cramer's Take), Illinois Tool Works (ITW - commentary - Cramer's Take), Fortune Brands (FO - commentary - Cramer's Take), Textron (TXT - commentary - Cramer's Take) contingent.

Of course, the S&P selling as well as the ProShares UltraShort Financials (SKF - commentary - Cramer's Take) buying is weighing on everything, including the Colgates, which would be up even more given this embarrassing turn of Washington events.

You basically cannot ever count on Washington. Even though Bernanke does his best, we end up with the lack of business being done, and the lack of a place to stick bad assets.

I know people will freak out on the new homes number -- part of the BDK problem. But can I just say that the fewer new homes, the more new-home builders will go under ... which is really fabulous for the thesis of a bottom in the summer.

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Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman 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.

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