The Banks Are Going Bye-Bye

Colonial Bancgroup (CNB - commentary - Cramer's Take) is emblematic of this market's viciousness. This is a bank that I played as a takeover name for most of the last two decades. It's an Alabama bank that was always rumored to be "next" in line to be acquired by a southern bank that needed a fill-in acquisition. It seems capable, well managed and altogether a tempting morsel, which is what kept it in play endlessly.

Now Colonial's gonzo. If you want to see what went wrong, click on Philip Van Doorn's extraordinary article. It's a penny stock. Penny stock for heaven's sake!

Can you believe that? Can you believe that something so loved at one time, so respected as a way to play bank consolidation has just been blown out of the water?

Well, I can. Because all the banks that were supposed to do the buying got blown out of the water too.

When you see a wholesale slaughter of an entire sector, one that has long been a dominant sector, your breath gets taken away. Regions (RF - commentary - Cramer's Take), Synovus (SNV - commentary - Cramer's Take), Suntrust (STI - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- they all "feel" like goners. They all feel like all of those California savings and loans that rolled over in the late 80s -- although the two big survivors, Downey and Washington Mutual, succumbed this time.

These stocks, not Potash (POT - commentary - Cramer's Take) or Mosaic (MOS - commentary - Cramer's Take) or Nucor (NUE - commentary - Cramer's Take), define the market for a lot of people.

And now they are going away.

It's amazing to me. Sobering. We are not done going down, I fear -- not until almost this entire segment gets wiped out.

You know that's what's happening. These are all death rattles now.

Shaking my head.

Shaking my head.

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

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