Semi News Gives Hope for a Nazz Rally

Altera (ALTR - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Xilinx (XLNX - commentary - Cramer's Take), two companies that in the 1990s used to routinely blow out the numbers, lifting Cisco (CSCO - commentary - Cramer's Take) with them, issued statements last night and just now that give the Nasdaq a reason to rally. They have guided up or said things aren't that bad, which are precursors to higher prices.

Given that the Nasdaq is and has been a place of hope, these two will be used to generate a rally, perhaps of some significance, in the beaten-down SOX, and that will allow others -- including cell phones and networking players like Cisco -- to feel jaunty. Especially after the DRAM exchange recorded unprecedented declines of more than 10% in memory chip prices last week.

Now, it doesn't matter of course that these are small-time bumps. They are, put simply, a sense that things aren't falling off a cliff at this moment and they allow people to say "the worst is over."

That phrase, the most costly phrase around, gives hope that Cisco and EMC (EMC - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- what was that legal nonsense, ugh -- and of course Intel (INTC - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Microsoft (MSFT - commentary - Cramer's Take) can trade higher.

And so forth, and so on.

I say enjoy it. Maybe even take something; I took some Cisco yesterday. But never forget that the days when either of these two companies is a harbinger of anything have long since past.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Cisco.

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