Secondary Offerings' Results Give Banks a Lift

It is almost impossible these days to figure what's driving these banks: earnings, TARP, supply, demand, rates? The group has become inscrutable.

But I have a new theory. We are pretty much done with the secondaries, with the exception of Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Trade Now), which will probably insist right into the end that it doesn't need an equity offering, and SunTrust (STI - commentary - Trade Now), which won't be all that big if and when it happens. .

That means the supply will peter out in one week's time. The successful BB&T (BBT - commentary - Trade Now) deal and the small size of the PNC (PNC - commentary - Trade Now) deal emboldens us. Fifth Third (FITB - commentary - Trade Now) and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN - commentary - Trade Now)? I want in on the latter if it happens; I will pass on the former.

This means we could be out of the banking woods for now, and you see what happens when the supply lifts.

They love the group!

I am thinking maybe circling back to Bank of New York (BK - commentary - Trade Now), under the print. Could be the best one left to buy. Capital One (COF - commentary - Trade Now), well under the print? I don't know. I listened to the president today in New Mexico. He's gunning for these companies. Just too much headline risk for this guy. Not for the squeamish.

One last thought: If you had told me there would be this much issuance in this short a period of time (and I am not even talking about Dow Chemical (DOW - commentary - Trade Now) and MGM Mirage (MGM - commentary - Trade Now) and Ford (F - commentary - Trade Now) and U.S. Steel (X - commentary - Trade Now)), I would have expected much more of a hit to the market than we got.

Doesn't change the mind of the gloom and doomers, but it reminds me that you can be, after a couple of down days, too negative.

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

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