Bet With the Stocks, Not the Media

Now it's retailers that are running. You know I like the gasoline trade, but we get these runs like J.C. Penney (JCP - commentary - Trade Now), Nordstrom (JWN - commentary - Trade Now), VF Corp. (VFC - commentary - Trade Now) and Macy's (M - commentary - Trade Now) and we think to ourselves, "Wait a second -- haven't we read dozens of articles about how bad back-to-school season's going to go?"

What business is it of these stocks to rally? They aren't supposed to rally. They should go back down.

It bothers me immensely when we get a real negative read from the media and the stocks rally, especially because that means the media's just wrong.

It reminds me of Texas Instruments (TXN - commentary - Trade Now) at $13 when the media hated it and it then proceeded to go up 10 points. That wasn't supposed to happen either.

The ones that make sense to me such as Home Depot (HD - commentary - Trade Now), Lowes (LOW - commentary - Trade Now) and Sears (SHLD - commentary - Trade Now) -- all on account of the housing bottom -- are barely moving.

Capricious moves. The market's filled with them.

Unless things are much better and getting even better now that gasoline's going down and people away from New York are feeling better. Unless the bad news, like what Goldman Sachs (GS - commentary - Trade Now) said about Harley Davidson (HOG - commentary - Trade Now) in its upgrade, is already in and already discounted.

Sure seems that way, especially because we are still not hearing about robust demand.

I am going with the stocks, not the media, which is presuming no back to school season at all.

Once again we are faced with the absurdity of the media thinking we are still in a depression and the data signaling we are out of it.

Bet with the stocks.

Random musings: Options put-selling causing some of this retail rally? Run, don't walk, to Judd Pyle's piece on the move...

At the time of publication, Cramer was long VF Corp., Home Depot and Goldman Sachs.

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