Obama Not as Bullish as the Market

Is there really a presidential tightrope? Did the president do the wrong thing not walking across to the New York Stock Exchange, being at Federal Hall, 20 yards away?

No, I don't think so at all. But I was surprised that the president didn't give his team more credit for stemming the bank chaos that the banks got us in, and give praise to Ben Bernanke, who guided us out of a possible second depression.

I also thought he was very off message not talking about the stimulus about to kick in and how we are seeing a cessation in firings with a hope that jobs will come back.

He mentioned Lehman and AIG (AIG - commentary - Trade Now), but he did not mention ongoing investigations, and that was wrong. People want to know if there is justice coming. I also though the president spent too much time talking about the "too big to fail" issues and not enough about how there is now much more transparency and how the bad actors are being pursued and punished.

It is really important for the president, I think, to project a sense that things are getting better, especially when they are. I think it was really important to talk about how Tim Geithner's stress tests really helped change things.

Most important, he should have said that the he has faith that the future is better than the past because the banking system is getting stronger, home prices have stabilized and the government will get the money back over time that it lent out.

Why he didn't do this is a great mystery to me. We have created a new world where the over-leverage is gone, the transparency is back and we will have a market that creates oversight on its own.

The only thing that still stinks, if you ask me, is the ratings agencies and their lackeys. I am taking them on tonight. That would have been a good coda for the president.

Disappointed. Disappointed he wasn't more bullish.

Random musings: Genworth (GNW - commentary - Trade Now) doing a deal for equity,. Hallelujah, as that's my insurer. If you want to read more about commercial real estate's comeback, click here. ... I will be on late tonight on CNBC, if you want catch me, and on "The Today Show" tomorrow in the first 15 minutes.

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

ALL JIM CRAMER BLOG ENTRIES | POST A COMMENT | READ COMMENTS  

---

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.

TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Amazon.com under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Amazon.com purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.