Plenty of Mergers Look Ripe to Be Done

Or how about the steel stocks? AK Steel (AKS - commentary - Cramer's Take) was supposed to be taken out at $50. Now it can be taken out at $12. Reliance Steel (RS - commentary - Cramer's Take) is so cheap. I know the fundamentals in the near term are awful. But does anyone think that China ultimately doesn't come back? U.S. Steel (X - commentary - Cramer's Take) sells at 2 times earnings. Does anyone think that it swings to a loss? That's what the stock says. I know Bethlehem Steel did that in the 90s. But X is no BS. There's real opportunity here.

I am amazed at how paralyzed everyone is. No one can get a loan, but there are a lot of deals that don't need loans. Everyone seems to be waiting for lower prices, courtesy the big pension funds and the hedge funds. I can't blame them -- the deals that have been done, the stocks that have been offered, are all financials, and you have lost huge on them.

But it is reasonable to think that there is something to be done, that there can be some mergers based on forced selling, creating bargains.

They just haven't occurred yet.

I just want to know what people are waiting for. The bottoms are much closer to the top. How can the oil companies not want to buy other oil companies and the oil service companies not want to buy other oil service companies? There you have hard asset values.

But then again, you have the hedge funds setting the price of the commodity.

So why risk looking bad?

Why bother?

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Foster Wheeler.

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