For Once, a Rally That Feels Real

I actually like this rally more than the last two or three rallies because it is not as repulsively short-squeeze oriented and because there are such bargains out there, really honest-to-heavens companies trading at or near cash or with huge dividends that can pay them, that it is worth putting capital to work.

I don't like that it was, once again, led by the now totally manipulated stock of Exxon Mobil (XOM - commentary - Cramer's Take), because that stock can ramp even when oil crashes, but at least there are some solid stocks such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - commentary - Cramer's Take) and General Mills (GIS - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Cisco (CSCO - commentary - Cramer's Take) playing a role. Those are dirt cheap, by the way, at this point.

And I do like that there are some stocks like Verizon (VZ - commentary - Cramer's Take), which are safe, leading the charge. Costco (COST - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Wal-Mart (WMT - commentary - Cramer's Take) don't hurt either as rally companions.

Today's selling seemed to me two-fold: options expiration, meaning that someone had sold a boatload of puts and was dead on them and had to buy them back or sell stock, and second, that there was an asset allocation change, where some big institution or institutions had to sell what they can -- equities, where there are bids -- not the illiquid bonds and private equity.

Put simply, it was worth it to try to buy what the technicians told you to sell, at least for a trade, because some of these prices have, at last, become completely and utterly ridiculous in relation to the cash flows and dividends that can be paid. Is it a joke that the Nazz led us out of the morass today? Totally. But that's always been the way, because the Nazz is easier to blitz upward, and the growth mutual funds are always good for a nice ramp.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Cisco, Costco, General Mills, Hewlett-Packard and Wal-Mart.

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.