Retail Loses Its Leadership Position

Retail, Main Street. All bad. That's what you have to look through if you are going to buy today.

The problem, of course, is, how can you look through this kind of decline? Will people have the stomach for it without dramatic declines in stock prices first, as we are seeing with Wal-Mart (WMT - commentary - Cramer's Take)?

Do you say "No, I will go with Kohl's (KSS - commentary - Cramer's Take), which was good?" Or J.C. Penney (JCP - commentary - Cramer's Take), which has a decent dividend, and which wasn't horrible? Macy's (M - commentary - Cramer's Take), which is rationalizing its store base?

Or do you skip the group entirely? Can you really buy Best Buy (BBY - commentary - Cramer's Take) after it has almost doubled? Maybe it should be up 30% and you can buy it? Just the opposite. Or do you buy the stock that had been out of favor because people had been so bullish that it was left far behind until yesterday: Family Dollar (FDO - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Howard Levine, the CEO, did a great job on Mad Money last night: lots and lots of upside, from systems alone. I am a buyer at $25. Sears (SHLD - commentary - Cramer's Take), which was fantastic, amazing: That will smoke the bears for certain. Still, that's not enough. The Pro Ultra Bear guys will crush the group all day.

That says you skip the group entirely until it retreats and retreats big. Even if it wrecks the charts! Think leadership after these reports. Think what's been lost. We have lost it in tech, which had been strong. Lost in retail, which had been strong. Lost in oils, which had been strong. Lost in soft goods, which had been strong. Lost in REITS, which had been strong. Lost in drug stocks, which had been strong. Lost the minerals, which had been strong. .

I think the Nasdaq will try to rally today. That's the place to watch, because the bulls still love the group despite the lack of good fundamentals. It keeps me from being gawd-awful negative. Another good opportunity to sell, as we are so, so overbought.

I think the numbers we are seeing are a repudiation of the move to 9000. We are locked into the range, locked, down 1000 from here being the bottom, at least until the second half. Yeah, we go lower.

Wait.

Random musings: TD Ameritrade (AMTD - commentary - Cramer's Take) buying Sink or Swim -- wow, they believe in this market, and that's important, as they have the pulse. ... Important.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Wal-Mart.

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