In fact, they go up on the most horrendous news, just levitate! Last night's MBIA loss is staggering, especially because it was attributed to credit derivatives. The bizarre element of these companies is that they insured so much housing mortgage paper and credit aggregate paper -- CDOs and the like -- that if they could really pay off the mess they insured, the system would be much stronger. The fact that it is down horribly doesn't mean much. The fact that it is still a stock at all is incredible to me.

At one point a year and a half ago, we were gripped with the notion that their potential insolvency would threaten the whole capitalist system because banks were using their insurance to insure against default, which allowed them to value paper that might otherwise be down severely as par or such whereabouts. Fannie Mae (FNM - commentary - Trade Now) relied on PMI and MGIC for protection against losses that are now so horrific that I can't believe that insurance is worth anything.

Yet these stocks still trade, and MBIA amazingly traded up last night after its report before coming back to earth this morning. Who buys this stock at all except short-coverers? Do the longs have any idea what they are buying? What do they know? How can the stock be a real call on the company? Who keeps using them to insure anything? Why are they trusted? Why weren't they put in receivership by someone? Are we simply saying in the case of MBIA and Ambac that they are going to insure municipals but not derivatives? What happened to their guarantees? How can the common still be worth something if they aren't paying off?

These mysteries of stocks, stocks that you think would have cease to trade, exist throughout the system, for everything from Sirius XM Radio (SIRI - commentary - Trade Now), where the bonds seem like a much better bet, to Beazer Homes (BZH - commentary - Trade Now), which just reported -- how in the heck did these housing companies stay alive? -- to the four horsemen of housing-related insurance companies.

If anyone has an answer I welcome it. You can put it in the Columnist Conversation and maybe we can all hash it out together.

What the heck am I missing?

Random musings: Speaking of missing something, how in the heck did a U.S. government three-year auction do so well? Where is the money coming from to buy these notes? Especially at such exorbitant prices?

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

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