PCs Spoil the Session

So personal computers stunk so badly that it didn't matter what else happened. At least for now. Everything is trading down precipitously in a way that smacks of another give-up.

Remember, this market trades off of whoever speaks last. The last two speakers are Gateway (GTW:NYSE - news - boards) and Altera (ALTR:Nasdaq - news - boards) and both are saying extremely negative things.

How negative? Mind-blowingly negative. Gateway's miss is just gigantic. As big as they come. Altera's is massively negative. They are saying things that make you feel that things have suddenly gotten much worse. They make you feel that Dan Niles was dead right in his call yesterday that you have to stay away from anything having to do with communications semiconductors.

Of course, nobody who is long wants to hear any of this. And there will be a loud defense that we should ignore the news because it is Altera- and Gateway-specific. But it isn't.

And we will have another tough tech day, even as we have another easy day in food and drug land. I was amazed to hear that someone on the tube was saying the drug stocks are getting dangerous here. To who? That's the kind of propaganda that makes me crazy. The risk is in the companies with bad fundies, not with high stock prices. That's all that matters to the buyers and sellers in this market.

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James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his fund had no positions in any stocks mentioned. His fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns, both before and after the columns are published, and the positions that his fund takes may change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at James J. Cramer .