Lots of Paper for Sale, No Bids

Let's get something straight. People are going to be frightened of their money funds. That's what AllianceBernstein (AB - commentary - Cramer's Take) being down almost $7 says.

People would be aghast if they were on a fixed income desk at any major firm in this country.

Aghast.

There's paper for sale everywhere, and there are no bids whatsoever. I have seen AAA paper trading at 300 basis points above Treasuries. I have seen things that I had no idea could occur: paper that is worth something like 80 cents to 90 cents on the dollar being traded at 20 cents.

Nobody has any money.

I have heard from many people in the media that I was irresponsible last Friday with my rant.

Now that I have seen the chaos today, I know that I was perhaps the only responsible guy out there.

Of course, I could have easily just said, "Remember, you can own Coke (KO - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Procter & Gamble (PG - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- they did well in 1990, when most money center banks were insolvent."

But I chose to address the financial system.

I want someone from the Fed to visit a bond desk somewhere. Anywhere. I want someone from the Fed to recognize that when 80-cent bonds are trading at 20 cents, that's a level of deflation that is remarkable.

And the predominant risk is still inflation?

Are they nuts? Oops -- that's what I asked the other day. I should have been louder and more assertive.

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

ALL JIM CRAMER BLOG ENTRIES | POST A COMMENT | READ COMMENTS  

---

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder 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. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order his book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Traders' Library under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Traders' Library purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.