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RealMoney.com: Jim Cramer Blog
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MBIA: First in a Class That Just Doesn't Get It

By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist

10/31/2007 6:31 AM EDT
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If you want to know why this Fed decision is so difficult it has nothing to do with the endless jabbering about a weak dollar -- you get the economy moving again and believe me you will have people who want dollars.

It has everything to do with losses, how big they will be, and if they will be overwhelming or containable.

First, it is always about the losses, not about the inflation, when it comes to the imperative of cutting. No Fed ever wants to cut. Never. Who would?

The Weak cut.

The Strong raise.

Pretty simple, right? Who wants to look weak, ever! But if the losses overwhelm the system -- losses that could possibly be stemmed by their actions -- they have to cut and cut hard.

But how big will the losses be? Amazingly, after all the pain that has been taken, we don't know. And, more important, there are people who either don't want to know or genuinely believe that things won't get so much worse that we should worry.

Which is why, for a few words, I want to focus on the venerable -- which means you know I am going to slam them -- MBIA (MBI - commentary - Cramer's Take), a company that complains to my staff at CNBC whenever I say that it insures mortgages. They are right: they insure something much more difficult to understand and maybe more toxic: groups of mortgages.

First, let me just say this is another outfit that believes, point blank, that I have done no homework and have no idea what I am talking about. Those two barbs have become the bane of my existence. They are what is brought out any time I question what's going on.

When I hear them I know that I am about to get snowed by someone who knows less than I do.

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

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.

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