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The joke, the big joke, is that the short rates are so high and there's a total lack of urgency on the part of the Fed to cut them. Think about what we are seeing here: defaults for retirement monies, incredible billion-dollar portfolios worth 11 cents on the dollar, horrible auto sales, worst housing market since the depression, miserable retail sales.
How catastrophically stupid is that? Last week there was a series of talks given by the nation's largest homebuilders. I was amazed at one of the most important income lines for these homebuilders: the free money from deposits from buyers who walk away because they cant get financing. Real healthy. The total detachment, the lack of a belief in the negative micro data, all of it just is nuts. They have to shut up and start cutting because only cutting, not Treasury, can save some of the institutions that are teetering. Random musings: Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take) has not been able to buy back stock ever since a judge ruled that it had to put $1.2 billion in escrow as part of the Engle case in Florida. They just got the $1.2 billon back. Buyback coming next year... At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria.
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