Why pick? Why take pain? Why buy down? Because these turns are too unfathomable to approach it any other way.
When I look at the swings and the moments and how quickly they are over, all I can think of is if you don't buy down on a scale, you are going to miss out, and it will be too hard to get those profits back.
Yesterday, so many stocks were at such low levels vs. where they finished. Every bank and utility seemed to have breathless moves, but if you let fear take hold of you, you simply couldn't make money. What you had to do was fall back on discipline, a scale discipline, a price discipline, one where you could say, "I am taking the emotion out of it."
You also could not afford to "play" the market. On anything I wanted to do on Action Alerts PLUS where I said, "It's down 3, now let's just wait until it is down 4," I missed an opportunity.
There were the old leaders -- the oils, and ags and minings and infras -- that were so down from their highs that to call them leaders and then banish them from being bought is just crazy, hence their rallies from the bottom.
Basically, we are in for a wild, volatile ride for the moment. Discipline -- price discipline -- is your friend. Emotion is your enemy.
P.S. Will you be there when Cramer makes his next move?
Strong brands and companies with vast market exposure can help bolster your portfolio. Jim was able to lock in a 64% gain by buying Ingersoll-Rand at $13 and selling at $22.50. Action Alerts PLUS members were the first to see these moves. Were you among them? Get Free Access Today!
Jim Cramer Blog What a Day to Make Money 1/23/2008 4:45 PM EST And think of the great stocks that were to be had at low levels.
Jim Cramer Blog Look for Anomalies 1/23/2008 3:00 PM EST Some stocks have unfairly sold off with the market, presenting opportunities here.
Jim Cramer Blog Not a Seller Here 1/23/2008 1:36 PM EST We'll keep buying products and services, so those stocks will pop back up.
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.
To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here.
Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here. TheStreet.com has a revenue-sharing relationship with Amazon.com under which it receives a portion of the revenue from Amazon.com purchases by customers directed there from TheStreet.com.
RSS FEEDS
PODCASTS
