DOW
loading...
NASDAQ
loading...
S&P
loading...




Action Alerts PLUS
RealMoney Silver
Market Movers
Stocks Under $10
Options Alerts
Breakout Stocks
View All


Now, enjoy the good life every day!

RSSRSS FEEDS
PODPODCASTS


RealMoney.com: Jim Cramer Blog
Print This Story

Watch This Financial Darwinism at Work

By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist

9/12/2008 3:14 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Jim Cramer
 
Try Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS
CLICK HERE NOW

At the bottom in 1990, you began to see the big bifurcation in the banks between the haves, who were going to be favored by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC, and the have-nots, which were left out to dry.

 
It started with Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take), which began a historic ascent that let it become a great national bank; Bank America and NationsBank -- which merged to become Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Cramer's Take) -- had a similar run. You just got this phenomenal split, and you bet that we are seeing it now.

Take a look at Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp (USB - commentary - Cramer's Take): these are just on fire and are almost at their 52-week high. Why? Because the regulators are going to let them buy the deposits of the failed banks throughout the country. This Darwinian process is being telegraphed right now by the market.

While everyone would like to think that every bank is run by morons, the winning banks didn't write that much during the bad days and are now ready to write when no one else can and they know they can write good loans to people with good jobs and make a ton of money.

These companies will also be the gigantic beneficiaries when the Fed panics and cuts rates big so they can make a hefty net interest margin to lend and will want to given the fact that nobody else will be. Of course, they don't have to do anything except take the 1.5% fed funds rate and invest it in the two-year for a risk-free arbitrage.

This is fairly obvious, isn't it? That's what is happening.

The consolidation is coming, and it is now unstoppable.

Only the collapse of a Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) can delay it, and that's the biggest question. Mind you, I do not expect outright buys to be made, a la Washington Mutual (WM - commentary - Cramer's Take) being bought by anyone. Why bother? If you just wait, they will roll over by themselves and you can buy the deposits, not the loans, in particular the home-equity loans, and WM has $60 billion of them according to David Faber at CNBC. Jamie Dimon doesn't want that. Who does?

No one.

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






 RELATED STORIES

Jim Cramer Blog
This Resilient Market Defies the Bears
9/12/2008 1:48 PM EDT
Yet another chance lost by the shorts.

Jim Cramer Blog
Stay Skeptical on the Hurricane Trade
9/12/2008 12:36 PM EDT
If the storm doesn't make a direct hit, energy infrastructure stocks could face damage in the market.

Jim Cramer Blog
Bears on the Hot Seat
9/12/2008 11:13 AM EDT
Why haven't we cracked?



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.



Brokerage Partners



Write us!
Order reprints of TSC articles.

TheStreet Premium Services
Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS
Now any level of investor can trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — and enjoy 24/7 access to his portfolio! Learn More
Doug Kass
RealMoney Silver
The genius of Doug Kass + 5 Premium Services = an unrivaled group of expert fundamental analysts, technical analysts, and Wall Street observers. Learn More
Don Dion
NEW! Don Dion's ETF Action
A concise two-step strategy for learning and trading in this increasingly lucrative area of investing. For all levels of investors! Learn More
David Peltier
Stocks Under $10
David Peltier is ready to help you find affordable stocks under $10. Because they're so inexpensive, the payout could be enormous! Learn More
Bryan Ashenberg
Breakout Stocks
Bryan Ashenberg combines sophisticated screening software with eagle-eye analysis to find small and mid-caps ready to break out! Learn More

Investor Relations | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Conflicts Policy | Corrections | Internet Index | Advertise | FAQ
Site Map | Who's Who | Reader Feedback | Employment | Contact Us
RSSSubscribe to our RSS Feed
© 1996- TheStreet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
TheStreet.com's enterprise databases running Oracle are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.