The Public Is Looking to Sell Here

The history is not good for Friday bottoms. We just haven't had a lot of them. That's because what happens is that Main Street doesn't pay that much attention during the week, or can't really focus, and then the regular people -- those not connected with Wall Street -- look at how they have done, and they pull out. But that said, if you listened to my various sell calls, you have to buy some stocks that yield 6% or 7% that can afford that yield (Altria (MO - commentary - Cramer's Take)), and you can buy some Procter & Gamble (PG - commentary - Cramer's Take) and General Mills (GIS - commentary - Cramer's Take) because they could have great numbers. Again, if you listened to me and sold a huge amount, you must do some buying. Look at what's up in tech, that might work, too.

Why not be more bullish beyond trading? Because of this annuity problem.

I have been watching Hartford (HIG - commentary - Cramer's Take), Prudential (PRU - commentary - Cramer's Take), MetLife (MET - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Lincoln National (LNC - commentary - Cramer's Take) (look at last night's piece on that one) to monitor stress. These companies have guaranteed certain returns on annuities, and I don't know how they can make those returns, but maybe they can somehow.

And I am thinking that these companies, if they are smart, should be selling S&P futures heavily to protect themselves.

That's what happened, though, in 1987. We had something called portfolio insurance that allowed those who wanted to insure their portfolios to protect themselves on the downside by using dynamic hedging, meaning they sold on the way down.

It was a disaster. It didn't work. The market broke and they weren't able to give you that return.

That's what you have to look at, people who are worried about their 401(k)s, people who are worried about their annuities. The annuities maybe can't pay. The mutual funds are just now beginning to see withdrawals.

The public is not looking to get long. The public is not looking to take advantage of the decline. That's just never been the case. Ever. Those who are saying it on TV are simply ahistorical and non-rigorous. They have done no homework about panics. The public has taken out about $100 billion from the market lately. That's a good template.

They are looking to sell.

Random musings: I wish Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) had not dropped out of the bidding for Wachovia (WB - commentary - Cramer's Take), even though I think it is "right" that Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take) wins. That's because I don't' want Citigroup to be Lehman, which is back on the table after no merger. It is the lone financial black hole, along with GM (GM - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Ford (F - commentary - Cramer's Take), which haven't yet gotten the federal monies...

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria, Procter & Gamble and General Mills.

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