The Latest Tug of War

Preannouncement after preannouncement after preannouncement. Yawn after yawn after yawn.

I've never seen anything like it. Worst ever. But, did anyone really think Ingersoll Rand (IR - commentary - Cramer's Take), cut in half here, would make the quarter? How about Nucor (NUE - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Stanley Works (SWK - commentary - Cramer's Take)? ITT (ITT - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Eaton (ETN - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Pentair (PNR - commentary - Cramer's Take)? I figured they would all miss. I bet the ones that preannounced last night hardly go down. Why should they? ITT's up nicely. Eaton's unchanged. Not even glancing blows. Nucor's up 10! Ten from a preannouncement.

Most glaring: the 10% miss by Joy Global (JOYG - commentary - Cramer's Take) with the almost 15% rally! Now that's gigantic.

That's why people feel better about this tape. In the end of that big run up, stocks failed to react to even the biggest beats. Now they fail to react to the biggest misses.

Makes you want to go out and buy all the Honeywell (HON - commentary - Cramer's Take), the one that didn't miss, that you can!

But that's the true tug of war in this market. We are all fearful from the top down. I mean, think about it. There was a guy on Bloomberg TV last night saying that anyone who can even pretend to know where things are going to be next year is lying. Anyone.

Yet the stocks reflect total and utter uncertainty and then some. No, I don't want to buy Nucor up here. I sure wish I had when it was reflecting imminent collapse of the system rather than just prospective collapse, which is where we are now.

Like everyone else, including the policymakers, I know that there is no lending going on whatsoever at any prices that can be considered sane unless it is from the FDIC. I know that things are just awful in the credit markets.

But I know that the stocks are going higher. The worst tug of war for a rigorous investor possible because the stocks are forecasting that Bernanke and Co.'s plan wins.

Or at least that it doesn't lose.

Here's where I come out. I know it may not win, I know things are very bad, but I also know that if he had done nothing, I would be laughing at all of those people who bought and are buying.

Now it just doesn't seem very funny. Seems like the joke's on those not playing...

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Eaton.

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