You Can't Afford to Be Certain

You know what? I am going to wait until I am sure housing has turned before I buy the homebuilders like Lennar (LEN - commentary - Trade Now) and Pulte (PHM - commentary - Trade Now). I am going to wait until the foreclosures peak before I buy Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Trade Now) and Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until unemployment goes down before I buy 3M (MMM - commentary - Trade Now) and Disney (DIS - commentary - Trade Now) and IBM (IBM - commentary - Trade Now) and Caterpillar (CAT - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until auto sales go above 10 million before I buy Ford (F - commentary - Trade Now). I am going to wait until land lines turn positive before I buy Verizon (VZ - commentary - Trade Now) or AT&T (T - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until consumer spending turns up before I buy Apple (AAPL - commentary - Trade Now) or Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - commentary - Trade Now) or Best Buy (BBY - commentary - Trade Now) or Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until I see actual up year-over-year earnings before I pull the trigger on a Federal Express (FDX - commentary - Trade Now) or a UPS (UPS - commentary - Trade Now). I am going to wait until rail-car loadings go positive before I buy Union Pacific (UNP - commentary - Trade Now) or Norfolk Southern (NSC - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until natural gas prices go up to $6 on real demand before I buy Anadarko (APC - commentary - Trade Now) or Devon (DVN - commentary - Trade Now). I am going to wait until oil goes back over $80 before I buy Schlumberger (SLB - commentary - Trade Now) and Transocean (RIG - commentary - Trade Now). So what if Apache (APA - commentary - Trade Now) blew away the numbers? I want them all to blow away the numbers before I wade back in.

I am going to wait until health care reform is actually killed before I buy Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - commentary - Trade Now) or Express Scripts (ESRX - commentary - Trade Now) or Medco Health (MHS - commentary - Trade Now).

I am going to wait until I see actual top-line growth before I buy any cyclical. I am going to wait until the Fed tells us that things are at last stable before I buy any stock.

There. That's what I see and read and hear on TV and intensely on this show. People who are going to wait. People who want the all-clear to be sounded. People who believe you can wait.

ALL JIM CRAMER BLOG ENTRIES | POST A COMMENT | READ COMMENTS  

---

Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman 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.