Defensive Stocks Left in the Dust

Could the defensive stocks be hated more? Could someone sell Genzyme (GENZ - commentary - Trade Now) lower? Could someone pound General Mills (GIS - commentary - Trade Now) and Pepsi (PEP - commentary - Trade Now) more? Could someone dislike Coca-Cola (KO - commentary - Trade Now) despite the weak dollar?

Procter & Gamble (PG - commentary - Trade Now) is so stalled here. Colgate-Palmolive (CL - commentary - Trade Now) got crushed last week off of what really was a great quarter (biggest weak-dollar play, too). How about the Clorox (CLX - commentary - Trade Now) hit (well described by Gary Morrow to my right)?

Abbott Labs (ABT - commentary - Trade Now) is totally toxic to the point that it is brutal to those of us who own the stock. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - commentary - Trade Now) has had so much good news, and nobody cares whatsoever.

And I respect this move. I think it is telling and accurate, as I have seen cyclical recoveries, and they can be endless as anyone who traded way back in 1987 before the crash and then again right after. It was like this. You had months and months of underperformance by the big food companies, even as you got giant takeovers of companies like General Foods. It just was endless, because the economy was roaring back.

Be careful of the staples. The 1987-88 lesson is still with me.

They can be hated for a very long time.

Random musings: Now the Wall Street Journal is writing about how the Cash for Clunkers program gains will be short-lived for car companies. Can these guys ever say anything is good? ... How could the bears have raided MasterCard (MA - commentary - Trade Now) and Visa (V - commentary - Trade Now) so well, and where are the sellers now?

At the time of publication, Cramer was long ABT, BMY, GIS, PEP and V.

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