Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! Sell Thornburg

08/01/07 - 03:03 PM EDT

TheStreet.com Staff

Don't buy the homebuilders for a bounce here, Jim Cramer warned Wednesday on CNBC's "Stop Trading!" segment.

Cramer said that the market is oversold and that many of the homebuilders and mortgage stocks are probably being hit harder than is justified. But he still wouldn't buy names such as Beazer (BZH Quote - Cramer on BZH - Stock Picks) or Thornburg Mortgage (TMA Quote - Cramer on TMA - Stock Picks), because "who needs it?" Cramer asked.

Cramer conceded that the market has turned into a "one-trick pony" whose response to even the slightest rumor is to sell the financials en masse. But he said investors should still avoid the entire sector, because there are industrial companies and tech names out there "doing fabulously" -- so why not buy them instead and be spared the drama?

You need to be "prudent," Cramer said, and "preserve capital." He said some of these stocks, namely Citi (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) and Countrywide (CFC Quote - Cramer on CFC - Stock Picks), may be worth buying if the Fed cuts rates sharply to stave off a financial crisis. But in the meantime, Cramer said he worries more about Fed chief Ben Bernanke's anti-inflation obsession than about missing a few points in any rare financial rally.

Cramer said an 11% selloff at MasterCard (MA Quote - Cramer on MA - Stock Picks) is "probably overdone," but he was lukewarm about buying it at a recent $140 and change, given how far it has run. Cramer said he doesn't want any part of Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC Quote - Cramer on MIC - Stock Picks), which, despite being a play on global termite growth, is "a black box," Cramer warned. "Who knows what they have?"

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

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. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order his book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

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