What $5 Gas Means

(Editor's Note: RealMoney is free to all TheStreet.com readers until Monday night. We hope you enjoy this article. If you would like to subscribe to RealMoney, please click here.)

The headwinds have finally turned into a cyclone-force gale. People keep asking, "What will be cut back because of oil?"

We are beginning to get the answers. First, the profitable auto lines. You just feel like too much of a sucker if you can't get north of 25 miles to the gallon. A $100 fill-up is within reach, and you have to think twice when you turn the key. That's Ford's (F Quote) problem, and it's a bad one. Ford is ground zero of what gets sacrificed, not a night at Olive Garden.

Retail's difficult to discern, until you go to a Dick's (DKS Quote). There isn't anything at Dick's that isn't sold cheaper -- although not necessarily better -- at Wal-Mart (WMT Quote). Dick's sells expensive sporting goods. You buy this stuff for your kids. They outgrow the stuff. They abuse the stuff. You are not going to go to Dick's to buy the more expensive version of something that's cheaper.

Or look at the important categories at BJ's (BJ Quote). They are the foodstuffs that you would have bought at a Supervalu or a Safeway.

Again, same thing. You'll buy at Costco (COST Quote) and BJ's and Wal-Mart, not the costlier equivalent, because you don't want necessarily to trade down as much as you want to get the volume. Remember, at Wal-Mart you are either getting their volume price for something you might get at Dick's or you get something close enough to Dick's that your kids will be fine.

So, let's summarize. You get in your car that gets the best gas mileage or you buy a new one that does -- which happens to have low margins for the autos -- and you either buy in bulk at Costco/BJ's or go to Wal-Mart.

That's what the soon-to-be-$5 gasoline is going to do.

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