Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap for July 29

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Merrill Lynch's(MER Quote) fire sale of financial toxic mortgage-related assets could offer a way out of the jungle of problems that have bedeviled financial stocks and the market, James Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Tuesday.

Cramer was heartened by Merrill's decision to sell its "bad bonds and collateralized debt obligations." He said the move was significant because it finally offered both a buyer and a seller for its financial toxic waste.

As a result, the moves could pave the way for other financially plagued institutions such as Citigroup(CIT Quote), Wachovia(WB Quote) and Washington Mutual(WB Quote). He said it offers them a model for "what they have to do to save themselves."

The second piece of the puzzle that ignited a 266.48-point rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the "remarkably great earnings" of Colgate Palmolive(CL Quote) and US Steel(X Quote). Their results, he said, are "a sign that market wants to rally."

The third piece of the puzzle that helps explain the rally is the collapse of oil prices. He said a fall of oil prices to $110 would drop gas prices to $3.50 a gallon.

And he said the rally is not over if the the federal government issues a decent "employment numbers" on Friday.

Looking back at the Merrill deal, Cramer said he was unhappy at how he was hoodwinked time and again by John Thain, the company's chairman and CEO, who, he said, "overpromised" and "underdelivered" both at Merrill and at NYSE Euronext(X Quote).

For his actions, Cramer placed Thain on his "Wall of Shame."

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