Jim Cramer's Best Blogs

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It's Never Quite as Dire as It Seems

Originally published on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 6:59 a.m. EDT

When nothing's working, something's working. I know sounds counterintuitive. but there is simply no reason to think, as bad as this market is -- and it is really, really bad -- that there isn't something to buy.

We are gripped by the fear of the remaining black holes -- Ford (F Quote), GM (GM Quote), Fannie (FNM Quote) and Freddie (FRE Quote), AIG (AIG Quote), Lehman (LEH Quote), WaMu (WM Quote) and Citigroup (C Quote) -- and we all know it. They are not convenient whipping boys. They are the Seven Deadly Stocks, and they aren't going away.

But are they really hurting General Mills (GIS Quote)? Can I see selling Procter & Gamble (PG Quote) because of them? After we know the price increases are all baked in? And don't hit me with that strong-dollar stuff, because GIS doesn't have that much overseas exposure. Same with Pepsi (PEP Quote): This is a national company with an international arm that is generating oodles of cash and doesn't have as much bad commodity exposure as it did a few months ago.

I am not saying that these Seven Deadly Stocks are a recipe for good news out of housing or retail. Far from it. I have now read through every conference call of every retailer, including Limited (LTD Quote) and Gap (GPS Quote) and Dick's (DKS Quote) and Ann Taylor (ANN Quote) to give you some granularity, and not a single one's success had anything to do with demand. It all had to do with supply -- more importantly, a lack of it.