Jim Cramer
The insurers are all up. Sell the insurers. That's what you have to do in this environment. I am relatively sure that Travelers(TRV Quote - Cramer on TRV - Stock Picks) doesn't have bad exposure. I believe that Chubb's(CB Quote - Cramer on CB - Stock Picks) in good shape. But because of the bailout of Hartford Financial(HIG Quote - Cramer on HIG - Stock Picks), the group is rallying, and tomorrow people will realize how sick HIG might have been and we will see the credit default swaps spike and all the rumors start and soon the short-selling ban will be lifted, and, well, you get the picture.
We cannot trust any of these markets any more, and when we get lift, we have to use it, even if the lift seems logical as it does post-HIG. But this is just the lift we saw momentarily after the Wells(WFC Quote - Cramer on WFC - Stock Picks) bid, which, of course, is being derailed by the FDICs attempts to make sure Citigroup(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) wins. Meanwhile, the news out of Devon(DVN Quote - Cramer on DVN - Stock Picks) pretty much spells the end of the drilling sector as Devon had been the company with the richest prospects. Suddenly, the decline in the group, which has been tagged at the feet of the hedge fund managers, begins to make economic sense because the velocity of the decline in oil is going to make drilling seem foolhardy. When you add in the radical declines in driving in the country, which have continued despite $3.50 gasoline, you can see where Devon is coming from. Of course, these drilling companies are doing better than most, but they are, in the end, industrials and the payment for anything industrial is being suspended as the banking system regroups. I am monitoring National Oil Varco(NOV Quote - Cramer on NOV - Stock Picks), which has a stock that is falling apart much faster than the oil market is, and I am wondering where it can go to even if its backlog comes down. Perhaps the best way to look at it is to consider Joy Global(JOYG Quote - Cramer on JOYG - Stock Picks), which, with the stock at $3.6 billion is now buying back more than half the company in the open market and it is doing nothing to help the decline.
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