Investing Opinion

The ProBear Death Star

 

Long-term investing doesn't have to be the mantra. There's nothing wrong with short-term investing. There's nothing wrong with instruments that can allow you to profit from daytrading or whatever else can get you quick profits.

But that doesn't mean we should just approve anything. I am still smarting from the ProBear Ultra thesis that Eric Oberg propounded. And I know I am not alone. Someone on Bloomberg TV this afternoon questioned the very rationale for these, pointing out that if you used them to short financials, you got your head handed to you.

But -- and this wasn't said -- if you wanted to destroy the financial sector, you could do it handily by selling the ProBull and buying the ProBear, forcing the batchers who run these products to come in heavily and reconcile the sectors downward.

The SEC, in its skimpy analysis by what appears to be one guy, never considered what these instruments could be used for and dismissed out of hand the possibility of manipulating the "market" with them. But how about a sector?

If I wanted to take the bank stocks down, I would come in from 2:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. with guns blazing on the Pro products and then I would hit 'em again at 3:45 p.m. when they put in the market close orders. That would freak out the specialists in the individual stocks and they would quickly join in the shorting, and you would get a real rout in Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), JP Morgan (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC).

A-ha! That's what happens every day they are down.

Oberg's wise to them. Bloomberg's wise to them.

You must be.

Or you will get crushed by them. The companies with stocks that are in them should be screaming at the SEC right now to get rid of these useless products that are the greatest sector manipulators of all time.

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At the time of publication, Cramer was long JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman 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. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

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