Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Making Sense of the Rally

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you get too negative and give up, that's when lightning will strike, Jim Cramer told his "Mad Money" TV show viewers Thursday as he tried to make sense of the day's dramatic turnaround and rally. Cramer said when you least expect it, that's when the markets always move.

Things were looking ugly at 4 a.m., said Cramer, as he recounted his morning ritual. He said the news was riddled with talk of Greek defaults, Spanish bond auctions and weak earnings around the globe as a result. Even before the U.S. markets opened the futures pointed to a 40 point decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Cramer said he was preparing for another really bad day.

But then, almost in an instant, European central banker Mario Draghi made comments that he was committed to saving Europe's ailing economies by any means necessary. Cramer said in the time it took him to get a cup of coffee, the futures were up 200 points, a full 240-point swing in just minutes.

Cramer said that caution still remains the watch word for these fickle markets. What Europe giveth it usually takes away a few days later, he reminded viewers. He said that Germany's Angela Merkel will likely pull the rug out from under the markets before the weekend's done, but until then investors should enjoy the gains.

Executive Decision

In the "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer sat down with Michael Ward, chairman, president and CEO of CSX (CSX), the railroad operator that delivered an earnings beat of two cents a share thanks to a strengthening U.S. economy.

Ward offered a candid look at the U.S. economy. He said utility coal shipments were down and down big, falling from 1.5 million carloads just a few years ago to just one million carloads this year. That wasn't unexpected however, Ward noted, the closing of older, dirty coal-fired power plants is just happening sooner than expected.

However, outside of coal, Ward painted a rosy picture, noting that auto shipments rose 27% and nearly 80% of CSX's other markets are stable to improving. Even in the lumbering forest products industry, which is closely tied to the housing markets, is showing slow but steady growth. Chemicals, natural gas and oil shipments are also rising.

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