Cramer and Trump: Both Right About QE3 and Stocks

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Late last week on his Mad Money television show, TheStreet's Jim Cramer threw his support behind Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's decision to provide further economic stimulus.

Channeling Bruce Springsteen, Cramer argued, "You can't start a fire without a spark." I had no idea Cramer and I share an adoration of Springsteen. I will shamelessly milk that for all it's worth because, ultimately, Cramer is my best chance of meeting Bruce backstage.

That aside, I agree with Jim's sentiment.

Also on CNBC, Maria Bartiromo interviewed Donald Trump. Trump dissed QE3, arguing that it creates "phony numbers" in the stock and mortgage markets.

Then, in a funny little bit that proved Trump has way too much money, he told Maria that this unfortunate fact benefits guys like him. He says he watches CNBC, notes the stocks that get mentioned and buys some of them. Now, we know one of the heavy hitters responsible for the CNBC effect.

At first blush, I treated Cramer and Trump's comments as distinct from one another.

From a substantive standpoint, Cramer was far more convincing. He spent 10 minutes persuasively laying out his case like only he can. Agree or disagree with his take, there's no question Cramer's argument made Trump's look thin.

Trump used plenty of synonyms for "phony," but never provided any rationale for why QE3 is a bad thing. In his world, it triggers artificial stock prices, artificial mortgage rates and a windfall in capital gains (unrealized, realized, I'm not sure) for people with money to put in the market.

Instead of taking the typical dichotomous approach -- Cramer is right and Trump is wrong -- it's probably more useful to consider the message Trump sent. While I am not sure if Cramer agrees with it, I reckon it would bring he and the Donald closer together.

As I read Trump, he's saying QE stinks for the country, the economy and people who do not have considerable amounts of money like he does. Unlike so many complainers, though, Trump does not externalize.

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