Get Off the Telecom Toboggan

Editor's Note: Jim Cramer's column runs exclusively on RealMoney.com; this is a special free look at his column. For a free trial subscription to RealMoney.com, click here. This article was published Jan. 30 on RealMoney.

If you own Qwest(Q Quote) or Level 3(LVLT Quote), I think you are nuts if you don't sell these stocks.

Let me put this in terms everyone can understand: Pricing in long distance is simply falling apart -- for data, for voice, for everything. Demand has fallen off a cliff, too. Long distance has gone from being an OK business to being a terrible business. And anyone in it, from Sprint(FON Quote) to Qwest, is just an accident that is still very much happening. There is simply too much competition for these companies to make it -- even with Qwest's old US West business.

Frankly, I was shocked that Qwest wasn't down more after that miserable conference call. That was just an awful call, and I don't have a clue who would still own this stock. ...