Big Oil Has Become Too Hard

This column was originally published on RealMoney on March 6 at 11:50 a.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

At what point do people just say, "Owning oil's too hard?"

I believe that point is rapidly approaching. Despite my affinity for the group, it's just playing too much havoc with performance.

I thought of that this weekend when I recognized that almost none of the stocks that

Investor's Business Daily

focuses on in its 100 list is still oil. The momentum is gone, courtesy of the endless backing and filling. The incredible decline in natural gas has made people feel that the whole run has been an aberration. Which is too bad, because that's just untrue. But fighting it has been way too hard.

Here's what I would do going forward: Pick one driller, pick one oil and trade around them. I am picking

Occidental

(OXY) - Get Report

and

Halliburton

(HAL) - Get Report

for

Action Alerts PLUS. I also like

Amerada Hess

(AHC) - Get Report

,

Schlumberger

(SLB) - Get Report

and

Transocean

(RIG) - Get Report

as well as

Ultra Petroleum

. I would make sure you have a little on the sheets of these at all times and buy them on days like today.

But the big oil thesis has become too hard, and to not recognize it is to court underperformance against both the

Dow

and the

S&P 500

for the foreseeable future.

Which we know in this game is the

only

future.

Random musings:

Are you ready,

radio listeners? I'm on the air one hour earlier, 1-2 p.m. EST, starting today. Be sure to tune in at the right time -- and to call me at my new number, 1-800-743-4443.

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RealMoney

premium Web site, where you'll get in-depth commentary

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At the time of publication, Cramer was long Occidental Petroleum and Halliburton.

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder 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

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