This column was originally published on RealMoney on June 6 at 11:49 a.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.
The tug of war between slow but consistent growth and fast but inconsistent growth right now is being won by the former. That's how you see
Johnson & Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Report
holding its ground but
U.S. Steel
(X) - Get Report
getting killed or
Allegheny Technologies
(ATI) - Get Report
getting clocked. People are just looking for safety wherever they can find it.
Can't blame anyone. The question is, how nimble can you be? Can you jump into J&J and
Hershey
(HSY) - Get Report
and then jump out in time to catch
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
or
Network Appliance
(NTAP) - Get Report
? Are you able to leap from
MO
(MO) - Get Report
to momentum in tech in a single bound?
I always settle for an 18-month horizon for doing both ,but that might mean some serious pain, pain that can be alleviated by the Novocain of an all-beverage-and-cereal portfolio. But I can't get in and get out in time for
Action Alerts PLUS because of my trading restrictions. I have to take a beating at times. This is one of those times.
Still, I ponder the great rush to own all sorts of companies that have sub-par but consistent growth. Many of the drug companies have that: Check out
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Report
,
Bristol
(BMY) - Get Report
,
Merck
(MRK) - Get Report
and
Wyeth
( WYE).
Many of the food companies have it too:
General Mills
(GIS) - Get Report
,
Campbell
(CPB) - Get Report
, Hershey and
Kraft
( KFT).
But nobody cares at the inflection point.
I am not railing against the market. If you can be nimble, go for it.
Remember, though, that the market always, in the end, rewards growth -- wherever it can find it. If you can get out of Network Appliance and Apple to get back in three months from now, terrific.
I can't.
So I won't.
P.S. from TheStreet.com Editor-in-Chief, Dave Morrow:
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At the time of publication, Cramer was long Network Appliance.
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