Mad Money

Thanks to Europe, Cramer is a happy camper

Cramer still happy camper on US market
VIDEO13:1113:11
Cramer still happy camper on US market

Jim Cramer really, really wants to be negative about the market right now. But as hard as he tries, he just can't do it. There are too many good indicators swirling around to bring him down!

As soon as he looked at the news on Thursday morning, he was greeted by fabulous bond rates in Europe. The Spanish 10-year bond rate was at 1.38 percent, and the Italian 10-year was at 1.42 percent—record lows for this region.

So what the heck do European bond rates have to do with the U.S. economy, and why is this important?

When Cramer saw these low interest rates, he was automatically taken back to just three years ago when these same bonds were yielding 7 percent. Both countries were in a liquidity crisis and were desperately trying to raise cash.

The banks were on the brink of collapse, and investors all over the globe speculated that Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland would default.

As a result, the U.S. markets were crushed, when the Dow dropped 900 points from 12,000, with a one-day decline of 400 points on the day that Italy's bonds hit 7 percent.

"So, we have a situation that's the polar opposite of something that caused our markets to get crushed. Isn't it a simple deduction to conclude that Europe should now be pushing our stocks higher?" the "Mad Money" host said.





Jim Cramer on Mad Money.
CNBC

Sure enough, just as the U.S. market is hitting all-time highs, positive news is floating in from Europe. Good lending numbers are emerging, consumer confidence is high and European household spending is up. Clearly the continent has hit a turning point.

Cramer's hypothesis is as follows: If Europe could bring us down with bad news, then the good news could bring us back up.

The trickle-down effects have rolled over to the U.S. as well, especially when companies like Salesforce.com just hit the mark as the fastest enterprise software firm to hit $5 billion in sales. Sure enough, the high-end tech rally continued with Facebook, Twitter and Google all on fire.

Then, all of a sudden, Johnson & Johnson and even McDonald's woke up from their coma. Cramer was suspicious about McDonald's.

"Hmm, could that be presaging some better February numbers? This is not a stock that can power up five bucks on nothing," he added.

And yes, Cramer knows everything was not all rosy sunshine on Thursday. He was skeptical on IBM when it announced it would grow its 27 percent of the business that pertains to social and mobile up to 40 percent. What about the rest of the business that needs help?

----------------------------------------------------------
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: This one stock leading many higher
Cramer: Secret catalyst behind the housing boom
Cramer: The stock rotation ruining your portfolio
----------------------------------------------------------

Even two of his long-time faves Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Blackhawk took a hit when they announced a cloudy outlook going forward.

But he's not letting those negative points bring him down. As long as Europe is getting stronger, and lower oil prices continue, Cramer is a happy camper.

"No matter how hard I tried to embrace the gloom and sullenness that infects so many of my fellow market observers, I just can't deny the evidence of my own eyes, and what I'm seeing is positive, not negative."

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com