The Four Horsemen of Tech: Part 1

On a down day like today you need something to fall back on. In the spirit of hope, Cramer is introducing the new four horsemen of tech – the companies that are replacing the old tech names that used to drive the market, even on down days like this one, until the bubble burst in 2000.

The old four horsemen that used to dominate the market – the NASDAQ in particular – were Intel , Dell , Microsoft and Cisco . These companies galvanized retail investors and made the market come alive during their heyday in the late 90’s, Cramer says, but they’ve never been able to come back from their old levels. Intel is down 71% from its high in 2000, Dell and Microsoft are both down 49% from their highs in 1999 and Cisco is down 66% from when it peaked in 2000.

Cramer isn’t ready to send these tired, old stocks to the glue factory just yet. He has faith in Michael Dell and he's still bullish on Cisco as a long-term play. But Intel and Microsoft seem to have lost their way for now. So it’s time to name a new crowd of tech stocks that Cramer thinks will carry the weight of this market. These new four horsemen are ready to dominate - and even define - their entire markets by defying the categorization as merely tech names, much like Intel, Dell, Microsoft and Cisco did in the old glory days.

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