Skip navigation
Text SMS AlertGet stock and market information from Mad Money's Jim Cramer sent to your mobile phone.

RECENT POSTS


MAD MONEY FEATURES

Podcasts PODCASTS
Watch the Lightning Round whenever and wherever you want.




Widget OFFICIAL MAD MONEY WIDGET
Grab this all-in-one application and get recaps of the show sent right to your desktop or blog.




Soundboard CRAMERS SOUNDBOARD
Admit it: You've always wanted to hit the "They
know nothing!" button. Here’s your chance.




Mad Money PhotosCHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS
Check out Cramer on set, back to school, behind the scenes and more.




ShopSHOP FOR MAD MERCHANDISE
Buy Cramer books, bobbleheads and other Mad Money merchandise.




Ringtones RING TONES
Pick up the phone! It's Cramer! New Mad Money sounds for your cell phone.




Mobile AlertTEXT MESSAGE ALERT
Mad Money's mobile. Get show highlights sent to your phone.







Text Size

When market expectations are this low, expect to be surprised. In fact, start buying.

That was Cramer’s message for Monday’s show. A story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal – about how stocks won’t see a full rebound until the middle of 2009 – today has him thinking that negative sentiment on Wall Street is “totally overblown.”

A longstanding Mad Money rule has been that when these types of stories start to appear in the paper, investors should break out their stock shopping lists and get ready. Because despite all the talk, the market’s ready to move.

How does Cramer know? Well, for one thing the housing index, HGX, is up big to 131 from its 52-week low of just under 94. That’s a great sign. It would be hard to have any kind of legitimate recovery as long as housing was unable to find its footing.

Also a model for dealing with failing banks is coming to shape. Just look at Regions Financial’s acquisition of Integrity. The FDIC keeps the bad loans and Regions buys the good parts that are left. This should keep the number of foreclosures hitting the market at lower than expected, which is an extremely positive development.

Cramer’s also a firm believer that lower gas prices – maybe as much as $3 a gallon? – will boost consumer spending, propping up for names like Best Buy [BBY  Loading...      ()   ], Apple [AAPL  Loading...      ()   ] and Research in Motion [RIMM  Loading...      ()   ].

Deflation is key here, too. As commodities decline in price, the Federal Reserve can worry less about raising interest rates, in turn saving banks and maybe even keeping mortgage rates low enough to draw some bargain hunters into the housing market.

Commodity costs, specifically their decline, also helps the companies that were forced to raise prices when those costs were higher. Because the companies won’t reduce prices in tandem with that decline. That means more profits and better-than-expected earnings. Watch for reports from Heinz [HNZ  Loading...      ()   ], Kimberly-Clark [KMB  Loading...      ()   ], UPS [UPS  Loading...      ()   ], FedEx [FDX  Loading...      ()   ] and Carnival Cruise [CCL  Loading...      ()   ].

“I think there are just too many positives, including the pervasive negativity,” Cramer said, “for you to be really bearish right now. The turn you saw earlier today when the Dow was up big is for real – although it was up too much – so don’t be fooled by the decline that followed.”




Questions for Cramer?

Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website?

© 2008 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Permalink: /id/26510603

HOME  |  NEWS  |  MARKETS  |  EARNINGS  |  INVESTING  |  VIDEO  |  CNBC TV  |  CNBC PLUS  |  CNBC MOBILE  |  CNBC HD+
About CNBC   |   Site Map   |   Privacy Policy   |   Terms of Service   |   Advertise   |   Help   |   Feedback   |   Video Reprints
  Data is a real-time snapshot   *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes

Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis