Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES

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

Cramer’s tale of how short sellers have ravaged the financials virtually unrestricted would probably shock retail investors, who simply buy and sell stocks in hopes of a secure retirement. During Tuesday’s Mad Money, he explained in vivid detail how bank after bank was targeted and brought down for immense profit, wreaking havoc on the markets. Luckily, though, at least for everyone besides the short sellers, Washington’s most recent bailout plan should put an end to bear raids on the financials.

Watch the video for Cramer’s full explanation of how these shorts coordinated their attacks on banks and brokerages like State Street [STT  Loading...      ()   ], Bank of New York [BK  Loading...      ()   ], Morgan Stanley [MS  Loading...      ()   ] and Goldman Sachs [GS  Loading...      ()   ]. But the abridged version is that shorts used everything from credit-default swaps to put options to rumors to short selling to hammer down a stock, all the while making piles of cash in the process. It’s a story of how lack of regulation on Wall Street can cause such devastation that the problems spill over to Main Street.

But yesterday’s agreement between the federal government and key U.S. banks – Bank of America [BAC  Loading...      ()   ], Citigroup [C  Loading...      ()   ], JPMorgan Chase [JPM  Loading...      ()   ], Wells Fargo [WFC  Loading...      ()   ], Merrill Lynch [MER  Loading...      ()   ], State Street, Bank of New York, Morgan and Goldman – has removed a key piece of the short sellers’ strategy. The government is now providing capital to and insuring the debt of these banks, so their solvency is no longer in question. With that variable erased, shorts no longer have a basis for attack. There’s no point then in buying credit default swaps on debt insured by the U.S. government. That’s a waste of short sellers’ money.

So it looks like it’s time for the shorts to cover their bets against financials, Cramer said. They’ll have to find another sector to raid.




Jim's charitable trust owns Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.

Questions for Cramer?

Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website?

© 2008 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Permalink: /id/27182581

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