For the first time in a long time, Cramer said Monday, we've got a "genuinely buyable sell-off" in financials.
"The reason we can buy these stocks into weakness is because we no longer need to worry that the media will pile on after a down day and crush the banks even further," he explained. "The media has gotten bored with bank-bashing. It's moving on."
Cramer noted that for two years, reporters wrote about how awful the banks were. They often succeeded in getting their stories on the front page of the newspaper. The public grew tired of these kinds of articles, though, and the editors are finally catching on because they're losing readership.
Lately, the media seems to have changed its tune on the banks. A few weeks ago, the cover story on The New York Times Magazine was a positive piece on JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. This weekend, The New York Times ran on its cover a complimentary story about Bank of AmericaCEO Brian Moynihan.
Media coverage matters, Cramer said, because a negative story can send a stock lower. With the media now out of the way, bank stocks are free to go higher.
Cramer recommends buying this sector on weakness. He likes Citigroup, as well as Wells Fargoand Bank of America, which some speculate will do equity deals. Huntington Bancsharesis currently his favorite play, though. The regional bank filed a $920 million equity offering on Monday to pay back money received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
"You must get in on this deal because the next thing you know you'll be seeing articles about HBAN, the little bank that could," Cramer said. "It is profitable to buy the cheapest group in the market, especially on a day like today when all but JPMorgan got cheaper."
When this story published, Cramer’s charitable trust owned Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com
Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website? madcap@cnbc.com
