Have We Hit a Bottom?

This market might have finally hit a bottom.

That's the case if the events that led to a bottom in 1990 are any indication, Cramer said Wednesday on Mad Money. He called the parallels between then and now "unbelievably similar": A deep-pocketed Arab investor bought a major stake in the most ailing financial. The biggest banks in the U.S. are talking about merging. The Federal Reserve realizes it has to get involved. A lot of news of the past 72 hours was the same news that allowed for the 1990 bottom.

Now, that doesn't mean everything has bottomed. There are more collapses to come, Cramer thinks, but it's time to start thinking about buying stocks. He's sticking with the same playbook that worked 17 years ago.

Back in ’90, the worst and best banks worked, and the same goes for today. The worst is Citigroup , so it can be bought. The best is Goldman Sachs , so it should be bought, Cramer thinks.

High-growth stocks worked back then, too. So Cramer’s Three Horsemen of Tech – Apple , Research in Motion and Google – should be bought.

Cramer likes Intuitive Surgical and Amazon as trades (emphasis on the trade part), especially the latter thanks to strong holiday sales.

Halliburton and XTO Energy are plays on natural gas going into the winter, both of which Cramer thinks are best-of-breed stocks in the sector.

Brazil tends to do well when the Fed cuts rates. Banco Itau , C.V.R.D. and American Movil are good plays on that country. In Canada, Cramer gave the nod to Canadian Pacific for the industrial ramp up and Bank of Montreal for the yield.

Electronic Arts , Activision and Nintendo (even though it trades on the pink sheets) rule the video-game sector. So does the arms dealer of them all, GameStop .

Finally, in the world of seeds, one of Cramer's favorite sectors, Deere and Monsanto are still working.

Cramer recommended waiting until Bernanke says something wrong, a bad habit of his that sends the markets down, before investors buy any stocks. And if the Fed chief doesn't give the markets pause when he speaks tomorrow, wait for a different Fed governor to say something negative enough to frighten the Street.

The bottom is here, Cramer said. It's time to worry a little less about losing money and a little more about missing some great opportunities.

Jim's charitable trust owns Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and XTO Energy.

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