Buy the consumer staples, Cramer told viewers Monday. It’s the one group in which the market hasn’t completely lost faith.
Companies like Coca-Cola , Pepsi and Colgate are operating with strong balance sheets when many other firms are not. Financing isn’t a problem for the consumer-staples names because they’ve got the cash on hand. Plus, margins are on the rise now that raw costs have come down. So, too, have advertising costs and gas prices, which make it cheaper to get products to market. The situation looks so positive that even Campbell’s , one of Cramer’s least favorite names in the sector, reported a decent quarter Monday morning.
Money managers are pouring into consumer staples because there’s nowhere else to go – except for oil and gold, that is. Forget about all but a select few of the financials right now, namely Visa, Mastercard, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Unemployment and lack of credit are hurting the early-cycle stocks. Transports are in trouble. So is retail. The list is virtually endless: real estate investment trusts, technology, media, health care, even the staid utilities – they’re all hurting.
So Cramer urged viewers to consider the consumer stables. As fund managers sell their other holdings, they’ll most likely start buying these stocks – and that will push the group higher.
Cramer’s charitable trust owns Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Pepsico.
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