The markets’ pullback today, however small, is just the break that late-to-the-game investors need, Cramer said Thursday. Anyone who missed the rally we’ve enjoyed since early March now has a chance to get in at a discount. Of course, there are plenty of skeptics who’ll watch the opportunity pass, but they’ll be making a huge mistake.
This gang of doomsayers and Chicken Littles has been scoffing at any progress we’ve made since emerging from late 2008’s garden-variety depression. Instead of seeing the positive effects of government programs like Cash for Clunkers or the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers, they worry about cannibalized future sales. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the glass-half-empty crowd is convinced that the markets and the economy will continue to get worse.
“People have to stop believing that everything is bad,” Cramer said, “and everyone who has something positive to say is not a snake-oil salesman. Just because they’re positive doesn’t mean they’re lying or making stuff up.”
Both pundits and the press have worried that these government initiatives have merely moved up sales of autos and houses. They don’t expect consumers to keep buying. But that’s not the case, at least not according to industry executives and a host of improving economic data.
Also, while the housing tax credit ends in November, mortgage rates and home prices are low enough to lure buyers into the market. Cramer doubts the sector’s recovery will end just because the government program will. Too bad so many other people can’t seem to see this.
“The facts,” Cramer said, “they don’t matter” to them.
Cramer’s point was this: There are a lot of moving parts driving buyers’ motivations, and these programs are just a couple of them in an environment where consumers are spending more. If you obsess about stolen sales, he said, “You’re missing the forest for the trees.” And you’re missing a great chance to ride the market back up.
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