After This Rally, Lock in Your Gains

This week has seen a “parade of positives,” Cramer said Wednesday. Let’s count them down one at a time:

First, China’s strong manufacturing numbers showed us that the world’s growth engine is still running hot. And while plenty of bears say this means interest-rate hikes are inevitable, at least we now know that the Middle Kingdom isn’t “about to fall off a cliff,” as Cramer put it.

Second, European Central Bank President Trichet told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament that people shouldn’t “underestimate the determination” of the European Union in solving its financial problems. Cramer took it as a dare to short sellers who doubt the ECB’s willing to fight the EU crisis with all it’s got.

Cramer also said he doubted the quick denials out of the Federal Reserve that the central bank would not, in fact, up its commitment to the EU/International Monetary Fund’s European stability fund. If the Fed shelled out $3.3 trillion to struggling banks and countries during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, then Cramer said it wouldn’t hesitate to prop up Europe even more if need be. Especially given the strong data coming out of the UK on Wednesday.

“They weren’t willing to let things fall apart when the global economy was shrinking, for heaven’s sake,” Cramer said. “Now it’s much better.”

And then there’s the US. In just 24 hours, we’ve heard about strong ADP hiring data, good numbers from the auto companies and, most importantly, President Obama canceling his vacation plans to strike a deal on taxes and unemployment benefits.

All of this has merged to generate the rally the markets enjoyed on Wednesday, with the Dow up 250 points and the S&P 500 soaring 2.2 percent. And the only way you would have missed it is if you sided with the overly negative bears rather than the positivity that Cramer has been endorsing for some time now.

Of course, there’s a pretty good chance that tomorrow, if the Dow doesn’t open up huge, that those same bears will be predicting a one-day-wonder rally that can’t last. But what can you expect when they’re either shorting the market or trying to rumor it lower so they can buy stocks on the cheap?

But for those of you who stayed in the game, Cramer recommended taking profits. Lock in the gains on F5 Networks , up $7, or Deckers , up $3. And don’t forget about the $5 jump in Apple or the modest move in Amazon .

“Go ahead,” Cramer said. “They’re yours to take.”

When this story published, Cramer’s charitable trust owned Apple.

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