That was last year. There's no money for these guys, just bluster, even as in two of the three cases -- Ackman and Peltz -- I believe they are right. (I regard Zale's as way too discretionary consumerish to win here.) Without the private-equity money, all of these companies can just say, "Thanks for the ideas, but we are running things our way."

What's too bad is that Target and Marsh Mac are worth much more than their stocks sell for. But there's no impetus for change.

March Mac just got a new CEO. He's going to take his time fixing things. Target is looking at its cohort and asking, "What the heck is Ackman talking about? We are doing better than almost all of the group. Why isn't he going after J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) (Cramer's Take) or Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) (Cramer's Take) or Macy's (NYSE: M) (Cramer's Take)?

So, if you are in for these guys, I say, be like management.

Forget about it.

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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