Cramer on BloggingStocks: Lehman took itself, and others, off death watch

Posted Apr 2nd 2008 8:55AM by Jim Cramer
Filed under: Market Matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that by offering a good yield, Lehman helped transform the case on a number of financials.

In a world of virtually no fixed-income return, when you offer a 7% piece of paper with terrific upside, as Lehman (NYSE: LEH) (Cramer's Take) did, you can bet you will get takers.

Sure the yield wasn't as good as Merrill's (NYSE: MER) (Cramer's Take), but Merrill's balance sheet isn't as good as Lehman's.

I know there was a lot of rejoicing yesterday about taking Lehman off the table and also UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer's Take) off the table as patients that could die. One by one we stabilize them.

Yes, we can still worry about Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take), Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) (Cramer's Take) and yes, Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) (I am removing Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) (Cramer's Take) because I think they could offer the same terms as Lehman), but the more you ensure that other firms won't meet Bear's (NYSE: BSC) (Cramer's Take) fate, the more you want to put money with WM, C and WB no matter how bad you think they are.

It's the interest-rate environment that's doing this. So many people want yield and so many people know that if they pay the issuer, the yield becomes safe, that it is worth doing. It's a remarkable transformation.

Right now, if you are a bear, you have to believe that Citigroup, WB and WM don't make it. That's beginning to look like a bad bet, and if any of them stumble, the Fed's got a suitor for everyone.

That's why this rally's different from the others.

That's why the selloff will be buyable.

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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 the stocks mentioned.

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