Lotta sideshows out there.
The Chrysler sideshow held court Thursday, a total distraction magnified by President Barack Obama's finger-pointing. Given how small Chrysler is and how irrelevant it might ultimately be to the economy, it's a shame because there were so many good earnings reports that you might have missed by paying attention to Chrysler.
And, yes, I wish that the president had been more elegant in his finger-pointing about why Chrysler had to file. Most of the big banks were pro-Obama. Only some banks and hedge funds held out -- we now know them as the non-TARP banks -- and to them I ask, "What the heck were you thinking?" I think they, not Obama, are a bigger problem and I bet they make out far worse than they would have if they had just agreed with Obama's plan.
It's clear now that Obama was more disgusted with them than with Wall Street so I am inclined to include that almost the whole Chrysler issue was a sideshow.
The day before it was Ken Lewis and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take). Like Chrysler, when the smoked cleared, we realized it was much ado about nothing. Who cares if Lewis is still chairman or not? It doesn't matter one bit. But it dominated headlines and it made for good TV.
But, again, it obscured the "turn."
The problem, from a newsperson's point of view is that a turn isn't newsworthy. It has no face, no set of factory workers, no one government figure out there on the lawn.
The turn is the surveys from Maryland and Texas by the Federal Reserve. A turn is fewer cancelations by potential homebuilders. A turn is level prices in the Inland Empire in California. A turn is corrugated prices firmer in April. A turn is the same amount of layoffs each week. A turn is low double-digit instead of high double-digit declines in carloadings.
The turn is a dividend declared here, and fewer firings there, because business hasn't declined more. A turn is one more order than expected after restocking in semiconductor chips.
That's what's happening right now. That's why a Maxim Integrated (NASDAQ: MXIM) (Cramer's Take) or a Skyworks (NASDAQ: SWKS) (Cramer's Take) goes up, or a rally in Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) continues or VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) (Cramer's Take) bounces back. It is why Bank of America went up Thursday. It is why there's a bid underneath in the markets.
Don't get thrown off by the sideshows, even when Obama is unwittingly a part of them -- and I think it was more unwitting, as he should have said, "JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) says this is OK, why don't these little insignificant firms go along with them?" We'd have loved him for that level of sophistication, which he obviously has.
Pay attention to the data, not the personalities.
Things are getting better.
Jim Cramer is co-founder and chairman 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 was long Caterpillar, JPMorgan Chase and VF Corp.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-01-2009 @ 12:03PM
Iridium said...
Come on Jim, the Non-Tarp banks are the only bright spot in this whole mess.
Of course the Tarp banks would go with Obama's plan. They already recieved billions to pay fo rwhatever they wanted.
The non-tarp banks need the cash from the bonds to pay back thier investors. It is all they have. The bonds should be paid back in full. Or the bondholders shouls get a majority stake in the new corporation.
This is a big play for the mega banks to take over smaller banks, plain and simple.
You really are a small minded man working in the best interests of the large hedge funds who pay you off.
5-01-2009 @ 3:33PM
Mark Dias said...
Chrysler should have filed bankruptcy in the beginning. That is what bankruptcy is there for.
http://mark24609.blogspot.com/2009/04/100-days-1360-days-to-go.html
Mark
5-01-2009 @ 10:07PM
plankton81 said...
Oh yea, getting so much better Jim. Me thinks new bottoms are in order.
5-02-2009 @ 2:20AM
Dr.Dume said...
What happens to all these "green shoots" when Chrysler and GM shut down all of their facilities over the next two or three months (and then re-open with a vastly reduced capacity)?
It appears that both shutdowns were heavily influenced by the Obama administration. Could this be reminiscent of FDR's month-long bank holiday at the inception of his first administration in 1933?