Is the magic gone? In the first quarter Goldman Sachs (GS) had a perfect quarter with zero days with no trading losses, and no days below $25 million in profits. But that was then.

In the second quarter Goldman had 10 days of losses, with three days of $100 million in losses. Their trading record mirrors the S & P and the SPX which fell 12% in Q 2.

Those with aspirations of unfettered wealth look for clues everywhere. From top schools to unique talents, they build profiles of what it takes to become absurdly wealthy ... as though the process can be blueprinted. Well, if you're looking for answers, the Forbes 400 list is a great place to start. If anyone has mastered the art of making money, it's this collection of billionaires. They have the answers, and you are ready to learn.

A look at the lives of the Forbes 400 implies that the most important attribute is the ability to sift through ambiguity. Contradictions abound, meaning that shades of gray hold the answer to your burning desire for riches. Should you go to a great school? Well, yes ... but only if you're going for an MBA and plan to work for a major financial firm. But, you can still go to an Ivy League school if you're not studying finance but join Skull and Bones. Of course, dropping out of Harvard can be a great way to launch a career in the technology field.

It's tricky. There are no easy answers. But, the road to billions is littered with the corpses of aspiring magnates who thought it wouldn't be difficult. So, don't just read the seven attributes after the jump. Understand them. Read them twice. Then, your future financial situation will be assured.

Or, you can just do one of those chain e-mails and wish for wealth.

[Thanks, Forbes and MSNBC]

I see the footprints -- and droppings! -- of the bears everywhere. You don't get upward moves like these in the infrastructure, oil and agricultural stocks unless people were betting against them. And it made sense to bet against them based on their stretched valuations, on the endless ramping and on the idea that there would be a slowdown that would affect everything.

But these are all dangerous stocks to short. They are not big-capitalization stocks -- yet -- and they aren't cyclical like tech stocks.

Isn't that a statement of irony? Here's Deere (NYSE: DE) (Cramer's take) with a 20 multiple and 10% growth. But the truth is that the multiple will turn out to be much lower and the growth rate is much higher than that.

Here are the oils that have rallied endlessly, but even after this move ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) (Cramer's take) has a 10 multiple. I have no problem paying less than 10 times earnings for Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) (Cramer's take) or Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's take) now that I know things are on the path of getting better.

When the Fed didn't go for the 25 basis-point cut and instead took the full 50, the bears lost a key leg to stand on. Now with money being flushed in and people feeling better, I can't see the market hitting those summer lows again.

In fact, don't you feel that we hit some sort of great bottom that we will put well past us? I do. Do you know that valuations will still not be stressed at Dow 14,500?

Just glad of one thing: I didn't flinch. Doesn't mean I will be right, did mean I helped people catch what now looks like a 1,000-point move off the bottom.

That's a lot of points to miss, and even more if you shorted them!

RELATED LINKS:

• You Ask, Cramer Answers
• Cramer Draws Up a Game Plan for Halo 3 Debut

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 was long ConocoPhillips, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and certain broker/dealers were some of today's notable initiations:

• Soleil initiated Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with a Buy rating and $33 target, expecting a strong upgrade cycle near-term and anticipates expanding addressable markets and its global footprint in the long-term.
• Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) was initiated with an Above Average rating and $27 objective at Caris. The firm expects Dell to have 2-3 potentially "sloppy" quarters and believes investors will give it a "pass," as the company's current valuation reflects a majority of the near-term risk.
• Caris also started Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) with an Above Average rating along with a $44 objective.
• Deutsche Bank initiated several broker/dealers with Buy ratings including Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Merril Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH).

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman Brothers started coverage on the U.S. ethanol sector with a Neutral rating. The firm initiated Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AVR) with an Overweight rating and $23 target.
• Wedbush started Guess?, Inc (NYSE: GES) with a Buy rating and $49 target.
• Kaufman reinstated Covad Communications (AMEX: DVW) with a Buy rating and $2.00 target.
• Prudential started Leap Wireless International, Inc (NASDAQ: LEAP) with an Overweight rating and $90 target.
• RBC Capital initiated shares of TurboChef Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: OVEN) with an Underperform rating and $13 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Time Warner Inc (TWX), Google Inc (GOOG), Yahoo! Inc (YHOO) and Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) filled out today's more notable initiations:

• Oppenheimer expects Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) to benefit from double-digit free-cash-flow growth over the next five years as it integrates Adelphia's (ADELQ) systems. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $47 target.

• AG Edwards initiated Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) with a Buy rating and $550 target to reflect the company's current business model and search growth. Nollenberger also initiated shares of Google with a Buy rating and placed a $575 value on just the core business.

• AG Edwards initiated shares of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) with a Buy rating and $35 target, expecting Panama to drive ad revenue. Nollenberger started Yahoo! with a Neutral rating saying the company is still a a "solid name" but believes shares are not cheap.

• Baird started Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) with a Neutral rating on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS

• Lehman Brothers initiated four large-cap brokers: Merrill Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER) and Bear Stearns Cos (NYSE: BSC) were started with Overweight ratings, while Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) were initiated with Equal-Weight ratings. Lehman believes broker dealers are winning greater share of global capital-markets revenue from commercial banks as the products available for managing risk and capital become more sophisticated.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Hope springs eternal when you're a tattered-yet-venerable brand. Shares of The Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) jumped to their highest point in two years when CNBC reported this afternoon that the company had hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS). The company won't say for what, and Goldman isn't talking either. But it's unlikely the retailer hired the butchest investment bank on the Street to ask it what it thinks of its Audrey Hepburn skinny pants.

A deal in the making? Maybe. The Gap's been in a funk for a while. Holiday sales were lower than expected, and the company -- which also owns the Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, is on the record as saying it might rethink its branding strategy.

And it is a leading brand -- great name recognition -- but with really sucky fundamentals. That makes it fairly ripe for a private picking.

Gap's current team seem to be at a loss for how to recoup its retailing glory. And you don't have to be a retail analyst to see that the company has lost its way over the years. The Gap is everywhere. But have you been into one lately? Blah clothes in blah colors that are cheaply made and rather overpriced. Gap used to be known for doing the basics really well - T-shirts and jeans. Maybe a cool sweater or cute tank. Everyone fell into the Gap. What happened?

The company doesn't seem to have the answer to that question. Maybe Goldman does.

Stock futures are negative in early morning trade, pointing to similar start for stocks as bulls seem to need a bit of a breather after yesterday running the Dow to close all the way above 12,500 for the first time ever.

Oil prices steadied this morning, gaining a little after falling $3 a barrel in the past four days and staying above $60 ahead of crude inventory report. Globally, Asian-Pacific stocks continued their bull run with MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closing at record highs. European stock, however, are trading lower at the moment, awaiting U.S. economic data.

Economic data for today:
At 8:30 a.m. weekly initial jobless claims will be released.
At 10:00 a.m. December consumer confidence is due and is expected to decline somewhat. Also at ten, November existing home sales is due with sales expected to fall to 6.15 million from 6.24 million in October.
At 10:30 a.m. weekly crude inventory report will be reported.

Without a doubt, weighing on stock futures this morning is Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). AAPL shares are down more than 3.3% in pre-market trading as the probe into its stock options continues. Today it was the report that the board did not approve 7.5 million stock options in 2001 given to Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs.

Also in the news:

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) -- The German military is awarding a contract worth some €7.1 billion ($9.3 billion) over 10 years to an IBM and Siemens AG run consortium.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) -- Citigroup along with other is interested in buying a stake in China's privately owned Spring Airlines.

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) -- raised more than $6.5 billion for a global infrastructure fund.

The U.S. is about to approve food made from cloned animals after scientists have concluded there is no difference between food from cloned animals and food from conventional livestock.