Action Afoot
Why am I not taking more action personally in the portfolio today? I mean, I would certainly be selling Microsoft (MSFT) today if I was allowed to. But that's one of the largest, most widely held stocks in the world, so it's always mentioned on my television or radio shows.
And when I look at the stocks I could trade today, well, sure, I could sell Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) or Countrywide Financial (CFC) , but why? They are two well-managed companies that are still operating well. Besides, Newell is a good counter-cyclical name.
OK, so I could sell Textron (TXT) , because it's dropped 8 straight points, but that would be the only reason to sell. Same goes for Foster Wheeler (FWLT) , but I was already a seller of that stock some 7 points ago.
That's simply a bad strategy. No one ever made a dime panicking. I'd be buying these stocks today, not selling them.
Need more examples? Look at Mitsubishi Financial (MTU:NYSE ADR), down 4 straight points when every bank in the U.S. is trading higher. Or ABB (ABB) and URS (URS) , which are winning contracts left and right.
P.S. I'm hearing from even more sources about how good the Yahoo! (YHOO) quarter appears to be progressing. That's why I sold only 500 shares this week, instead of trying to raise more cash. Why sell a company that's having a good quarter? Just to buy a stock like Qualcomm (QCOM) -- down 3% today -- that's also performing well? It just does not make any sense. But if you readers still have some cash on the sidelines, I'm issuing all of these alerts today so you can take action.
Regards,
James J. Cramer
DISCLOSURE: At the time of publication, Cramer was long Microsoft, Newell Rubbermaid, Countrywide Financial, Textron, Foster Wheeler, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, ABB, URS, Yahoo! and Qualcomm.
Send email to james.cramer@thestreet.com.