I wonder how much influence Jim Cramer has on the markets. The host of CNBC's "Mad Money" went on the Today show Monday and told investors to get out. "Whatever money you may need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market right now, this week," he said. "I do not believe that you should risk those assets in the stock market right now.” Cramer is predicting that the market could fall by as much as 20%. If you can hold off and leave your money in place for the long term, he said, then ride it out. But he's worried about the short-term fallout. I feel sorry for the guest that had to follow Cramer on the Today show. Half the audience just ran for the phone or the computer to jump into the selloff. Barry Ritholtz wonders if Cramer's comments are a giant buy signal. "The likelihood of an emergency action makes us want to get long -- at least for a trade," he writes. "We are putting a toe in the water here." The Think B.I.G. blog says that Cramer might stir up some major panic. "We'll see how the market closes, but these type of hysteria comments to Main Street, America from a renowned bull may cause just the type of panic that we noted this market was currently lacking," the authors wrote. For more Cramer, check out his predictions for what the stock market will look like next fall. The Dow could fall as low as 8,300, he writes in New York Magazine. Retail will be in massive retreat, but Amazon will surge. "I’d buy the stocks of only companies you can’t not use --Kellogg’s, General Mills, Kraft, P&G. You can’t trust anything to do with financial paper -- there’s still too much uncertainty (if a bailout bill does pass, at what price will the toxic bonds be marked?). And commodities have been bid up too high -- demand soared as investors sought shelter from stocks -- to buy for some time." Related reading:Jim Cramer throws in the towel
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Posted Oct 06 2008, 01:28 PM by Kim Peterson
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Filed under: investing, Kim Peterson
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