It’s rare that CNBC’s Jim Cramer comes across stock market sentiment as optimistic as Monday’s, where investors see the glass half full but consider it to be brimming.
“In the last 72 hours, we have seen a whole slew of events that might normally give investors pause or make them think, reflect. Instead, this time, these events just gave buyers an opportunity to get in while the getting’s still good. At most other moments in history, buyers would be wary of the current setup. Now, though, they’re enthusiastically embracing the future,” the “Mad Money” host said.
The most unusual thing about these events is that the rally around them is predicated on a lack of negatives rather than on the presence of positives, Cramer said.
For one, the hermit kingdom’s leader Kim Jong-Un chose not to test another missile on Saturday, the 69th anniversary of North Korea’s government, and threw a banquet instead.
Cramer said that the notion that the supreme leader might not be as inclined to start conflict as previously though may have sent stocks higher, but was not necessarily truthful.
“The fact that hope can spring eternal on the basis of very little — in truth, literally nothing happened — is a sign of exactly the kind of blind faith that’s integral to a bull market’s character,” he said.
The “Mad Money” host saw U.S. markets following the action in the European stocks in response, driving big-capitalization stocks like IBM, 3M, McDonald’s and Honeywell higher.
While the damage and fatalities from Hurricane Irma cannot be underestimated, the fact that the destruction was not as bad as expected helped start a relief rally, Cramer said.
“It doesn’t matter that there were perhaps tens of billions of dollars in damage[s] when the smoke clears or the weather gets better. Irma didn’t live up to the scary hype, so to speak, and that boosted the markets,” he said.
Stocks like Lowe’s and Home Depot may have faltered after big runs on expectations of rebuilding in Florida after Irma and in Texas after Hurricane Harvey, but Cramer expects them to come back as insurance checks start rolling in, particularly to the Florida coast.
“Remember, wind damage, unlike flooding, is actually covered by standard homeowners insurance, and the coffers of the insurance companies are filled from years without major natural disasters,” Cramer said. “These stocks, which had been in a relentless downturn, can, I believe, shake off the selling and rally anew.”
Hundreds of thousands of car owners in Houston are also covered, and while flood insurance may be rare, their ruined vehicles could mean an unexpected boost for the declining auto cycle.
“So, two big bearish theories, peak housing and peak autos, could be challenged here at the exact same time that the redoubtable insurance complex, led by Dow stock Travelers, can restart its engines, and the damage could be vast enough to let them raise rates to you, but not so big that it dents balance sheets,” the “Mad Money” host said.
Once upon a time, investors and analysts alike would have balked at rumors of a $1,000 Apple iPhone, but this bull market is not so skeptical.
“In this country, we know that the phone companies will subsidize the purchase. In other countries, the status of the iPhone could increase sales,” Cramer said.
Leaks about the various new products to be announced at Apple’s September 12 iPhone event propelled not only shares of Apple, but of its various suppliers, which include Universal Display, Skyworks Solutions, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Micron, which hit a 52-week high.
Finally, whether it’s insurers mailing checks to those caught in a hurricane’s path, a weaker U.S. dollar or accelerating global growth, circumstances are beneficial for the transports.
“When we hear that business is better … the transports always run,” Cramer said of the current layout. “That’s a terrific measure of commerce and one that always gets the bulls running.”
While Cramer did not want to minimize the tragedy of natural disasters, he had to rope them in to understand the fabric of a bull market ignoring the bad and all but worshiping the good.
“There’s something to be said about a market that views things positively, even as it’s no time to celebrate in the real world that is oh-so-different from stocks and bonds,” Cramer said.
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Source: Investment Cnbc
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