After the Fed made an "emergency" 75-basis-point rate cut this morning, CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer, who has gone from bull market cheerleader to bear market doom and gloomer in the last six months, said it was too little too late.
"[T]his is obviously the kind of action I was most fearful of - which is that they would have to go panic and that they would get way behind the curve," Cramer said on CNBC's January 22 "Squawk Box." "But, you know but once they do it, I'm less ... I can't hammer them as much. This is the kind of action if they had done it three months ago, we would have been safe."
On MSNBC's January 18 "Hardball," Cramer predicted the Dow Jones Industrial Average would decline 2,000 points over the next couple of weeks. However, he was a little less pessimistic after this rate cut.
"I think they got it right," Cramer said January 22. "Obviously, I think it is too little too late for a lot of institutions. When I look at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and the disaster of a quarter they reported and I look at the disaster of a quarter Citi (Citigroup, NYSE:C) reported and the disaster of a quarter that Merrill (Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., NYSE:MER) reported. It's good to see that there's a pulse over there. I think that it's a good start."
Cramer took a shot at Wall Street Journal reporter Greg Ip, who also appeared on "Squawk Box." "[Y]ou were saying in your article three weeks ago they were more worried about inflation," Cramer said to Ip, who covers the Federal Reserve for The Wall Street Journal. "This is not the impression that you gave us whatsoever."
Ip responded by telling Cramer it was the Fed that has since changed its position on the threats of inflation. "They had a view and that view turned out to be wrong," Ip said. "And they have responded accordingly."
Cramer warned there was a risk of deflation - a general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit, the opposite of inflation. "I think we're in a dramatic deflationary environment," Cramer said an hour later on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," after the stock markets opened. "This is one of the worst deflation environments we've ever had - since 1932."
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Cramer losing a little
January 22, 2008 - 16:06 ET by EdhenryCramer losing a little credibility. Too much hyperbole AND HE IS ADVANCING DEMOCRATS, BUT NO ONE CALLS HIM ON THIS AT MSNBS. SURPRISE??!!
Santelli rightfully hammered, and I mean HAMMERED Cramer at the end of the segment for missing this a while back too. WSJ got it right a few weeks back, reporting on feds worry. Now things have changed (actually become clearer.) Oil is down, US and world economy is slowing and most important the 10 year note has responded favorably to this surprise rate cut.
Could the fed have acted 3 weeks ago. yes and brett farve shouldn't have underthrown the pass in overtime.
Real cause? Cramer's buddies in financial markets that did/do not know how to price risk. All investment bankers = overpaid burger flippers. Any small business owner knows more than Wall Street MBAs
In the 90's during the
January 22, 2008 - 17:24 ET by AntiMediaIn the 90's during the Clinton administration companies would lie about their earnigs. Those were the good old days.
Cramer has been right to
January 23, 2008 - 00:30 ET by jdhawkCramer has been right to call out the Fed on its lackadaisical rate cut stance. They should have cur 50 basis points in December instead of 25 basis points. They should have cut 100 basis points today. It is hoped that they cut again when they meet on 30 January. The hope is for 50 basis points. That would bring the Fed Funds Rate to 3.00%.
And he flat out stuck it the WSJ journal reporter that had been defending the Fed. The reported was wrong.
Meanwhile, Cramer has his faults. He has been recommending stocks since late October 2007 when the markets started to tank. The vast majority of people simply can not watch the real time "tape" of the market day in and day out. For them, the advise should have been, put your money to the side until the situation clarifies iteself. Because, virtually every major market sector has suffered through this down turn - many 30 and 50% down from their highs earlier in the year. Meanwhile, all of the indexes' gains from 2007 have been wiped out since January of this year.