Hey, this is FUN today. Latest Cramer sighting. Long on ASND as of 12:18 EST and going to the ASND presentation at H&Q.
Wrong! Dispatches from the Front:
Cramer's View from the Road
By James J. Cramer
4/29/98 12:18 PM ET
thestreet.com
Being on the road has never been this easy.
www.everything makes it so I can't believe my eyes. No
longer do I have to stake out the newsstand, or steal the
copy of the paper on top, throwing some change down to
make it all right. No longer do I have to keep asking where
the market is or what is being said about the market. It is
all at my fingertips. No wonder people leave New York and
say they miss nothing.
Nevertheless, let me dust off my old survival kit for the
road to tell you how I approach things.
The call-in to the office, when I am away from my
computer, is always the most important part of the day. I
like to have a shorthand list of stocks that tell me more
about the market than the Dow or the S&P. I will show
you that list. It sometimes has to do with my fund, but
more important, it is meant to be my Dow Jones
Averages, my stocks that tell me where the market is.
I asked for: Dell, Microsoft, Pfizer, GE, IBM, Intel,
Merck, Chase, Citi, Merrill, AOL, Yahoo!, PG, Cisco
and Ascend. These 15 stocks -- all of which I am long
right now except for Citi -- tell me everything I need to
know about the market I trade in. Sure, there are times
when the list includes Alcoa and Baker Hughes. Or
Nokia and Nordstrom's. Or a dozen other stocks,
depending upon my read of the market.
But from these stocks I am able to tell whether tech or the
drugs or Internet or industrials are working. I need to know
what is working in order to formulate any deviations from
the game plan set up at the beginning of the week.
I always augment the list with two or three stocks that
reported to see how the market is handling those reports.
Today I added Columbia Health and ICIX. I am long
neither, but you need to know how the market is
discounting news to make intelligent decisions.
I always add in the hot deal of the day. I am asking about
Ziff-Davis because that's the market's thermometer.
Sounds like 98.6 right now. And then I ask for the bonds.
Today I asked for the bonds both before and after the
housing number. I used to put the bonds first, when the
Fed had a negative stance, but when the Fed switched to
neutral, I relegated them to a more junior position on my
list. Judging by Monday's action I better get back in the
habit of asking for the bonds first again.
Then, I ask for disasters and leading gainers. When I was
a rookie, I used to ask for these first. But when you think
of it, these are shoulda woulda second-guessing
situations. You had to know about these yesterday if you
were to profit from them. Not today. What good is kicking
yourself during the darn check-in?
Finally, I ask if there is anything that action must be taken
in in our portfolio. I ask that last, because I want all of the
other data first before we address our portfolio so as to
make as unemotional-based-on-fact decision I can make.
You are never yourself on the road, but you must do your
best to simulate your office conditions before you take
action.
Off to Ascend (which I am long).
*****
Random musings: Not every piece I do is designed to
generate a profit. Some, like this, are to show you a
snapshot of what I do. I think these pieces help. Let me
know what other type of by-rote things I do that might help
you and I won't answer but may do a piece if I get a
chance while I am in transit.
James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and
co-chairman of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his
fund is long America Online, Ascend, Chase, Cisco, Dell,
General Electric, IBM, Intel, Merck, Merrill, Microsoft,
Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and Yahoo!, although positions
can change at any time. Under no circumstances does
the information in this column represent a
recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Mr. Cramer's
writings provide insights into the dynamics of money
management and are not a solicitation for transactions.
While he cannot provide investment advice or
recommendations, he welcomes your feedback, emailed
to Jjc@thestreet.com.
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