• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Doug Kass
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • Trifecta Stocks
  1. Home
  2. / Investing
  3. / Healthcare

Cramer: What Happened to the Pajama Traders?

The terror that the futures struck, rightly or wrongly, has disappeared.
By JIM CRAMER Jan 11, 2017 | 06:39 AM EST
Stocks quotes in this article: MRK, UAL, DAL

Where did the pajama traders go? Where did those traders who used to control the opening based on extraneous data and news events from overseas disappear to?

Ever since the election of Trump, we have lost a great deal of the ridiculous volatility that plagued our markets for years -- the kind of volatility that led to giant distortions each morning as we tried to calculate the impact of an Italian bank's failed restructuring or a raid on the Cyprus financial system. How much was a collapse of the Brazilian real worth? How do you factor in weak Chinese numbers?

Brexit? Has to be terrible, right?

The impact on our market was always suspect, but that didn't keep them from trying to control things. When you add in that some Fed speakers would talk after the market about raising rates, sparking the possibility of a tape tantrum and then a selloff in the stocks that need rates to stay low to be competitive, you had a lot of action every morning that was, alas, full of sound and fury but signifying absolutely nothing.

I would call these traders out regularly, giving you that pajama image just as a gratuitous slap, because I think I have earned the right for gratuitous slaps, given my role as a Dr. Denton trader in a previous life.

In the '80s I would trade Japan aggressively and be set up for America out of Tokyo. It worked before the 1987 crash because the Japanese controlled our openings, since they were so powerful back then. They strode the Earth like colossus -- something that's hard to believe now but was the case for certain.

I have some theories about what happened. First, someone got wise to these clowns -- hey, if President Elect Trump can call Senator Schumer a clown, that's a real opening for further less-than-ambassadorial descriptions -- and took their money away. How long can investors stick with managers who are wrong by 9:34 a.m.?

Second, the rest of the world, despite the stories in the press, just got better. Britain's been up for a dozen days because Brexit has created a better business environment because of the weaker pound. The numbers out of most of Europe are quite strong. Hate 'em or like 'em, the data out of China's pretty darned good. Latin America's no longer a disaster. The real and the ruble rock.

Third, the news flow out of the U.S. is better. Last night, Merck (MRK) got some good news about Keytruda and its importance in fighting lung cancer. Forget that this was in the cards; this market likes to go up on the same positive data all of the time. United Continental (UAL) issued numbers that were better than expected for December. That wasn't supposed to happen. In front ran Delta's (DAL) numbers.

Notice none of this has to do with Trump. We are possessed by Trump in the news business. How can you not be? But the simple fact is, the reason why we don't care about the morning futures fluctuation is that there is none, exaggerated or not. The terror that the futures struck, rightly or wrongly, has disappeared.

We are all for the better of this artificial, silly infantile, immature trading by people who have either learned the errors of their ways or have moved on to honest employs.

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned.

TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Transportation | Financial Services | Healthcare | Futures | Economic Data | Markets | Drug Approvals | Economy | Politics | How-to | Risk Management | Stocks

More from Healthcare

2 Biotech Stocks to Own as M&A Potentially Gathers Steam

Bret Jensen
May 11, 2022 11:35 AM EDT

I like these names as stand-alone entities but they should also attract interest from larger players.

China Faces 'Tsunami' of Covid Infection That Could Swamp the System

Alex Frew McMillan
May 11, 2022 9:00 AM EDT

A new study suggests 1.55 million people could die if China abandons zero-Covid, with the intensive-care system needing 15.6 times existing capacity.

I'm Giving Dynavax Another Shot -- a Booster Shot

Bret Jensen
May 8, 2022 7:31 AM EDT

Despite an earnings miss, DVAX show promise in several vaccine fronts and I'm doubling down on the name.

In This Environment, I'd Be More Risk Averse With Intuitive Surgical

Stephen Guilfoyle
Apr 25, 2022 10:50 AM EDT

The firm has been hurt and continues to be hurt by the effects of the pandemic.

CVS Stock Needs to Refill Its Prescription

Bruce Kamich
Mar 29, 2022 12:01 PM EDT

Charts are looking 'toppy' right now.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 10:10 AM EDT JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    "Market Timing for Dummies"
  • 01:44 PM EDT STEPHEN GUILFOYLE

    Stocks Under $10 Portfolio

    We're making a series of trades here.
  • 03:07 PM EDT PAUL PRICE

    Why Is Walmart Down Big Today?

    Besides its poor earnings report Walmart was way...
  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2022 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login