"The Way It Is"
By Jim Cramer
RealMoney Columnist
5/20/2011 7:41 AM EDT
"There's always a routine in this business, one that's dictated by events, what's important, what will determine the day. It used to be pretty simple -- antediluvian, even. When I first moved to the suburbs I would get out of bed, throw some clothes on and walk to the end of the driveway to get the Times and the Journal -- I used to pay extra to be the first on the route, to get a jump on things. You didn't have to get in those days much earlier than 7 a.m. because the wire didn't start until then.
You followed your stocks, the stock market, the broader economy and, at times, Washington. That was about it.
Issues would come in and out of the first focus. Sometimes it would be taxes, sometimes terror, sometimes takeovers. But for the most part it would be company-by-company news, and if something was happening in the broader market, you examined it to figure out what you needed to sell or buy into the overall market moves.
Rather than give you the whole evolution, let me cut to the chase: These days, as soon as I get up I check the CurrencyShares Euro (FXE - commentary - Trade Now), which will pretty much determine how the day will be. If the FXE is down, I know my longs will fail; if it is up, my longs will work. I then check why the FXE is the way it is. I check Greek bonds. I check Portuguese bills. I check statements by ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet. I check statements from the Germans and the French. Then I check the oil futures to be sure the linkage with the FXE is still on -- it almost always is. Then I check copper, because copper is China and I want to be sure the Chinese aren't saying anything too negative. I then check any pronouncements about inflation in any of the euro nations or China.
Only then, after all of that ridiculousness, do I check anything having to do with the United States. Because as important as we think we are, everything I just wrote about above is more important, or I wouldn't bother with it.
One thing I don't do is ask, "Is this right?" I do what is right instinctively by now. At this point in my career I am about time management and examining the biggest-bang-for-the-buck data points.
As ridiculous as it seems, you now have them.
Oh, and just one line of editorial: So much for American hegemony. "
(in
www.realmoney.com)