Jim Cramer announced that people want to preserve the stock rally "in the worst way." He did not clarify whether he meant they want it badly or they want it through the worst possible methods. Both interpretations appear accurate.
The Treasury started buying back bonds. This is the government version of a company doing a stock buyback, except instead of inflating share prices it's trying to keep the debt market from seizing up like a 1987 Yugo in a Minnesota winter. Cramer called this "near-term relief." Doctors use the same phrase when they hand you Tylenol for stage four cancer.
Strain in the government debt market means the machine that funds everything is making concerning noises. Picture a transmission grinding in second gear. Now picture that transmission belonging to the vehicle that carries your 401(k), your mortgage rate, and the structural integrity of global finance. The Treasury's solution is to pour in some Lucas Oil and hope nobody notices.
People want to preserve this rally in the worst way. They will accept bond buybacks. They will accept federal intervention. They will accept Jim Cramer explaining why this is fine on cable television at four in the afternoon. There is no bottom to what people will accept as long as the line goes up.
Retail traders are currently Googling "what is a Treasury bond" and "can I buy calls on intervention." They learned the word buyback during the GameStop era and now believe all buybacks are bullish regardless of what is being bought back or why. The Treasury could announce it's buying back the Louisiana Purchase and someone would find a way to make it about tech stocks.
Cramer said this out loud. On camera. He looked into the lens and told America that desperation is the current market strategy. And the market heard him and said yeah, that tracks.
Photo by Elliot Krueger on Unsplash
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