Combating Hedge Fund Madness

Date: Friday, September 12, 2008
Author: Jim Cramer, The Street.com

"This market has been at the mercy of hedge funds gone wild," Jim Cramer told viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show Thursday.

But that situation changed abruptly today when "the hedge funds panicked and some companies started fighting back," he said.

Cramer called today's 370-point swing in the Dow "insanity." He said it was clear that the hedge funds, who often think alike, were betting on a market collapse as worries about Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote - Cramer on LEH - Stock Picks) and Washington Mutual (WM Quote - Cramer on WM - Stock Picks) continued.

However when that theory failed to materialize, said Cramer, the market turned volatile after the funds frantically covered their positions.

Up until now, there has been little push back from companies, which are often smaller than the funds that trade them. But today, he said, two companies did fight back against the onslaught of selling and naked short-selling.

The first was mining equipment maker Joy Global (JOYG Quote - Cramer on JOYG - Stock Picks) which has seen its stock price cut in half, from $90 a share to just $44 a share, amidst the voracious sell-off in the commodity markets.

Its stock fell from $63 a share to just $51 a share after the company reported a quarter where orders increased 139% from the year ago period.

Today, however, Joy Global announced that it was buying back two-fifths of its capitalization, or $2 billion worth of stock, between now and 2011. Cramer said the company finally had enough of the selling and could almost take itself completely private if its stock keeps falling.

He said it was remarkable for a $5 billion company to commit $2 billion worth of capital towards saving its stock.

Cramer also tipped his hat to CSX (CSX Quote - Cramer on CSX - Stock Picks), whose embattled CEO Michael Ward won a proxy battle with hedge funds to keep his job. CSX today reported a better-than-expected quarter and was up 10.7% today.