with the market that it's enough to make your head spin. just today i heard many people tell me that this market must trade on the budget submitted by president obama. i heard this document which includes tax increases for the wealthy should be the centerpiece of what happened next in the stock market and that mean, of course, that the stock market should head lower. at the same time i heard the debate about the trillion dollar deficits and how hard it would be for the united states? >> that should be the controlling factor. >> that should be the be all and end all of stocks. what happens if the df sit goes from out of control to totally a pock liptec? >> don't we have to sell stocks now just on that spector? >> sell, sell, sell, sell. then i heard the obligatory chatter because of the european dominos. the unruly collapse that would bring down portugal and ireland and therefore create a shock to the system that would head you into a global tailspin. >> if wea, lou the bush tax cuts to expire at the same time that we cut more than $1 trillion in spending, it could trigger a brand new recession here, one that could happen easily because of the fragile nature of the recovery. you want to be in stocks if that happens? of course, the debate over obama care and the catholic charts are called into question exactly how meaningful obama care will be and how much it will cost employers beginning next year and how the economy can't afford such a body blow because it makes hiring more costly. by the way, that is something i believe to be true. >> oh, and with israeli embassies being targeted, coupled with the ticking time bomb that is iran's nuclear program. how could you want to own stocks, do you really want to be in the s&p knowing that this looms in the horizon? >> you want to own stocks, in the strait of hormuz? >> look, okay. these are all reasons to sell the market that's right. if you only view the stock market as the asset class and the asset class of gold or real estate and you consider all these painful choices and how -- that can pretty much derail anything good. so i understand why you would want to go into cash tomorrow. i heard a guest on cnbc say it's time for a risk-off approach to the market because of all of these problems and a few others to which i say thanks for nothing. that risk on, risk off nonsense is so 2011 when the hedge funds and high frequency traders rule the roost. the whole nomenclature of risk on and risk off issa i false one. it is purely bogus and it is bogus. something that a lot of quads must have sat on trading desks that somehow seeped into the media parlance by people who with wanted to sound cool, but people who wanted to sound like they knew how the professionals talk. >> me? it means nothing to me, and if it means nothing to me after 32 years of running money it should mean nothing to you, too. >> it depends on the stocks might not be impacted and affected by these events. i can tell you that the only times i cared about so-called macro news could be counted on one hand. that's right. as i like to say on the trading desk, what does the price to earnings multiple -- >> in other words, these bearish news stories should have more of an impact cerebrally, right? than they do. >> they should seep into our consciousness and make us more nervous, but they don't. it's just not what happens. for many stocks the news doesn't register program these stories don't impact the price of apple. they can't match against pfizer or be calculated against microsoft or even the closing prices of red-hot stocks like cummins or caterpillar. am i saying these mean nothing? no, i'm not stupid or glib like that. as i told you last week i want to see what the germans do with the deals the greeks have this weekend. it's a default and unrulunruly, disorderly and greece. we have to figure out what happens to the euro as the euro deeply impacts the companies from the conference calls we've gone through. as i said over and over, if earnings get cut, stocks do go lower, but the bigger issue is what happens if germany embraces greece and at the same time china cuts interest rates. next thing you know, you've got yourself a monster rally while you're sitting there worried about the budget deficit. let's take the budget deficit. it's real. if we're being serious and if we believe a balanced budget is important then both entitlements have to be cut and it's true. a lot of pares won't agree to that, but here's the thing. interest rates remain so low that they're almost non-existent. those were rocky times for stocks. the competition was pretty darn fierce. treasurys yielding 3%, please! until they move up, when the bond vigilantes are recommending europe, it's just not palatable to own bonds versus higher stocks, big on dividend income, and remember, i don't think it will get passed. gasoline at eight bucks. terrib terrible, just terrible. why not? because if israel doesn't attack, fund managers feel they'll miss out on this mag siv centrally and they'll fall further behind on those that are less worried. the guy worried about this stuff is making more money than the guy worried about this stuff. why don't you file it that i stay long by exogenous events and if i am i will buy more stocks because so many of my companies are doing so well and yet stocks are historically cheap including many of my favorites. that's the line of the winning fund manager right now. here's the bottom line. we are whistling past the graveyard here. we are simply not at the juncture where bonds represent serious competition of stocks yet where we haven't seen the bad news yet on the tape. until we do, we can't figure out how these potential negatives factor into the stocks we like. i know it's our job to project if certain events do occur. we do know the cor raising is to individual stocks and look at these individual stocks, we can't fathom or see the impact on many of the stocks we like on these events. >> we can't sell darden because we think red lobster will be hurt by higher gasoline price fess e ran strikes the strait of hormuz, and selling bristol-myers with this 4.2% yield and strong earnings momentum simply because of the budget deficit? enough already. that's just plain nuts. let's go to ron in new jersey, please. ron? >> big boo-yah to you, jim. >> nice local boo-yah back at you. what's up? >> i'm new to the stock market. i invested in ram energy. they had a purchase agreement with hk, 3-1 reverse stock split. should i go fishing or bail? >> no, no, no, no. i like that. you've got some great blood lines here in this company, too. guys that have been real, real winners. i want you to stay on it, and i think that ram was very valuable company that built companies before. i think you're in good shape owning that. i want you to hold on. just so we know. they changed the symbol. remember they sold that? it used to be hk. i forget exactly which one. i know that hk is back and this version of it looks pretty darn good. hk. let's go to frank in new york, please. frank? >> caller: boo-yah, jim! >> boo-yah, frank, what's up? >> caller: i'd like to know your opinion on capital one if the fed doesn't approve the deal with ing. >> i happen to have loved ing's busine business, the ing direct business is so fabulous this would be fantastic for capital one. as it is, capital one is a pretty darn good company right now, but that would make it so it gets a premium multiple over all other bank and tech stocks, bank tech stocks except for visa and mastercard. that's why it was its intact. we can't predict the future, but we can't be captive to it, either. how do we react to the uncertainy? >> sorry. it's no longer how the stock market reacts. it's individual stocks and many of them will react positively or not react at all. "mad money" will be right back. coming up, old dog new tricks? this tech icon was once a wall street darling, but with the direct sales model it's no longer leader of the pack. could its new tricks convince jim to throw this dog a bone? find out next. and later, best in show. could man's best friend soon become investor's best friend? cramer's sniffing around to find the best pet stocks that could give your portfolio a treat. plus, fuel up? this controversial energy stock is already up 30% in the past six months. could that be just the beginning? cramer's drilling for answers in his exclusive with the ceo of magnum hunter resources just ahead all coming up on "mad money." miss out on some "mad money?" get your "mad money" text alert today. text to 26221 to get cramer right on your phone. for more info visit mad money.cnbc.com or give us a call at 800-743-cnbc. the the new spark cardnth from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? ♪ how much is that doggie in the window ♪ >> while we're watching the fancy pure breds prance around at the westminster dog show i think it's worth pointing out that when it comes to investing in stocks sometimes old dogs can, in pack, learn new tricks. that might not be true in the animal kingdom, but in the corporate world it happens all of the time. consider the ultimate old dog of tech, dell. a couple of years ago, if you asked me what i thought of dell's future i would have said this personal computermaker was way past its prime, that it was a diseased, did i krep ied animal that needed to be put to sleep before it did any more damage to its shareholders' portfolios. dell, the most innovative companies in tech seemed to be hostage to a perk c market with no way ought. even when the company's i havingary founder michael dell came out of retirement to run the business once again it seemed like there was nothing he could do to get back on track which is why i put him on the wall of shame in july 2010. this old dog learned a few new treks and now i believe dell is one of the hottest turnaround stories in tech. that's why i took michael dell off the wall of shame last may when his company reported terrific quarter and it became clear that dell had, in fact, figured out a way to get away from the ailing pc business. things sen it's become everer clooy and that's why tonight i'm pounding the table, telling you to buy the miraculous comeback story that is dell. so what's changed? how has dell managed to pull off such a remarkable transformation to extend the canine analogy, dell was in the pound in one of the shelters where they euthanize the animals where nobody wants to adopt them. the consensus was that dell should be put out of its misery, but now i'm saying you should take old dog with you because it could be your portfolio's best friend. let me explain what's happening here. the problem with dell was always that this was a pc company and it was in secular decline. now dell gets half of its sales from laptops and desktops and those sales are not growing, but the company has radically cut costs in the pc biz making it more profitable. remember the glory days of the personal computer? dell built a powerhouse by allowing people to customize their own machines. however, that's a very expensive business model and now that the pcs are no longer where the action is, dell abandoned it. something that a lot of them slashed manufacturing costs by 30% and also simplified the supply chain and that saves a lot of money. the analysts on wall street under underestimate how important these cost-cuts have been. >> they expand by 400 basis points and analysts say that comes from lower component costs when they can generate huge savings from abandoning the old custom building strategy. in other words, dell has made peace with the fact that pc is no longer a growth business and they're trying to mill thak for profits. that's a nice change, but the real comeback is happening in the other half of the company, the enterprise business. >> two years ago dell announced a big, strategic transformation. in order to provide its business customers with full end to end solutions, storage, networking, software dell allowed third-party vendors like brocade and microsoft. dell always had a strong enterprise customer basis, but a lot of what they were selling was made by other companies and these third party products carried tiny 2% gross margins. for everything, but servers dell was nothing more than a ied middleman. the company decided to develop its own storage products and its own networking solution and now they reached the point where the enterprise pieces are wholly owned. it was by dell not by enc where the relationship is now over. they are selling networking gear made by dell and not just by cisco and that makes a huge difference to the bottom line. to get to this point the company had to make a bunch of acquisitions and when you look at the owner trying to own its own enterprise portfolio, they make a ton of sense. dell's made 17 acquisitions designed to reduce their dependence on low-sale margin relationships with the like of microsoft and cisco. it was quarterbacked by a guy named dave johnson and he was centered to ibm's incredible transformation and for more than a decade, it's been working and dell's been a brilliant buyer of new technologies and therefore knows how to anticipate these customers' needs. altogether, these acquisitions have helped dell with the free cash flow and have surged by 80% plus the company built up its sales force and some of it that helped take share from the competition. i think the results speak for themselves. time to let dell out of the doghouse. that's right. ever since i took michael dell off the wall of shame the company can execute the new strategy, dell missed when it reported the latest quarter in november and the 47-cent basis reflecting the company's shift toward higher value-added products and the revenues were up 8%. dell reports in a little more than a week, ago? february 21st and i think the results will be excellent. meanwhile, think about it, the stock sells for 8.7 times forward earnings and that's a ridiculously low multiple. 5% growth rate could accelerate and i think the stock's pretty cheap, given that dell has $7 billion in cash in the balance sheet and the massive buyback that's equivalent to 22% of the company's market cap. that's the buyback that's beaten up -- the turnaround at dell proves that even an old dog can learn new tricks. i think the stock's a buy. even as mere nickels and dimes away from the 52-week high. i would like it more on a pullback, but maybe you'll get one if it sells off after the quarter. after the break i'll try to save you even more money. stay with cramer. ♪ ♪ coming up, best in show. could man's best friend soon become investors' best friend? cramer's sniffing around to find you the best pet stocks that would give your portfolio a treat. and later, fuel up. this controversial energy stock is already up 30% in the past six months, but could that be just the beginning? cramer's drilling for answers in his exclusive with the ceo of magnum hunter resources just ahead all coming up on "mad money." ♪ and they called it puppy love ♪ you know us. we're always on the hunt for big picture themes on "mad money." long-term trends that can inspire multi-year bull markets. sometimes searching for themes could be looking for a needle in a hay stack, but there are other times when great ideas look you straight in the face and then they beet your nose off. take the westminster kennel club dog show on tv today. the ratings for this thing were going to be totally in your face and a great example of just how much americans love their dogs and not just dogs either, frankly. as a country, we're obsessed with our friends and now the economy is accelerating and people have money in their pockets to spend again and they can get a new chew toy or better food for man's best friend. so tonight in honor of the -- in honor of the west minutester dog show and an homage to best in show, the cramer fife christopher gest movie, not assed about as waiting for spinal tap, "mad money" is going right to the dogs, and that could be your portfolio's best friend. the next time somebody asked you who let the dogs out? you tell them it was cramer. the fact is to totally confuse our animal metaphors we have a raging bull market in all things pet-related in this country. 62% of american households own a pet. that's equivalent to 71 million homes, 94 million cats. 78 million dogs and man, do we love to pamper our pets. where are you going there, wise guy? in 2010 -- get back here. in 2010 -- answers to me. the pet products and supplies business was a $35 billion market and it's grown larger since then. when you throw in boarding and am grooing services the total get business is worth 48 billion being smaers. that's a huge chunk of chain and it's growing larger every year. but that's the only reason to lease your portfolio to a pet stock. after years when pet adoptions were on the decline thanks to weak household formation, over the last couple of quarters adoptions have begun growing again and then there's the demographic factor. as ever more baby boomers send their kids tuf college, we have an entire population of parents with no children to take care of. exactly the kind of people who lavish their pets with tons of attenti attention. not to mention buying them all sorts of fancy food. i would go so far as to say that a lot of people in this country love their pets more than their kidsa the least during the will cha efrjing rebellious periods. after all, dogs are more affectionate than the average teenager and cats never talk back except for the occasional scratch at the face and they give you horrible allergies. >> where is he? where is he? all right. all right. don't ever upstage the talent! >> how do we try to make money off the pet bull market? i have a terrific way to play it. it's called petsmart. petm. i need some treats! the largest retailer of pet food and pet supplies in the united states more stores in the united states and canada. they are, dare i say it? best of breed with 14% to 15% share of the over $40 billion pet industry, but petsmart's more than just a place where you buy a leash for your dog or food for your cat or guinea pig or a small pet for your kid. they're not just a retailer. petsmart figured out a formula that will fend off on-line co competition. they're like the whole foods of pet stores. what makes petsmart different? >> this country realized that the obsession with foods is going well beyond humans. they also want their pets to have an organic diet, too, which is why pet ois mart has had enormous success selling super premium food. it's margins that are three types the size of ordinary pet food. so each sale is much more profitable. they've been very savvy about bringing themselves as a higher end pet store. it was only 10% of the product petsmart carries or even available in the mass channel. in other words, this company's selling lots of exclusive and proprietary products. they even have exclusive martha stewart brand and doggie bed and they have toys "r" us branded toys. you wouldn't think it's the martha stewart model, it's their owners. more people that would pay up to buy what they perceive for their pets and the best is only available at pet ois mart. this month the company plans to give high-margin natural goods 20 additional feet of selling space and eight more feed in the catfood aisle, something that should give themma i nice b