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“Penney’s the gift that keeps on giving — not just to the short-sellers but to this troika of very lucky competitors,” Cramer said.
Walgreen Co. is another company whose stock Cramer said might be good to bet against.
“Ever since Walgreen’s declared war on Express Scripts, formerly its pharmacy benefit manager, it seems to be all downhill for this gigantic drug store chain,” he said. “Customers have been fleeing to competitor CVS, as demonstrated by the 9.9 percent decline in comparable pharmacy sales announced today.”
But rather than try to reverse the trend, Walgreen instead announced acquisition of a 45 percent stake in Alliance Boots, a giant drug store chain in the United Kingdom, for $6.7 billion.
Cramer’s response?
“What the heck? Is spending a fortune buying a portion of a global chain of drug stores the way to reverse the defections to CVS? I don’t think so.”
Cramer admitted that there was a chance the companies could make their gambits pay off.
“But in the meantime, I say they are terrific reasons to buy their competitors as their failures and footfalls play right into the hands of the stores right next door to their own operations,” he said.
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com
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