Cramer comments -
Hype succeeds, short-term. It stinks long-term. That has to be the reason Lucent's (LU:NYSE - commentary - research) been so silent despite the unbelievable series of wins it has gotten in the last two months. First, Lucent won the Cingular business, a major new order. Then Nextel (NXTL:Nasdaq - commentary - research) announced a merge with Sprint (FON:NYSE - commentary - research), the latter being all Lucent, the former being no Lucent, and Sprint now will build out its network using more Lucent parts.
Yet the company is silent. The company never crows. The company just takes it all in. I think that's because Lucent CEO Patricia Russo saw it all happen during the good old days at Lucent, where Lucent constantly was bragging about orders that it hadn't nailed down yet and offering cheap financing to those who were doing the ordering. Russo knows that the story will have to be told by others now, not her. She can't be seen as hyping, given the lessons and the costs of hype from the previous regime.
In some ways, it is a shame. I think we would have a higher stock if Lucent were promotional. But in other ways, all that's happening is the stock's rise is delayed. Unless you have an appointment somewhere, you have to ask, "What's the hurry?" People have been emailing me, "I am down 50 cents on Lucent," to which I can only say, "Hold it; did I tell you to buy it all at once at the high? Was that really my directive?" Given that I preach, endlessly, that you shouldn't commit all your capital at one level, I can't even take these top-tickers seriously.
I always value second opinions. You in Lucent? Call Lehman Brothers. Get the reports by Steve Levy. He's been around. He knows the history. Read what he is saying. It confirms everything my sources are telling me.
And remember, sometimes it is not the velocity of the move that matters, it's the destination. You know where I think this one is heading.
