The market took a beating on Tuesday on soft housing and retail news, and the Commerce Department reported that third-quarter GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.5%.

Not much was expected given the light trading volume, but given the discouraging news, it was no surprise that the market ended the day down across the board.

Not much is expected for the short day on Wednesday, either, but we thought we'd take a look at what Jim Cramer's had to say about some of the stocks people have been searching for on TheStreet.com.

These stocks could be in the news for a number of reasons. Some require immediate attention; others may not. Regardless, it never hurts to hear what Cramer (or any of the other professional investors on the site) has to say about them. The key is to gather as much information as you can in order to make the most informed investment decisions you can.

The ugly day on Tuesday was led by weakness in such stocks as Ford (F), Citigroup (C) and General Motors (GM), but let's take a look at what Cramer's had to say about Nucor (NUE):

"You know what would make me feel better about this market? If I heard one, just one, portfolio manager come on TV. and say, 'This isn't a great opportunity, and you should wait until prices go lower, maybe much lower, to take action.'

"I think the vast majority of managers who come on TV love this market. They love it even though it is entirely a one-step-forward, one-and-a-half-steps backward tape where you get a half-hearted recovery in a stock and then a smackdown.

"I know that some stocks seem like they have definitely bottomed and don't want to give up the big gains -- stocks like Nucor and Caterpillar (CAT) and U.S. Steel (X). But we are at a level right now where it seems that you will get hammered if you get aggressive. On a given day, we are getting a moment where stocks plummet, and that's worth taking advantage of, provided you blow out when they rally, as is the case even today!

"Take Apple (AAPL). Last week, all we heard was how good it hung in despite the Steve Jobs pullout of Macworld. Then you come in yesterday, and the stock gets slaughtered. Weren't all the sellers finished when they heard about Macworld? Nope.

"This morning I was excited to see PPG Industries (PPG) open up nicely after its terrible preannouncement last night. Until it started to give up the ghost as sellers materialized. FedEx (FDX) is another one like that. Well off its lows, but whenever it recovers a couple of points it gives up a couple of points. Totally discouraging.

"Or Bank of America (BAC). This one can open up well, as it did today, and then just give up the ghost, sucking everyone in.

"Was there a soul who didn't know that Textron (TXT) was in trouble with those small plane, helicopter and finance businesses. But sellers materialized there, too, on the obvious.

"There always seem to be sellers in Cisco (CSCO) anytime a buy program takes that one up a tad. Same with EMC (EMC), which can't get off the $10 level. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) seems forever trapped at $35.

"The fertilizer stocks? Don't get me started: four up, seven down, that's the ticket.

"The drillers go up a half point for every point they go down, although, with the exception of Nabors (NBR), they are well off their lows. Still, every time they rally, they are met with a cascade of selling. Same with the natural gas companies: The sellers lurk on any upward move.

"MasterCard (MA) seems to have good days punctuated by hellish ones that work off whatever has been gained. It's been here for two months, plus or minus a couple of points.

"These are all amazingly frustrating situations,. They wear you down. They make it so you feel, why bother? Why bother with a General Mills (GIS), which does a great number and is almost back to its disastrous October lows? Why bother with a Pepsi (PEP), which delivered nicely but has been in a three-month rut? Or General Electric (GE)? It has come out and said the dividend is safe. It has started to clean up its financial services division, It reiterated guidance. The market says, so what, it is at $16, and that's not low enough to spur buying.

"So many are like that. so many are so range-bound -- although some have much bigger ranges than others -- that the only way to make any money now is to play the extremes but hope the bottom doesn't fall out -- which happens if you don't have a dividend or if the dividend is cut.

"Sure you can get counterintuitive runs up -- Foster Wheeler (FWLT), Deere (DE) and National Oilwell Varco (NOV) are good examples, but they were only down on their butts because of hedge funds gone wild.

"Which brings me back to the first comment: the bullish commentators. I ask you, given these ranges and the market's total do-nothing stance, what's so compelling at these levels? What do these promoters see? Do they see a stabilization in the financials, something I want to see before I get aggressive? Are they looking at the "valuations" as being too cheap, even though many were cheaper in October and November? So why can't they get cheaper again? What's better?

"I can make a case that things will get interesting again when the accidentally mid-yielders become high yielders,. I was looking at Nucor, which pays a dividend next week, and I was thinking, why the heck buy it up here when it was in the low $30s not that long ago and things have only deteriorated for it? I just can't get my arms around it. Deere yielded 4%, now it is 3%. Why not wait until it yields 4% again?

"All good things come to those who wait on this market.

"All bad things come to those who force it.

"Just wait.

"There's nothing so compelling right now that it must be bought. Which is why I find it so mystifying to see that so many managers hear the whistle and think that the train's pulling out of the station.

"My take: There's another, safer one right behind it. Wait for that one."

For more of what Cramer's had to say about Tuesday's top-searched stocks, check out the Cramer's Take portfolio at Stockpickr.com.

(Editor's note: At the time of publication and/or original publication of his posts and shows, Cramer owned Cisco, Deere, Foster Wheeler, General Electric, General Mills, Hewlett-Packard and PepsiCo for his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust.)

Posted on Dec. 23, 2008