Today, which is the chief reason why the average has turned tail after an initially positive showing. The dow dropping 70 points. S p shrinking. Nasdaq chilimbing 0. 05 . You know i want to make everybody the largest amount of money. If its legal and it turns a profit, its got my blessing. So if windstream, a super highyielding Telecommunications Company gets a private ruling from the irs that it can spin off assets into a Real Estate Investment trust and create instant value for you, im thrilled. Thats just what happened today. If centurylink and frontier communications, two companies very similar to windstream go from that idea, take advantage of the tax code goodies, more power to them. Those are real gains that you got today, big ones. And i think such that kind of Financial Engineering and ingenuity, im saying great, guys. I hope verizon and at t rethink and say they should do it. I think the Cable Companies should look it at it. Now, if i were a politician, id do everything in my power to close loopholes and lower tax regimes, in order to lower their tax bills. But im not a politician. And in the interim, i salute any company thats making money for you in this fashion. Mad moneys about you i dont believe that the Paper CompaniesLike International paper should be able to flip their virgin paper mills into some Master Limited partnership so that mlp shareholders can avoid paying the level of u. S. Taxes. But if it lifts the stock, as i plan to ask International Paper later on in the show, i say game on let the returns flow in. All of that said, we have to face the facts here. In the last few weeks while the vast majority of Companies Reported earnings have posted some impressive numbers and weve gotten all these terrific little oneoff things, theres been something more problematic thats just not being talked about by anyone. Something thats genuinely worrisome. Im talking about all of the endofcycle chatter that come from analysts who look at only their own sectors, but when taking on mass like the generalist that i am, well, lets just say its got me a little more skeptical about the underlying strength of the market. Before i go into which cycles might be turning down, let me take a moment to emphasize that i have not just become a huge bear. Every word of what i say on mad money is now measured in social media. So i feel compelled to tell you how i feel, but i dont feel like wasting a lot of energy defending my positive posture. I like much of what i see in the market. Whether it be the low Interest Rate environment, the relatively tame inflation picture, the good growth of so many companies, the activist and merger pressures that seem to produce wins every single day. Just today the ceo of darden departed under pressure because of the companys poor performance and stock. Mane while, activists successfully took board seats at cliff natural resources, an iron company, causing that stock to jump. And the success of so many Drug Companies of late signaled some real health in the market. I think the good news about a leukemia drug, the amazing hepatitis c cure from gilead that keeps power that stock higher, merck driven by new drug sales, amgen join the positive parade tonight with a terrific number. All of this suggests some Lasting Health in health stocks. Plus, some areas of tech are very strong. I said twitter last night was a battleground. It delivered a great quarter. It gained more than a dozen points after hours, spurring a host of buying in other social media stocks. To paraphrase bob marley, those are all the good things we have, but now lets focus on the good things weve lost along the way. Namely some tailwinds as we call them on wall street that have been boosting stocks for months that now seem like headwinds. First were witnessing what appears to be the housing cycle, something that was so bountiful for so long after the Great Recession ended. I always like to say that housing punches above its weight because while it nominally impacts about 10 of the economy, that bleeds into everything from retail to building products, Service Sectors like banks, lawyers, the people, realtors. For the last month, though, weve seen a decided cooling in every part of the housing cycle, its being ignored too much from permits to sales of existing homes. Weve seen Companies Like owenscorning, armstrong, report dismall numbers. Weve seen the mortgage profit lines of the banks get decimated, retailers that cater to homes will no doubt be the next to roll over if they havent already. When we get the case schiller numbers this morning, they showed a real decline in pricing across the board. We dont want to lose housing. Great that we got a good number. Maybe home depot delivers. But home prices have gone too high. Credits still hard to get. Fact of life, not going positive. Second, theres aerospace. Heres a cycle thats been strong for some time. Ive been a big believer, you know that. Most recently, weve gotten to see downgrades of all the stocks connected with the group and the downgrades are sticking. And with the exception of honeywell, every single sector thats reported has delivered with a market thats been unsatisfied with. Even honeywells been coming down. We wouldnt have to worry all that much if the Airline Stocks themselves had gone up when they reported monster quarters last week. But if you noticed them, theyre all stalled. Worrisome. Third, this afternoon, i listened to cnbcs phil lebeau talking about how the fabulous auto cycle, weve been riding that one since 2009. Maybe running out of steam. And that there may finally be too many cars in the system. Now, i was tempted to disagree with him. But ford reported an amazing quarter last weekend. I looked at it when he was talking, and it has done nothing. Again, not a good sign. Makes me wonder whether inventories really are building. Fourth, i though that the oil drilling cycle has been very strong. Oil prices high, the bakken, permean, you know the drill. I think it remains so, but these stocks have been reacting terribly never since slumberge failed to hit the high end of the range when it reported. Fifth, we had the potential for more profits from a whole new lending cycle developing when rates were trending higher. Remember the bank being sos went up after they reported . But out of nowhere theyve started falling again, which means the banks cant make as much money as we thought they could on each loan. Interest rates have come back down too much. Sixth, few cycles have been as powerful as the Health Maintenance billing cycle. These companies have been minting money. But today aetna, a stalwart, got hammered with what looked to be on the surface a pretty strong number. Out of nowhere. We dont want to lose that. Sengt, weve been hearing that the truck cycle is picking up after a lull. Remember what Klaus Kleinfeld said. Then the biggest and best engine maker reported a number that looked good on the surface but turned out to be disappointing to those who thought the cycle was improving. Some onetime gains in there. Eighth, the farm cycle. At one time so bountiful. Thats just hit a wall. As youll hear later in the show when we talk to agcos ceo. Monsanto, those stocks have been horrendous. Last but not least, the transports had been our leaders, right . We always talked about how commerce done with transport has been strong. Gangbusters. But this mornings shortfall from United Parcel sent a shiver down the spine of anyone who believed commerce was picking up. I remain a believer in u. P. S. , but the disappointment was palpable. Now, i still believe that most of these cycles are not yet played out. I think most are simply pausing. However, theres just too many of them pausing all at once right now to feel comfortable that the gimmicks and the oneoffs can take us ever higher. As terrific as they might be. Heres the bottom line. I now think we need some of the companies that are going to report in the next few weeks tell us that these tailwinds that i just mentioned havent all havent all turned into headwinds. That the cycles arent dwindling. If they have, then the markets too high. If theyre just pausing, then the rally will pause, too. At least until the numbers get better again. Ron in new york. Ron. Caller hey, jim, its ron from oceanside. Yeah, whats going on in oceanside, my friend . Caller i appreciate all your Investment Knowledge and insight over the years, jim. I have a question regarding melco crown entertainment, symbol mpel. I own the august 32 call options expiring on the 16th. The companys going to announce earnings on august 7th. Do you think this stock has a chance to pop on that announcement . Ive got to tell you, today we saw an amazing turnaround in wynn, and boy, steve wynn is so good. But the turnabout came from how good vegas was. Your guy doesnt have vegas. Look, its a call option. Can it work . I dont know. But the horse to bet on right now happens to be the horses happen to have big volume in vegas, which is mgm, and then when i looked at the wynn number today, i was quite impressed. Mary in florida. Mary. Caller hi, jim. How you doing . Real good. How about you, partner . Caller good. Jim, i have a substantial position in staples, and im concerned with a few things. Number one, they had this penny sale, and hopefully they didnt make a mistake, but i think they sold, like, 22 million of merchandise for a nominal amount, maybe a few hundred dollars. And in addition to that, of course, they had been they had the strike of the postal union with the Teachers Union joining them. And, of course, were heading into the backtoschool area. So things dont bode well for staples. No, and this feels like an amazon story, frankly. I worry about amazon on the ecommerce side, and i worry about costco coming in on the cost side, costco upgraded by goldman today. Im not a fan of staples. Im all about making you money, but recognizing that some of these oneoff gimmicks were seeing are making the market look stronger than it actually is has got me perturbed. Until we see some better numbers and some cycles that are waning, the rally may remain on pause. Tonight, mad money, mexican Style Chicken chain El Pollo Loco is en fuego. Have investors gone cuckoo or are investors keeping the heat . Then, International Paper is behind the packaging. But is it time now to buy the stock before it repackages itself . Plus, from trash to treasure. The Company Turning garbage into green and how you can get in on the action. Stick with cramer. Dont miss a second of mad money. Follow jimcramer on twitter. Have a question . Tweet cramer. Madtweets. Send jim an email to madmoney cnbc. Com. Or give us a call. At 1800743cnbc. Miss something . Head to madmoney. Cnbc. Com. In a world thats changing faster than ever, we believe outshining the competition tomorrow requires challenging your Business Inside and out today. At cognizant, we help forwardlooking Companies Run better and run different to give your customers every reason to keep looking for you. So if youre ready to see opportunities and see them through, we say lets get to work. Because the future belongs to those who challenge the present. Look at Waste Management, one of our old fave here. You might know Waste Management is consistent, but okay, somewhat sleepy stock. Largest Garbage Company in america. 269 landfills, 297 transfer stations, not to mention a boundful 3. 4 yield, not bad versus treasuries. But today this company took drastic action to show that its committed to creating value for shareholders. First Waste Management reported this morning it not only beat earnings by a penny, management gave guidance where they said they would either meet or exceed their previous fullyear forecasts, which is what really matters. Second, they announced a 600 million accelerated buyback program. Third most important, we learned Waste Management is selling its wastetoenergy business which turns trash into electricity for 1. 94 billion, with the proceeds going to Fund Acquisitions within the core business and a larger buyback. Talk about a company thats taken control of its own destiny and its own share price. No wonder the stock rallied 3. 9 today. It had a very bad day in the market. Lets take a deeper dive with david steiner, president and ceo of Waste Management. No stranger to the show. This big asset sale, mr. Steiner, welcome back to mad money. Hi, jim. Thanks for having me. Well, david, ive got to tell you, i know that you discussed it now and then, but i did not expect it done. You had a very good price. Tell us about the sale and what it means for the company. Yeah, you know, jim, when we look at wheelabraider, the front end is core to our business. Thats where we collect the waste and we call it what we call tip fees. The back end, on the other hand, is not core to our business. Thats the electricity sales. And so we thought why dont we take this business and split it between two people that can do each part the best that anyone can do it. Well still supply the waste into the front end. Ecp, our new partner buying it for 1. 94 billion will manage the electricity on the back end. And so what were doing is making a more efficient asset out of wheelabraider awhile at the same time dropping 1. 94 billion of cash to us to do what we need to do to do right things for shareholders. But i know that youre not satisfied because when i go through the quarter, your samestore sale averages in the commercial industrialized increased 4. 4 , 3. 1 in the residential line. But i know on the volumes youre still not happy with that negative 1. 4 . Yeah, theres no doubt about that, jim. We need to do a better job of making sure that we dont give a customer a reason to leave us, right . And so were going to continue to focus on being the best Service Provider we can. And then were going to look strategically, where can we grow those volumes without affecting the competitive dynamic. You know, when youre the largest in the industry, sometimes you have to do things that others in the industry dont have to do. And from our point of view, were not looking to go out and grab market share. Were looking to get our fair share of the growth. And now its time for us to look for those Growth Markets and get our fair share. Well, this 1. 5 billion high end of a Free Cash Flow guidance. Youre clearly getting the most out of each contract you have. Yeah, we absolutely are. But, you know, jim, look, thats what we get paid to do. We get paid to do better. And you know, the only weak spot that you saw on our Earnings Report was like you said, that negative volume. We need to do a better job of managing that up. And then when the economy starts to turn, well be positioned great to leverage that volume to drop a huge incremental amount to our bottom line. Arent you surprised that were not at that stage where were starting to see big housing complexes being built again, which i know is bread and butter Waste Management business . Thats exactly right. Because you know when those Housing Developments are built, we not only get the waste when those houses are built, but then what those houses attract are commercial businesses like dry cleaners and restaurants. And were starting to see that. You know, right here in houston, texas, were seeing a huge amount of building. Youre starting to see it in places like south florida and california. You know, once we see sort of a sustained year or two of 1. 1 million to 1. 3 million housing starts, we think thats when youll start to see the commercial volume bounce back. Id expect that to happen in 2015. Boy, my fingers are crossed, if we get that, that would be fantastic. One thing popped out at me on the Conference Call. All these companies are doing these things to lower their tax bill. Theyre going to dublin, switzerland, making these inversions, doing National Limited partnerships. 44. 7 income tax rate for Waste Management . How did that happen . Thats right. You know, jim, ive got to tell you, if there was ever a poster child for tax reform, it would be us at Waste Management. We pay certainly more than our fair share of taxes. Like you say, 44 plus corporate, thats because not only did we pay our normal Corporate Taxes, but when we sold our puerto rican operations early in the quarter, we then repatriated that money to the united states. To do the right thing, to invest it in the united states. Our reward for doing that, a 44 tax rate. So, you know, if we really want to see american businesses reinvest in america, weve got to make it easier to bring those foreign earnings back into the united states. Comprehensive Corporate Tax reform would do that. Okay. Yeah, you are the poster when i read that, i said, now, you know what . This is a real problem for on our country. Now, we have often talked about natural gas and where its going to be used for vehicles. Now, there seems to be a lot of people still ask me clean energy fuels. It really hasnt happened yet. Westport really hasnt happened yet. Cummings not clear. The movement seems to be a bit stalled here, david. Yeah, you know, jim, whenever anyone asks me wha