Here is what, according to Jim Cramer, is necessary for stabilizing the markets:
What will it take for the stock market to finally find a bottom? Jim Cramer laid out a checklist for his Mad Money viewers Monday to find out.
First, Cramer said the Federal Reserve needs to change its narrative. The Fed needs to know its own strength for moving markets and stop letting individual governors speak whenever they feel like it. The Fed needs one voice and needs to return to a "data-driven" model and stop talking about hiking rates four times in 2016.
Second, Cramer said there needs to be more political certainty on who our candidates might be and whether or not they're going to take a pro-business or anti-business stance on the issues at hand.
Third, Cramer said China needs to clean up its act. The Shanghai stock market needs to return to its 2014 levels and the Chinese government needs to provide some real stimulus.
Next, Cramer noted that commodities need to find a bottom. The stock market cannot stage a meaningful rally with so many raw materials continuing their free fall. Entire emerging market economies depend on commodities finding a foothold.
Continuing with his list of what's wrong with the market and what needs to change before a solid bottom can be formed, Cramer said oil prices need to stop going down. With seemingly no end in sight, falling oil makes investing in oil companies big and small worrisome.
Sixth on Cramer's list is the geopolitical situation, which needs to improve. We simply cannot worry about ISIS, Syria, Russia and now North Korea all at the same time.
Next, Cramer said the zombie companies -- those with huge, unsurmountable debt including Chesapeake Energy (CHK - Get Report) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX -Get Report) -- need to be put to death.
Eighth, the dollar needs to stop going high while, ninth and tenth, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings need to return. Cramer said the markets also need to fully realize the peak in certain industries, such as housing, autos and even cell phones.
Next, Cramer said the markets need broader leadership and investors' lists of favorite stocks need to expand beyond Facebook (FB - Get Report) , a stock Cramer owns for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS, and Tesla Motors (TSLA - Get Report) .
Finally, Cramer said overall sentiment needs to get a lot worse, finally forcing all those thinking about selling to actually sell so we can at last create that tradable bottom.
Good luck to that! Not in our lifetime, it appears..