Jim Cramer, James J. Cramer
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Who is Jim Cramer?
Jim Cramer is both legendary and controversial. With his enormous media reach, he is able to move the markets, and has had some good bullish calls, such as his predictions on the Dow Bull Run and Google’s share price run up.
However his many critics say that his bad calls out-number is good, such as his call to buy into Bear Stearns days before its collapse. They also claim he trivializes investing with gimmicks on ‘Mad Money’, and worst still that he is actively pushing or criticizing stocks so that he and his friends can make money by bringing in ‘dumb money’, and not for the benefit of his audience.
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Jim Cramer: Career
Among the first jobs that James J. Cramer had was selling ice cream at the Veterans Stadium during Philadelphia Phillies games. During his college days, Jim became interested in journalism. He had an early reporting stint with the ‘Tallahassee Democrat,’ Florida. His efforts to become a prosecutor, however, failed due to his poor grades at Harvard Law School.
It was then, in 1984, that Cramer entered the investing world. Within three years of joining Goldman Sachs as a stock broker, he started a hedge fund of his own. Cramer retired from the fund in 2001 with a 29% return on investment.
Cramer then co-founded TheStreet.com in 1996. Currently its largest shareholder, Cramer is also a market commentator for the website. He has formulated an asset allocation model that helps investors make decisions.
Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Mad Money, the edutainment show on CNBC, is what has made Jim Cramer most famous. During the show he answers viewers’ calls while chopping plastic bulls or blow-up bears, playing bizarre sound effects and using his trademark “Booyah†call. Cramer also likes to act as a referee
To Love Jim Cramer or Not
Jim Cramer has been the center of criticism and controversies. Many people have pointed out that the portfolios suggested by him perform worse than the market average. Moreover, critics say that his shouting drilling and juggling antics are designed to push people into buying or selling stocks. His passionate presentation tries to influence the psyche of his viewers, who have to suffer losses after having followed Cramer’s advice.
His biggest critics point to TV recordings in which he explains that when a stock he is holding is doing badly, he will create a positive rumor to push the price up so he can sell at a profit, or if he wants to buy into a company he will create negative rumors so he can buy in cheaply. Whether they are true or not are of no concern.
Brawl Street
His attempts to grab attention by making bold opinionated statements have invited further criticism. When he rubbished Obama’s measures to handle the banking crisis, the White House questioned the basis of his statement.
Whether you love him or not, it is likely that James J. Cramer is going to be part of the investing world for some time to come.
