Not true. We all know his famous March 2000 speech touting some Inet stocks. His fund was down huge March/April 2000. He dumped them a month later and went net short the space. I read an article the other day saying he made $150m in 2000 by the end of the year after that big draw down.
makloda is basically right. the fund's real near blowup was in '98, which cramer has discussed in his first book (and others have as well). they basically exceeded all the margin requirements they had and then some - while he was selling whatever he could, his wife was double/tripling down at the right time. to me, i give cramer props for what he did then. because the money DID roll in, whether it's bull mkt/IPOs, hiring good traders around him, having advance info which isn't allowed any more, etc. - istill have to give him credit for, at the very least, gaming the system. i can understand those who don't want to give him credit for that, even if i disagree. and, yes, when he goes completely ga-ga one way or the other after a long run, he's a wonderfully great contrarian indicator.
He admitted he blew-out in late 2000 on his show. He told BizWeek he's worth $50MM. How would a long eq fund make 30% in 2000? He's never managed more than $550MM. Where's the article? Regardless, how would 150MM in the fund translate into 150MM in net worth?
Great quote from him on RM today: Jim Cramer SELL-OFF 4:11 PM EST I did not see this one coming--it wasn't in the options card for certain... When does he EVER see anything coming, except when he use to trade off of info, or faked rumors slipped to clueless Faber or Maria?!
Long eq fund? You mean long bias. Re 2000: From Cramer article at thestreet.com posted yesterday "I am human. I get things wrong. So why don't the pros attack me? Because being wrong is part of the game, like the $300 million I lost in 2000. And the $450 million I made."
Who cares Cramer is purely entertainment. I certainly wouldnt base my trading on what he says, but i do find him amusing.