the problem with cramer I think that most of his genius came from the fact that he had a few very very smart people that kept his bullishes in check, like his wife the trading goddes, berko, or even matt. Without those guys, to say hey listen up you might be going overboard, or you are dead wrong, his shows his half right and half wrong all the time. He even admits that he is wrong alot of times in his books confessions of a street addict, and that his genius lied in the fact that there were always people like berko who would keep him in check, or his wife to say your wrong. CRAMER needs somebody, every week to keep him in check and challenge him
This is definitely true. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned how the show might be better if trading goddess was on it as well. Based on the interaction they had in the book I'd agree with that. After all, he was the idea generator (eg. "This stock looks poised to go up because...") and she was the executor of the trade. She also threatened to close positions if he couldn't explain a reason they'd appreciate every hour thru-out the day. As far as ppl blasting him on his trading abilities, I haven't kept a detailed record of his show, but I use his show/columns as more of an idea generator (and also as a source of entertainment). He sometimes says things that peak my interest then I go and do some research and independantly conclude if I think he's right/wrong. But there are a couple of facts: 1. He made alot of money at his short stint at Goldman 2. He made alot of money at his hedgefund 3. He made alot of money writing books 4. He's making alot of money on tv & radio Also when he quit his hedge fund, he gave up his share of ownership to jeff berko without any compensation (jeff supposedly offered to buy him out but cramer just gave it to him), which makes me believe making every dollar isn't the most important thing to him anymore. So whether you like the guy or dislike him, he knows how to rake in the dough, and the fact that he has that dough would make one think that he'd be more honest about his true market beliefs (although I think his buddy Herb Greenberg is a really shady character which is one of the few reasons why I'm skeptical about what cramer says). Also to add to my moronic side of cramer post I can't believe I left out the most moronic thing anyone has ever done: When street.com started, he hired an individual (ravi something) as ceo. ravi asked cramer to get cramer's street.com parter and long-time friend marty to stop hanging around the street.com office cuz ravi said marty was slowing down productivity; so cramer did so. ravi conversed with cramer via email on this and secretly kept a copy of their plot. Why you'd have such an important convo via email and not in person I have no idea what cramer was thinking. Ravi also pretty much cut cramer off from the street.com personel and cramer accepted that. It turns out that ravi was an alcoholic who never did any work, and blatantly lied to cramer about how the street was progressing, lied about meetings with important people, etc. ravi was so crazy that he even lied to cramer and said he was getting married and asked cramer to be his best man (even though cramer never saw the woman). ravi then told cramer that some employees were unhappy and might come to see him and lie about their situations. so when ravi went on a "business trip" 2 street.com employees came to see cramer and told them how ravi was an alcoholic who did nothing and had been lieing to cramer, and cramer didn't believe them. finally cramer figured out ravi had been scamming him, and confronted him about it. ravi ended up sending marty the emails of them plotting against him, that pretty much ruined marty/cramer's relationship. Further after ravi had done all this to cramer (or perhaps it was before emailing marty), cramer offered to pay for ravi to get rehab, and ravi asked for a 100k loan which cramer gave him and never got repaid. Anyways long story short, how cramer can loan a lyng, vindictive, alcoholic is beyond my comprehension.
Interesting story. I googled this Ravi guy. It appears he was Ravi Desai, and he would be about 35 now. So I am guessing he started thestreet.com when he was around 25-26.
Im not bashing Cramer. He is what he is. Just sycophant's like u who make it their full time job to hype. Senor Zen
What Makes Sears So Attractive By James J. Cramer RealMoney.com Columnist oURL: http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/jamesjcramer/10226937.html Sears Holdings (SHLD:Nasdaq) BULLISH Price: $142.29 | 52-Week Range: $60.68-$158.90 Cramer believes the $130s are a good place to start a position in Sears. The earnings are so hard to make a determination about because they include only five weeks of the merged entity. Plus, the company should get some new champions during the coming quarter. stock is breaking $140 now. Short at $141 ish.
Cramer makes good calls but he also makes bad calls. The genius in cramer is that he has always had a guy or woman in his case that would say cramer your wrong, and heres why. Your getting to bullish again cramer. It was his wife that always brought him down a bit, and explains the negatives. Cramer has genius moments, but he also has moronic moments. So my question, without a muse like the trading goddess, or berko, or matt, is cramer any good. If you always follow cramers advice, no. Thats my case. He should bring in somebody that would bring him down a step, and challenge him.