What is the street's general opinion of Jim Cramer?

I'm back home in Seattle staying at mom's for a couple weeks and she's watching Cramer.... she's watched him 2-3x a week since 2009.

I've seen his name come up on WSO numerous times but I can't remember what the general consensus is. What is your opinion of him?

Edit: It seems with all the picks he's making (needed to keep a show going) of course he's going to have some losers / embarrassments and obviously it's a lot easier for us to remember those than his wins. Anyone remember any of his big wins?

Here's some of my moms:

She got a few winners from Cramer, she finally bought apple (at $595) because of him (she was down for awhile but now she's up), WYNN (bought at $144, now at $196), CAT (~2009), SBUX (~2011 at $47, and more at $70 in 2012), FB (he said not to buy at the beginning, she bought at $38, now at $74).

Some losers from his recs: GG Gold (~3 years ago, bought at $48, wow was she late), Marvel Tech (bought in ~2009-10, though it is making a comeback), NLY (~2010) is down but has a good dividend.

Still to see: HFC (bought at $55, now at $50 but offers great dividends (2 every quarter)). SNA (snap on tools) she has her eye on but hasn't purchased yet.

p.s. she even did a painting of him (haha a little weird, i know), see the attached image)

 

He's the one who originally got me interested in the markets. Still 6+ years later, I'm addicted to the research and investing process. I think he's great for that purpose, getting people to actually think about what they're investing in. Doesn't matter if you're a casual at-home investor or full-time, he's got a ton of energy to pull you in.

That said, I don't listen much to him these days. You have to be constantly coming up with new ideas when you have a show to shoot everyday, so you're definitely gonna pitch some losers. And the stocks he does pitch have to attract newbies, so he's not gonna pull some hardcore pershing/greenlight shit. Not much depth for folks who are already elbow deep in 10k's.

He had a great record when he ran his HF with his ex-wife and one of the most entertaining books I've ever read is his autobiography. Would definitely check it out. "Confessions of a Street Addict"

 

He's high on something. So many recs a year will turn some into winners and others to loser. Nothing worth learning from after finishing college.

CNBC sucks "This financial crisis is worse than a divorce. I've lost all my money, but the wife is still here." - Client after getting blown up
 
thebrofessor:

you did tell traders/short sellers you wanted to rip their hearts out of their chests and eat it before they died, probably didn't help your popularity regardless of how amazing the quote was.

It's not like I'm against short selling, but those mother fuckers were trying to manipulate our stock price by creating a crisis of confidence when there was no major underlying problem. My only regret is that I didn't go through with reaching into their chests and eating their still beating hearts.
 
thebrofessor:

you did tell traders/short sellers you wanted to rip their hearts out of their chests and eat it before they died, probably didn't help your popularity regardless of how amazing the quote was.

 
DickFuld:

His reputation is worse than mine with people who actually work in this industry. I might remind you that I'm not exactly Mr. Popularity.

He is worse than a monkey throwing his darts at the board. His fund collapsed in no time. Do a bit of research and you will see that he is a fucking idiot with no idea what he is doing. His stock pics are as good as buying a stock depending on which way the breast of the girl on page 3 in the Sun are pointing. (For those not familiar with the Sun newspaper, they have an almost naked lady on page 3 in every publication)

 

As other posters have already pointed it out, Jim Cramer is a financial entertainment. Comparing Warren Buffett to someone who acts like Jordan Belfort in Wolf of Wall Street (a bit exaggeration but what Jim Cramer and Jordan Belfort do are essentially the same) is a huge direspect to the Oracle of Omaha. No disrespect to people who make a living through stock recommendations though, just feeling unfair for Warren.

 

He is about as useful and insightful as the ring girl at a boxing match - great to look at, but your really there for to watch real men slug it out Did enjoy Jon Stewart's interview with him -

HFer_wannabe are you Crammer? Would not be surprised if he's a ghost on this site

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.
 

Cramer is an obnoxious idiot /thread.

Now can we focus on what's really important here, which would be Andy's mom and her fetish of painting people in finance? Who else has she painted? I bet her portfolio includes a nude Jamie Dimon laying on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 
Flake:

Cramer is an obnoxious idiot /thread.

Now can we focus on what's really important here, which would be Andy's mom and her fetish of painting people in finance? Who else has she painted? I bet her portfolio includes a nude Jamie Dimon laying on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace.

Wonder if she has a painting of Dick Fuld eating the beating hearts of short sellers.
Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 
heister:
Flake:

Cramer is an obnoxious idiot /thread.

Now can we focus on what's really important here, which would be Andy's mom and her fetish of painting people in finance? Who else has she painted? I bet her portfolio includes a nude Jamie Dimon laying on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace.

Wonder if she has a painting of Dick Fuld eating the beating hearts of short sellers.

I heart it's actually him going Tyson on Hank Paulson

@"AndyLouis" I think an Icahn v Ackman would be a good one, and she's got to do a wolf of wall street one.

 

I think what galls me the most about him is that he is trying to be everything to everyone; and it gets him in some very awkward situations. He wants to be the everyday guy who is investing in a few shares of a company they know and the hedge fund guy swinging around blocks of stock trying to make money every single moment. He is easy to polarize because he is constantly putting himself out there to the point that you have no idea what/who he actually is. Cue up that Jon Stewart interview where he is so scared of actually taking a side or defending himself that he turns into a small child. He's been hugely successful throughout his life but still seems to be searching for acceptance outside of the financial news industry which is where he has taken up residence.

Honestly, most people are criminally under educated in how to manage their own money. At the base of what he does he makes people take an active interest in their own financial portfolios and shows them how they can be successful over time (I'm including his books in that statement). Yeah, he is a clown on his show but that's part of his shtick to keep people interested. If people take nothing else from what he does I hope they look at how much he loves the process and apply it to whatever it is they do.

I think no matter what you think of him, you should read confessions of a street addict.

 

Guys runs a TV talking about stocks. It's called entertainment. And anyone who thinks cramers stock picks are some how magically worse than all the other "financial geniuses" out there is lying to themselves.

And yeah, he thought bear was fine. Those with a microphone in their face get fucked. Considering how wall Street nearly imploded, I'd probably say he wasn't the boy one with blinders on.

Guys very calm in person and when the camera is off. I don't watch his show too much since I'm not a huge fun of individual stocks. That being said, he's a great guy to follow for anyone getting interested in finance as long as they know this is entertainment or the start of a research journey.

 

Yah, if you're not doing a deep, month long value analysis on a stock, with a banks full resources, then you're a joke according to WSO. Cramer has a ridiculously broad knowledge of countless stocks and gives you his opinion. Criticizing him for his shallow analysis is like saying Buffet sucks because he isn't day trading.

 
<span class=keyword_link><a href=/company/trilantic-north-america>TNA</a></span>:

Yah, if you're not doing a deep, month long value analysis on a stock, with a banks full resources, then you're a joke according to WSO. Cramer has a ridiculously broad knowledge of countless stocks and gives you his opinion. Criticizing him for his shallow analysis is like saying Buffet sucks because he isn't day trading.

+1 - you can rip on the guy all you want but you can quite easily tell he reads constantly and seemingly knows at least a few useful pieces of info about almost any company with a listed stock. His show is definitely entertainment, but occasionally I'll watch it. Grew up with my dad watching his show so I don't really have this intense hate of him that some here seem to have.

You met him right? How is he in person - easy to speak with?

"When you stop striving for perfection, you might as well be dead."
 

As others have said I think he's more entertainment now simply because you can't pick one or a few stocks per day but the guy follows a lot of stuff. And has made good money after his HF days doing so. God bless him.

On a personal level, also as others have stated, he's much calmer and relaxed, if not subdued. I first met him at a trade show where they set up his cnbc broadcast booth in the middle of it (I think CTIA) and ended up at a dinner with him and have since been with him a few times. He's nowhere near the freak he plays on camera. Laid back and intelligent guy overall.

 

This clip pretty much sums up my opinion of him. Love his passion but as many others have said, there isn't alot of substance in what he says and his show is more about entertainment than anything else.

 

If you want to learn about market timing, you're better off learning it from Soros. He's the WS version of November Man.

“Invest first and investigate later" -- George Soros

[quote=Matrick][in reply to Tony Snark"]Why aren't you blogging for WSO and become the date doctor for WSO? There seems to be demand. [/quote] [quote=BatMasterson][in reply to Tony Snark's dating tip] Sensible advice.[/quote]
 

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Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

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