Trent, I believe you have hit the nail square on the head with Cramer. I love his work. His goal is to TRAIN AND EQUIP his viewers, rather than making them dependent on his every word.

William, also, thank you. I couldn’t agree more.

CF25, I must insist that you miss the point of Cramer’s show entirely. The point is never, ever to “watch for stock picks.” The point is to learn the principles behind the stocks Cramer is “covering,” and then go apply the principles. It might be for those particular stocks, or it might not. If one of his “picks” goes up too much, then yes, it’s no longer a good investment — so you wait until the temporary craze subsides, THEN buy it. Unless…the whole reason you were watching was to TRADE the market instead of investing. And trading is secondary in his show; investing is primary.

Frzee: Cramer’s stock manipulations, however they worked and whenever they happened, were at his hedge fund, and they are part of the built-in deceptive magic show that is Wall Street. You see someone else buying a stock, and you think, “Oh no! It’s about to be popular! I’d better buy some NOW before it’s too late!” Well, guess what? BING! You just got taken, because you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re a sheep. Hedge fund managers ALL know how to do this. And frankly, I don’t care whether he did it or not. I care about the essence and quality of the EDUCATION Cramer provides people with NOW to take care of themselves so that they don’t continue to need him over time.

The main problem is people’s lack of education. Personally, I try not to let myself make these mistakes. If I see a stock going up quickly, I let it go, thinking, “either it’s too late, or it’s manipulated, or it’s up irrationally.” My emotions all scream, “Buy now! Buy now before it’s too late!” But I let it go, and I’ll either buy it later or not at all. Fear should have no hold, and it’ll get you slaughtered.

Dimitri: good work. Keep doing your own homework and don’t let the Jim-haters get to you.

Jack: You have no idea what you’re saying. If people just blindly invest based in Cramer’s offhand advice, then they are actually DISREGARDING his advice, because he ALWAYS tells people to DO THEIR OWN HOMEWORK and not just go off what he says.

As for myself, I have absorbed most of his principles and designed a 10-12 stock portfolio that is consistently mirroring or beating the S&P 500 — and on top of that will be highly resistant to another crash OR to a longer current recession, based on what’s in it. And I give credit to him not for my individual stock picks, but for the education he has given me that has ENABLED me to do my own thinking.

This is an impressive blog. But I wonder how someone who has come to so many of the same conclusions I have about money and — more importantly, life — can be so taken with Ayn Rand and Jim Cramer. Do some more research on how they actually lived their lives and I think they’ll end up in your Kiyosaki file.

FT
http://www.milliondollarjourney.com

I think it is important to highlight the point that you made in your post that Cramer does not just slam the bull and bear button and expect you to blindly follow the picks. Cramer never paints himself as a know-it-all. He’s an entertainer that people can learn a lot from if they pay attention. He preaches fundamentals in a fun way.

Most of his critics choose to criticize his stock picks and comparing them to a monkey’s random picks. Sure, his picks might not be magical, but isn’t that the point he makes himself? You can’t just pick stocks and make money consistently. There will be ups and downs but if you pick fundamentally good companies and do your research and homework, you just MAY come out ahead more than you come out behind.

Great post Trent.

-William Wallets
A Financial Revolution