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Boo-yah! Barron's is Shorting Cramer

There have been rumors circulating that a major media source was going to pull a hatchet job on JC.

Well, it turns out to be only partly true. Jim Cramer is the subject of this weeks Barron's cover story: Shorting Cramer. While I would surmise he isn't thrilled with the coverage, he shouldn't be all that perturbed. 

In our day, we've seen some media hatchet jobs. All things considered, this was a relatively mild ctitique.

The ever popular Ubiq-cerpt:™

"THANKS TO HIS NIGHTLY CNBC SHOW Mad Money, Jim Cramer has become the chief cheerleader for the bull market, or what was the bull market until a few weeks ago. Last spring, he was giddily exhorting the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward 15,000, with no troubles in sight. Earlier this month, as the Dow tumbled in the direction of 13,000, he had an on-air meltdown, complete with screaming, sobs and predictions of financial doom. The clip quickly made the rounds on YouTube. Friday, after the Fed cut the discount rate, he said that the Dow's run to 14,500 had begun. With dramatic pronouncements like that, it's no wonder that more than 100,000 viewers tune in each weeknight for his antic mashup of sound effects, Streetwise advice and stock picks.

It's those stock picks that caught our attention. Cramer, by all accounts, had a stellar career as a hedge-fund manager. And he is held out by CNBC as the guy who can help viewers make big money. But a comprehensive and careful review of his stock picks by Barron's finds that his picks haven't beaten the market. Over the past two years, viewers holding Cramer's stocks would be up 12% while the Dow rose 22% and the S&P 500 16%, according to a record of 1,300 of the CNBC star's Buy recommendations compiled by YourMoneyWatch.com, a Website run by a retired stock analyst and loyal Cramer-watcher."

The Barron's article included two charts. The one analyzing Cramer's 3458+ stock picks (see 2nd chart below) was not the one that really mattered to me.

Rather, it was the chart of TheStreet.com (TSCM) itself.

I first mentioned TSCM's stock as a buy back on November 15, 2004 and then again on February 06, 2006 and yet again on April 26, 2006.

Since that first mention, the stock price has since tripled . . .

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click for bigger graphs

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Update: August 22, 2007 10:21am

This has now been moved to the free MSN site . . .

Jim Cramer's bad bets
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/JimCramersBadBets.aspx?GT1=10328

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Source:
Shorting Cramer
The Cramer Effect -- and Defect
BILL ALPERT
Barron's, August 20, 2007
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB118681265755995100.html

Saturday, August 18, 2007 | 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (35) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments

Bloomberg had a story regarding how it was he, Cramer, that forced the FED into action. After his head stopped swelling, he recanted his importance in the Fed action.

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Cramer, the CNBC television host who led the howls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, got his wish today.

``They obviously heard us, they acted,'' he said on the air. ``This is the beginning of the run to 14,500.''

The Fed lowered the interest rate on loans to banks by 0.5 percentage point, to 5.75 percent. The surprise action came after weeks of debate between investors looking for looser credit and economists who argued that a rate cut could hasten inflation.

``It's a brilliant move by the Fed,'' Cramer said. ``Two weeks ago when I had my talk with you, they were doing the exact opposite.'' On his show ``Mad Money'' this afternoon, he applauded himself again, saying ``I love to say I told you so,'' adding later, ``I think I nailed it.''

The idea that Cramer or anyone else outside of the Fed would take credit for the Fed's action struck some economists as chutzpah.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a6vM.YOJHOVA

Posted by: Bucky Katt | Aug 18, 2007 11:07:25 AM