Thoughts on Jim Cramer

Filed in archive on February 3, 2006

I read a brief post by Barry Ritholtz today talking about TV Mad Money show host Jim Cramer. He mentions the speculative excesses that seem to be swirling around him.

Here' an excerpt that he quotes from the article:

"I've been mulling over investor complacency for some time now, and Doug Kass' concerns last month heightened my interest in this area.

In case you missed it, Kass penned a piece comparing Jim Cramer to 1980's investment guru Joe Granville: "It is the immediate, frantic and unquestioning manner in which investors/traders respond to [Cramer's] ideas (not the ideas themselves) that is reaching silly proportions, and that has me unnerved, causing me to question whether the response to "Mad Money" is a microcosm of a market that has driven fear and doubt away and is ready for a fall," Kass wrote.

You can read Cramer's response here, but I wanted to see if Kass was correct. I was not disappointed in my hunt for signs of speculative excess."

Barry makes a good point here. To enter into a frenzy of hype and bidding up stocks based upon the fact that someone is one TV is silly and foolish.

The big point I believe he hits head on though is in reference to the way people are interacting with the shows suggestions possibly might be mimicking a market that for many has again driven all "fear and doubt" or what I would call "checks and balances" out of the market.

We need to remember that we are investors and not speculators. This type of show is not the type whose advice you should follow unless it is simply some fun money you want to play with or that 3-5% that is used for your higher risk plays.

This doesn't' mean the show shouldn't be enjoyable to watch, just keep in mind that it's entertainment that is wrapped around finances.