James Cramer

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James (Jim) J. Cramer (born February 10, 1955 in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania) is an Jewish-American descent, television personality, former hedge fund manager, and an author. He is currently CNBC's Mad Money host, director of TheStreet.com and host of the radio show Real Money with Jim Cramer syndicated by Westwood One/CBS Radio.

Contents

1 Biography
2 Criticism
3 Trivia
4 Authorships
5 Books about Cramer
6 External links
7 References

Biography

Jim Cramer grew up in the town of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. He went to Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County. He learned the value of a dollar by selling ice cream at Veterans Stadium during Philadelphia Phillies games. Cramer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1977 where he was an editor and the President of the Harvard Crimson. After college, he worked as a journalist at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He went back to school to get a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and, after graduating in 1984, went to work in Goldman Sachs' Sales & Trading department.

In 1987, he started his own hedge fund company, Cramer Berkowitz, working out of the offices of hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt's Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz, Co. It was to be the beginning of a shrewd career on Wall Street where he purportedly achieved a 24% compounded return (after all fees) for the next 13 years. After a stellar 2000, Cramer's fund finished up the year +36%, compared to -11% for the S&P 500 and -6% for the Dow Industrials. But after the tech bubble burst, Cramer retired from the hedge fund business, turning the company over to his long-time partner, Jeff Berkowitz. While Cramer's success in producing high returns for his fund was unmistakeable, he began to concentrate on his passion for journalism.

He co-founded TheStreet.com and is the Markets Commentator and Advisor to the CEO, Thomas Clarke, Jr., and went on to work at CNBC, where he was a host on America Now and Kudlow & Cramer with Lawrence Kudlow. He now has a radio show called RealMoney Radio and his own television show focused on stocks, Mad Money with Jim Cramer. He exhibits his encyclopedic knowledge of equity securities during the Lightning Round segment on Mad Money where he quickly analyzes stocks suggested by callers. One of the popular catchphrases on Mad Money is "Booyah," which seems to have taken the form of a greeting as well as an enthusiastic celebration. Also popular is his ritual of throwing his chair across the studio before the Lightning Round, as well as throwing his book -- Jim Cramer's Real Money--Sane Investing in an Insane World -- whenever a caller mentions it on air. Thanks to his energetic rhetoric, his insightful analysis of stocks, and his off-the-wall antics, Mad Money has become CNBC's most popular show.

In 1988, Cramer married his wife, Karen Backfisch, whom he refers to as the "Trading Goddess." (Karen was a professional trader herself, and Jim claims that she earned the nickname before the two met.) Karen stopped trading full-time after the birth of their first child in July 1991. They have two daughters.

Having already made a fortune in the market, he now uses his show, book, and website to help the "common man" become wealthy. He eschews Wall Street orthodoxy, strongly promotes portfolio diversification (generally five stocks, believing that most individuals do not have time to research more than five,) and recommends that people devote 20% of their portfolio to pure speculation because, in the long run, that one "lottery ticket" stock will greatly outweigh the losses. He also strongly encourages viewers to do research before and after investing in stock selections; he is not a fan of the "Cramer bounce" (the phenomenon in after-hours trading where his stock selections suddenly increase in price solely on his recommendation) as he feels those listeners have not "done their homework."

Criticism

Critics often use the nickname "The Weathervane" to describe Cramer, whose outlook will rapidly oscillate between bearish and bullish following the prevailing market sentiment.

A former employee of Cramer's named Nicholas Maier accused Cramer, in his book Trading with the Enemy, of front running stocks by feeding rumors about stocks he held to CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. Cramer and Bartiromo have denied the allegation.

He is also said to have exhibited a violent temper at his hedge fund, characterized by screaming at his employees and throwing telephones and computers when he was unhappy with his results. In his interview with 60 Minutes, Cramer admits to having had a problem with his temper, and after speaking with his father (who said he would outlive Cramer if things continued as they were) Cramer left the hedge fund business. Cramer's reputation as having an anger-management problem has helped him in creating Mad Money, though, as it moves away from typical CNBC programming.

Criticism of Jim Cramer has also expanded to the Internet. A number of websites have sprung up with the intention of tracking Cramer’s recommendations. Some are merely blogs that vent frustrations against Cramer, his onscreen persona, and the stock picks made in the ‘Lightning Round’ of his CNBC show. Other sites go further and analyze Cramer’s stock picks in some detail. Some of the more creative websites use complex programs to track and compare recommendations with the performance of the overall market. One such site, [CramerWatch.org], actually pits Jim Cramer’s recommendations against a monkey that makes buy or sell recommendations at random. The monkey purportedly does as well or better than Cramer.

Trivia

Cramer appeared, as himself, in the third season opener and finale of the TV series Arrested Development, both times to upgrade the Bluth Company stock first from a "Triple Sell" to a "Don't Buy", and then from "Don't Buy" to "Risky".
Cramer refuses to shave his goatee out of "superstition" (though he has not stated specifically why). CNBC has requested him to do so (the remainder of its broadcasters are clean-shaven); however, since Mad Money is CNBC's highest-rated show, CNBC has apparently not demanded he do so. He refused to change his look, fearing his daughters wouldn't recognize him.
According to the January 11, 2006 edition of "Mad Money," Cramer does not like it when people call him Jimmy. Other episodes, when a caller refers to Jim as "Mr. Cramer," have Cramer saying that Mr. Cramer is his dad.
On an episode that aired January 31, 2006 Cramer mentioned that he received a mining company stock that is now worthless as a Bar Mitzvah gift. This was mentioned during the segment on Caterpillar stock (one of his "top 10" American industrial stocks.) He also referred to his mother's shiv'ah - the Jewish ritual period following a death - in his book, "Confessions of a Street Addict." It can thus be inferred that he is, or once was, a member of the Jewish faith, though he has not discussed his religious views publicly.
In November of 2005, Cramer was featured on the show 60 Minutes.
When a caller talks for too long without mentioning a stock, Cramer has been known to take a blanket and pillow, each with the "Jim Cramer's Mad Money" logo featured prominently, and take a mock-nap.
The toy bulls and bears that Cramer often plays with on his show (and frequently destroys) have recently become a highly sought-after commodity on Ebay; he throws them to audience members during the tapings of his show where he has a live audience, and during such events as his "Mad Money College Tour" (he has also purportedly sent them to callers with young children who shout "boo-yah" on his show). The even rarer Jim Cramer talking bobble-heads (he destroys those too) are also highly sought commodities.
Jim Cramer's 'Cramerica' references are similar to those of the fictional business created by Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld called 'Kramerica'.
On a special edition of Mad Money, Cramer mentioned that he believed Regulation FD to be among the best rules ever passed for individual investors. (Cramer recommends investors listen to company conference calls, which now must be broadcast to the public instead of being given to only select institutional investors.)
He is good friends with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.
He is also good friends with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Jim is a fan of the television show "24" and often makes references to it on air.
At the age of 14 Jim became an "Adirondack 46er" by being the 551st person to climb all of the Adirondack high peaks over 4,000 ft.

Many believe Cramer and comedian Louis C.K. are the same person. In fact, they are not even related.

Authorships

Cramer has written anecdotal and economics books.

Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World ISBN 0743224892
Confessions of a Street Addict ISBN 0743224876
You Got Screwed! Why Wall Street Tanked and How You Can Prosper ISBN 074324690X

Books about Cramer

Trading With The Enemy by Nicholas W. Maier. Maier was sued by Cramer due to a suggestion that Cramer was the subject of an SEC investigation of IPO practices. [link]

External links

[TheStreet.com], Cramer's "Mad Money" Recaps
[ActionAlertPlus.com] - Jim Cramer's charitable trust website-all profit goes to charity
[Podcast page for Cramer's nationally syndicated radio show.]
[CramersMadMoney.com] - Forum discusses Mad Money show
[Real Money Radio Show]

[Mad Money Recap] - Recap of nightly show stock picks and comments
[Quicktime Video of Jim Cramer's Signature "Lighting Round" on MAD MONEY (6MB)]
[CramerWatch.org] - Find out if a monkey is just as good as Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money'.
[The New Yorker] New Yorker critic's article by Nancy Franklin
[The Cramer Report] - Provides a full summary of the stocks mentioned on Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" show.

References

[Action Alerts PLUS - Bio]
[Book Review]
[NBC Cable Networks - NBCCableinfo.com - CNBC] James Cramer
[MSN Money - CNBC TV: Investing] Mad Money
[In the Money, continued], Balance Sheet, article about Cramer and other law alumni, from the online Harvard Law Bulletin
[The Unofficial James Cramer FAQ]

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