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Jim Cramer

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James (Jim) J. Cramer (born February 10, 1955) is an American 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.

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. 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. Cramer then retired from the hedge fund business, turning the company 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 the 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, whom he refers to as the "Trading Goddess" (Karen was a professional trader herself; Cramer 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 currently live in Summit, New Jersey, with their 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 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 dad (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.

Cramer started his first hedge found out of the offices of Michael Steinhardt, the legendary hedge fund pioneer.

Trivia

  • Cramer appeared, as himself, in the third season opener and finale of the TV series Arrested Development.
  • 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 (and most likely would not due to Cramer's and the show's popularity).
  • 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). 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 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". The even rarer Jim Cramer talking bobble-heads 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 to listen to company conference calls, which now must be broadcast to the public instead of being given to only select institutional investors.)

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. [1]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Jim Cramer.

References

  1. Barnes & Noble.com - Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation Chapter One: The King of all Media, Copyright © 2000 by Howard Kurtz
  2. Action Alerts PLUS - Bio
  3. NBC Cable Networks - NBCCableinfo.com - CNBC James Cramer
  4. MSN Money - CNBC TV: Investing Mad Money
  5. In the Money, continued, Balance Sheet, article about Cramer and other law alumni, from the online Harvard Law Bulletin
  6. The Unofficial James Cramer FAQ
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