Seems like a lot of people are watching him and he's quite influential. Does anyone know how his performance is or is he just another shock jock?

 

Do you watch his show? Read his books? Check his websites?

If so, you would realize how influential he is but more importantly how he can teach you great fundamental trading/investing tools.

I wouldn't watch his show simply for picks, that will most likely cause you to lose money and hate him. But rather use it for ideas and homework.

 

I see! I see him going ballistic every time I hit the gym and see him on the flat screen.

 

B-B-B-B-BOOYA!!!

 

He's been in the game for a long time and I think his fund returned something like 25% on average. How much of that was because of him? I don't know. I subscribe to realmoney.com and I have to admit that the advice he gives has been pretty helpful to me in my attempt to understand how "the market" works.

 

When you work a hedge fund you and a partner created and averaged 24% annually, you are good [that means every 3 years he doubled* your money, and he did at least half the work].

When you did this including the timespan the market crash of 2000, you are very good [when everyone else lost all their previous gans and then some].

When you have your best year the same year the market crashed, you are Jim Cramer [he called it 4 days before and went all cash, then shorted every stock he rode up all the way up all the way to the bottom].

He is a very good resource if you use him wisely. He's good for day-to-day information on what sector is hot and what is lagging. He's very* good at calling large swings and overall trends. That's the stuff that years and years in the business build.

Should you watch his show just for picks.. no. Is it a better resource than every other money related show in TV? I think so [not necessarily saying much depending on who you ask].

I watch his show daily, as I DVR it. I've read his books as well. They are a little simpleton for me but I have an economics degree and I'm not who his book is aimed at. However, they are both great reads and I would recommend them to anyone. I've certainly incorporated several of his stratagies and keep my stock info. pinned against my wall for constant review.

 

Hmm, I'm looking for a good way to sum up Cramer beyond his resume...

Cramer is a friend in the business. Each day he highlights different topics and gives some picks he's researched and explains why they are a good bet. His show is geared for the individual investor to make stocks and the market interesting and to get people hooked on the market. He goes to great lengths to educate and explain what's going on. Most importantly for an individual investor who runs their own money online he's a mentor. He picks you up when things are bad and he tells you to take profits when they are good. I watch him everyday, not for the picks, but for the guidance. If I'm feeling confused, like I would on a day like to day, I turn to him as a trusted advisor. Through him I've learned a lot of the basics and the discipline I use everyday.

How powerful is he? Very. He has a huge audience and he can move markets. All the stocks he owns are in a charitable trust, he can't short or trade options and has to hold everything for at least 30 days. Anything he mentions on the show he can't trade for 5 days afterward. That's mainly to prevent being accused of being a pumper. His portfolio is worth about $4.2 million and while it does better than the S&P500 it doesn't do as well as one might think, mainly due to all the trading restrictions he has placed on it. It's up 7.5% YTD, 37% since inception in 2001.

 

93% of equities in the US are owned by institutional investors that don't give a shit what Cramer says beyond him being just one more opinion. There are TONS of opinions available to institutional investors. There are roughly 20 banks that publish research on the markets and about 10 of those publish A LOT of research. Then you have the WSJ, the FT, Bloomberg, the NY Times, countless smaller research shops and the Fed all publishing and speaking on the markets. He is one very very small voice in the markets and at least on my trading desk is routinely ridiculed. I listen to him from time to time, but basically he is just one other voice among many.

Having worked in retail I can tell you that about 1/2 the stocks by value in retail accounts (the other 7%) are dead money -- they never trade. And I know all the others aren't all watching Cramer. He likely influences at most about 1% of the market.

 

93% of equities maybe but not 93% of the listings. Many listed stocks are not large enough for an institutional investor. There are some 6000 listed stocks on the NYSE and NASDAQ and only the largest 300-400 are traded by institutional investors. The rest aren't big enough.

He won't move XOM but he can definitely move a stock with a market cap of < $20B which is most of the listings on the major exchanges.

 

There are hundres of mid cap and small cap mutual funds and there are numerous investment banks focused on the middle market. The equity trading desk in my building trades mostly small cap and mid cap names.