Cramer’s New Book

[TheBreeze]

I don’t know anything about Cramer’s new book, but I do have subscription to his Web site (realmoney.com). Cramer definitely has a lot of knowledge about stocks and investing. He’s been in the money-running business since the late 70s I believe. I believe he started off at Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs as a broker after graduating from Harvard Law. He eventually started up a hedge fund with a partner and ran other people’s money for several years. Now, as far as I know, he has his TV show, his Web sites (realmoney.com, thestreet.com, etc.), and a “charity” portfolio that he manages. In any event, he definitely has a lot of financial-industry experience and knowledge.

With all that being said, you can pretty much find any stock he talks about on either the new 52-week high list or in the Investor’s Business Daily 100. Cramer is all about the momentum stocks. You also need to keep in mind that Cramer is a salesman. I doubt he could have had success as a stock broker or a hedge fund manager without being to sell himself. You can see his salemanship on his TV show with the way he’s excited about every stock he recommends.

I wouldn’t recommend Cramer for advice on long-term investing. I don’t believe that has ever been his forte. However, Cramer is worth reading/watching to learn about how the stock market works, how the financial industry works, and to just help yourself get acquainted with a variety of stocks.

For long-term investing, The Retire Early Home Page has some good articles on how various portfolios have done through various periods in history:

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/

It’s pretty tough to beat the market return, so probably the best thing you can do is to make regular contributions to an index fund (S&P 500, Total Market Index Fund, etc) and maybe some type of bond fund.

Making regular contributions to index funds can be pretty boring, so you can use resources like Cramer, financial Web sites, and Investor’s Business Daily or the Wall Street Journal to find individual stocks to invest in. There are also various stock-screening tools out there. Last time I looked, there were some decent screening tools on MSN Money. I generally invest in index funds through my 401(k) and individual stocks in my personal account.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Rumor had it in the trading world that he blew up his hedge fund, but I do not know if that is accurate. As far as his trading abilities go, he is a discretionary trader who focuses on “the story.” There is just too many things that can go awry when you arbitirarily form opinions on things, then put money behind the opinions. It is especially difficult when the trades go against you, and then you start second guessing which one of the variables you “might” have guessed wrong about. Money has a way of shaking most people’s confidence in their analysis of something. It is very difficult to be consistent trading in this manner from my experience, which is 24 yrs as a trader.

However, for the average Joe trying to learn about investing, I think his show would be worth listening to. Just don’t take any of the recommedations blindly. You always need to do your own research. I would disagree with the comment about him being a momentum trader, he is not that at all. That is a technical way of trading, which he does not use.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Rumor had it in the trading world that he blew up his hedge fund, but I do not know if that is accurate. As far as his trading abilities go, he is a discretionary trader who focuses on “the story.” There is just too many things that can go awry when you arbitirarily form opinions on things, then put money behind the opinions. It is especially difficult when the trades go against you, and then you start second guessing which one of the variables you “might” have guessed wrong about. Money has a way of shaking most people’s confidence in their analysis of something. It is very difficult to be consistent trading in this manner from my experience, which is 24 yrs as a trader.

However, for the average Joe trying to learn about investing, I think his show would be worth listening to. Just don’t take any of the recommedations blindly. You always need to do your own research. I would disagree with the comment about him being a momentum trader, he is not that at all. That is a technical way of trading, which he does not use.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Rumor had it in the trading world that he blew up his hedge fund, but I do not know if that is accurate. As far as his trading abilities go, he is a discretionary trader who focuses on “the story.” There is just too many things that can go awry when you arbitirarily form opinions on things, then put money behind the opinions. It is especially difficult when the trades go against you, and then you start second guessing which one of the variables you “might” have guessed wrong about. Money has a way of shaking most people’s confidence in their analysis of something. It is very difficult to be consistent trading in this manner from my experience, which is 24 yrs as a trader.

However, for the average Joe trying to learn about investing, I think his show would be worth listening to. Just don’t take any of the recommedations blindly. You always need to do your own research. I would disagree with the comment about him being a momentum trader, he is not that at all. That is a technical way of trading, which he does not use.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Rumor had it in the trading world that he blew up his hedge fund, but I do not know if that is accurate. As far as his trading abilities go, he is a discretionary trader who focuses on “the story.” There is just too many things that can go awry when you arbitirarily form opinions on things, then put money behind the opinions. It is especially difficult when the trades go against you, and then you start second guessing which one of the variables you “might” have guessed wrong about. Money has a way of shaking most people’s confidence in their analysis of something. It is very difficult to be consistent trading in this manner from my experience, which is 24 yrs as a trader.

However, for the average Joe trying to learn about investing, I think his show would be worth listening to. Just don’t take any of the recommedations blindly. You always need to do your own research. I would disagree with the comment about him being a momentum trader, he is not that at all. That is a technical way of trading, which he does not use.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Rumor had it in the trading world that he blew up his hedge fund, but I do not know if that is accurate. As far as his trading abilities go, he is a discretionary trader who focuses on “the story.” There is just too many things that can go awry when you arbitirarily form opinions on things, then put money behind the opinions. It is especially difficult when the trades go against you, and then you start second guessing which one of the variables you “might” have guessed wrong about. Money has a way of shaking most people’s confidence in their analysis of something. It is very difficult to be consistent trading in this manner from my experience, which is 24 yrs as a trader.

However, for the average Joe trying to learn about investing, I think his show would be worth listening to. Just don’t take any of the recommedations blindly. You always need to do your own research. I would disagree with the comment about him being a momentum trader, he is not that at all. That is a technical way of trading, which he does not use.

[afx114]

I know his track record on hot stocks isn’t so hot, but that’s not what I’m asking about. His new book is about savings, 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s for your kids, mutual funds, etc. It is this aspect of investing that he’s not normally associated with, which is why his book looks interesting. I guess what I’m asking is: Will his book have sound advice, or is he just capitalizing on his media fame to sell a ton of books?

Also, I’m not interested in specific mutual funds to buy, or specific investments to make. I’m more interested in a general overview of how 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s, etc all work, their tax benefits and drawbacks, and so on. I’m just wondering if this book might be a good primer on those things.

[afx114]

I know his track record on hot stocks isn’t so hot, but that’s not what I’m asking about. His new book is about savings, 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s for your kids, mutual funds, etc. It is this aspect of investing that he’s not normally associated with, which is why his book looks interesting. I guess what I’m asking is: Will his book have sound advice, or is he just capitalizing on his media fame to sell a ton of books?

Also, I’m not interested in specific mutual funds to buy, or specific investments to make. I’m more interested in a general overview of how 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s, etc all work, their tax benefits and drawbacks, and so on. I’m just wondering if this book might be a good primer on those things.

[afx114]

I know his track record on hot stocks isn’t so hot, but that’s not what I’m asking about. His new book is about savings, 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s for your kids, mutual funds, etc. It is this aspect of investing that he’s not normally associated with, which is why his book looks interesting. I guess what I’m asking is: Will his book have sound advice, or is he just capitalizing on his media fame to sell a ton of books?

Also, I’m not interested in specific mutual funds to buy, or specific investments to make. I’m more interested in a general overview of how 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s, etc all work, their tax benefits and drawbacks, and so on. I’m just wondering if this book might be a good primer on those things.

[afx114]

I know his track record on hot stocks isn’t so hot, but that’s not what I’m asking about. His new book is about savings, 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s for your kids, mutual funds, etc. It is this aspect of investing that he’s not normally associated with, which is why his book looks interesting. I guess what I’m asking is: Will his book have sound advice, or is he just capitalizing on his media fame to sell a ton of books?

Also, I’m not interested in specific mutual funds to buy, or specific investments to make. I’m more interested in a general overview of how 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s, etc all work, their tax benefits and drawbacks, and so on. I’m just wondering if this book might be a good primer on those things.

[afx114]

I know his track record on hot stocks isn’t so hot, but that’s not what I’m asking about. His new book is about savings, 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s for your kids, mutual funds, etc. It is this aspect of investing that he’s not normally associated with, which is why his book looks interesting. I guess what I’m asking is: Will his book have sound advice, or is he just capitalizing on his media fame to sell a ton of books?

Also, I’m not interested in specific mutual funds to buy, or specific investments to make. I’m more interested in a general overview of how 401(k)s, IRAs, 529s, etc all work, their tax benefits and drawbacks, and so on. I’m just wondering if this book might be a good primer on those things.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I doubt it will have that, I would imagine it would assume that prior knowledge exists. Most people nowadays have at the least a rudimentary knowledge of those types of things. I am sure there are better cheaper books covering those basics, but I could be wrong.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I doubt it will have that, I would imagine it would assume that prior knowledge exists. Most people nowadays have at the least a rudimentary knowledge of those types of things. I am sure there are better cheaper books covering those basics, but I could be wrong.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I doubt it will have that, I would imagine it would assume that prior knowledge exists. Most people nowadays have at the least a rudimentary knowledge of those types of things. I am sure there are better cheaper books covering those basics, but I could be wrong.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I doubt it will have that, I would imagine it would assume that prior knowledge exists. Most people nowadays have at the least a rudimentary knowledge of those types of things. I am sure there are better cheaper books covering those basics, but I could be wrong.

[Author]

Posts