In October 2006, celebrity stock picker Jim Cramer reacted to GM’s cratering stock price by telling his viewers to buy shares in the ailing (not to say doomed) American automaker. And then again in February of this year. Perhaps Cramer’s over-compensating for missing the boat (as in Titanic). The Detroit News reports that the Mad Money maven used the airwaves to argue against subsidizing the GM – Chrysler merger (a bit late on that one Jimbo). “He slammed the idea of government help to make a General Motors Corp.-Chrysler LLC merger work,” the DetN reports. “Because that would result in a ‘bailout’ to Cerberus Capital Management LP. He called that ‘a crime’ that would bring a ‘big backlash.'” Sounds about right (for a change). So what’s the DetN’s problem? Uh, class warfare? “‘They’re just rich people,’ Cramer said, adding that if Cerberus didn’t lose money on its investment it would send the message that it ‘pays to be reckless.’ He said the government should support automakers to protect employment, but only if current auto shareholders ‘were wiped out.'” Not getting it. “Sounds like someone needs a little anger management counseling,” the hometown paper concludes. Or not.
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how about the cover of Barron’s last May that proclaimed…BUY GM. as I said then, it should have read BYE GM.
Ah yes, the Jim Cramer who told listeners that Bear Stearns was perfectly sound about, oh, a week before they imploded. You’d get better stock picks from a crack whore.
Cramer has been wrong more than he has been right.
He tells people to hold their stocks all the way down, and tells them to sell right before the turnaround.
He never admits having been wrong and he never pays the price for being wrong (and not admitting it).
Why haven’t the regulators come knocking at his door, especially after his year-ago admittals to fraudulent activities?
Some more fuel to the fire. I still think the guy is entertaining to watch though.
Basically he’s completely underperformed most index funds ever since he’s been on the air.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB118681265755995100.html?mod=b_hpp_9_0002_b_this_weeks_magazine_home_top
Cramer’s an entertainer at this point in his life, nothing more, nothing less. But I agree that a government aided GM acquisition of Chrysler would be ridiculous. It’s the classic “throwing good money after bad” scenario.
I think this is the Detroit cheerleading at its worst.
I agree with Jim Cramer, Uncle Sam had no reason to fund this ridiculous merger.
And on top of it, if GM and Chrysler end up going tits up, just let them and accept it. It is simple Darwinism. The market is contracting, so the weakest die and the strongest survive. The weaklings like Chrysler need to die, and the strong companies like Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and (to an extent) Ford get to survive the shitstorm.
I could care less about Cramer’s investment advice, but he deserves huge credit for putting it in the mainstream that funding a GM-Chrysler merger would just be a bailout for Cerberus. And that no automaker should be bailed out unless their sharholders are wiped out.
Chrysler and all its workers are done, the only question is whether that failure wipes out the equity of Cerberus (the company that made the stupid decision to buy it) or of the Federal Government.
They had Cramer on the Today show during the bank implosion. I think he was nearly in tears. I kept thinking Bear Sterns, Bear Sterns, if he’s so upset we’re going to be ok.
Even a broken cuckoo clock is correct – twice a day.
Cramer likely has caused a lot of novice investors to piss away their discretional income; it’s not entirely his fault, the online trading firms are complicit.
I flicked past Cramer one day in late September while he was advising viewers to hold their stocks across the board because the “housing thing” would turn around and Barak Obama wouldn’t let anyone lose their homes.
No-longer an authoritative analyst (was he ever) – he is now an in the tank stooge – at best.
@ NickR: Amen, brother!