How To Think About Jim Cramer’s Insane Confidence--Even For A Crazy Person--In Bear Stearns

Posted by Bess Levin, Mar 17, 2008, 3:11pm

cramerspitzerphotobooth.jpgHow easy would it be to chalk Jim Cramer’s horrifically bad guidance to a Mad Money emailer last Tuesday to keep his money in Bear Stearns up to Jim Cramer being just plain clueless? I don’t know, very? But let’s think about this for a sec. JC’s given what’s known in the business as “shitty investment advice” in the past, that’s an incontrovertible fact. But has he ever been this off? As far as we can tell, he’s not officially retarded—or Tim Sykes. So what was it then, that made him tell “Peter,” “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble. If anything, they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear”? Once again, the answer lies with Eliot Spitzer’s love of whores. As you well know, JC was very shook up about not being brought into the inner circle of Spitzer’s prostitution ring. He was in no position to be giving counsel about anything. Once the shock of the betrayal, or as he’s been referring to it among friends and colleagues “My Personal Crying Game,” wore off, Cramer came to his senses and said the common stock was “worthless” on Friday. What we're trying to say, Peter, is that you should cross “Uncle Jim” off your To Maim List, smear some red lipstick on your mouth, and start thinking about how to make Spitzer, and not James, pay for your losses (sources in his pants tell us Silda’s already gone for the obvious, so you’re really going to have to think outside the box on this one).


Oops - CNBC's Cramer Said 'Don't Move' From Bear a Week Before Collapse [Business & Media Institute]

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Posted in: James Cramer, The How to Think About Series
Tags: Bear Stearns

Comments

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 3:19PM

Cramer is an idiot. Anyone remember when he had "Leathers" (aka Angelo Mozillo) on last spring? AM talked about how there was no housing bubble and CFC was rock solid. Cramer fell all over himself praising AM and probably would have blown him if AM was in the studio instead of on the phone.

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 3:24PM

"It's going to be grim today. I don't know if I'll have a job at the end of today," said a Bear research assistant. "The price is crazy. Someone who'd won the lottery could have paid that price."

- And that's why (1) you work at Bear Stearns (at least until the end of today); (2) in research; and (3) as an ASSistant! Such insight! Maybe you and your buddies can start calling up lottery winners to see if you all can get a better offer! I heard Sid got lucky at the track this weekend - why not call him up?

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 3:27PM

Clearly Cramer was vaklempt last week. But he is always vaklempt. He needs to take a lesson from the Bill Clinton playbook, and learn how to compartmentalize.

Posted by BottomFellOut, Mar 17, 2008 3:31PM

I have no ammunition to throw at them. Nothing - all gone - I am spent.

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 3:33PM

oops - all sell side analysts at buy or hold on BSC last friday

Posted by BamBam, Mar 17, 2008 3:38PM

Look, I'm no Cramer groupie, but it sounds to me as though you are deliberately confusing a suggestion to a CLIENT of Bear that his money is safe with a recommendation to a SHAREHOLDER of Bear not to sell his stock.

My reading of the exchange is that the guy was a client. If so, his money will now be at JPM.

Posted by BSD, Mar 17, 2008 4:04PM

BamBam,
I doubt that Jim was fielding calls from a HNW or PB client of Bear's, so yeah it was a stock question...

Posted by Debter, Mar 17, 2008 4:29PM

When the f*ck does Cramer ever talk about anything but stock. BSD is correct. It's revisionist history from f*cking last week.

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 4:32PM

I concur with BamBam -- in fact, JC was on CNBC with Erin about an hour ago and even she was confusing the two!

I totally understood JC's advice to be "if you maintain an investment account at BSC, your ACCOUNT is safe".

His guidance on BSC as a HOLDING, was that it had become a dog.

(Now, for the idiot who was holding BSC stock within his investment account at BSC ... well, can't help you there. You are screwed)

Posted by miami, Mar 17, 2008 4:37PM

He didn't say, 'don't sell BSC,' on the clip linked. People who think he was giving stock advice are plain stupid.

He said it's not necessary to move your accounts, mutual funds, munis, etc from Bear as 'they are more likely to be taken over.'

He was right obviously as JPM did take them over.

Here's the ? from the transcript --
'Dear Jim: Should I be worried about Bear Stearns - in terms of liquidity - and move my money out of there?'

Only an idiot would take that to mean "Should I sell Bear Stearns?" Because even those who call into Mad Money know how to say, 'Should I sell?'

Using a soundbite from last Tuesday to attempt to prove Cramer 'wrong' about events that happened on Sunday nite is absurd.

Posted by miami, Mar 17, 2008 4:46PM

Debter is a moron who doesn't understand written english.

Why refuse to look at JJC's own words from Friday, not Tuesday:

at 3:00PM on Friday, Cramer wrote about Bear Stearns --

"On news of a government bailout for harried broker Bear Stearns ...asked whether Bear could survive, Cramer said, "The book value is X. ... It could be in a takeunder. This is not an FDIC insured business."

He said he likes the company and doesn't want to put the final nail in the coffin.

"If you want to speculate, there's a lot of senior debt being seriously sold off right now." ***He advised against buying the stock itself***. "Let's get that whoosh," before thinking about buying, he said."

at 2:30 on Friday, he wrote, "Let's put the cards on the table. If you are worried about the common stock of Bear Stearns, as I am -- if you are worried about the headlines on Monday morning about how Bear might have gone belly-up over the weekend -- then you don't want to buy a lot of stock into this selloff.

...I think you risk not buying today because of the possibility, heaven forbid, that the headlines Monday are nasty and the stay-at-home investor who didn't even know Bear was in trouble on Thursday dumps stocks.

Then, maybe, we will have a crescendo, a vicious selloff that cleans out the weak hands and **** wipes out the common of one of these companies at last. **** Remember, I have been saying over and over again that until someone goes bankrupt there is no hope for a true bottom.

It doesn't feel like a bottom to me. "

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 4:50PM

So after the demise of Bear, does this mean the you will be able to access Dealbreaker.com from within Bear, I mean from within JP Morgan!??

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 5:11PM

"If anything, they’re more likely to be taken over." Sounds like JC was 100% correct!

Posted by TimothySykes, Mar 17, 2008 5:13PM

Woahhhh there, don't lump me in with "Mr. Random" Cramer--since I've started writing and talking about my trades, my tinie tiny TIM portfolio is up 32% since November. Say what you will about me...in fact, bring it all you little bitches, but I go with the charts and the charts said sell BSC

Posted by milhouse, Mar 17, 2008 8:06PM

Any post with a Steve Buschemi reference = A+;
I commend you on your good taste.

Posted by guest, Mar 17, 2008 8:52PM

Cramer is a hack..hack trader (stockbroker), hack hedge fund manager (inside info) and hack reporter...you listen to him atyour own risk..

Posted by guest, Mar 18, 2008 12:03AM

I access Dealbreaker everyday from inside Bear....there are simple ways to avert Big Brother's information control.

So for JC, and all other JPMorganChaseBearStearns employees out there: simply google any dealbreaker article name, by clicking on the link you will be able to access db's full content.

Cheers.

Posted by guest, Mar 18, 2008 12:06AM

Cramer was undoubtedly making reference to the safety of BSC client assets....you have to be a f*cking moron to interpret his statement as a stock recommendation.


End of story.

Posted by guest, Mar 18, 2008 12:31AM

I think a DB commenter 3/14 mentioned that DB could be accessed within Bear Stearns after Alan Schwartz took over ... not that it matters.

Posted by guest, Mar 18, 2008 7:52AM

Hey Timothy Sykes how much is your 30%? $4000 in almost more than 4 months? That works out to about 10,000 in a year.

Great job trading there, champ.

Posted by guest, Mar 18, 2008 10:17AM

The "Peter" who emailed was probably Peter Cherasia.

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