The "benefit" of Jim Kramer
Everyone who has ever watched CNBC is well aware of Jim Kramer. He is the outspoken, hyper-energetic market commentator and stock picker who also comes across as extremely confident. The problem is that following his stock picks is fraught with risk. There is no way to know whether he is recommending something for a short term trade or medium term holding, or just being obsequious to a corporate guest that he is interviewing. Anyone observant would think that nothing he recommends is appropriate for a buy and hold strategy.
When Kramer first became well known, it was to a cadre of technology investors through a website he created that still exists under his partial ownership but without his participation today. That is "the street.com". In those late heady boom days of the 1990's his recommendations worked like the often used analogy of a "blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a dartboard". When that technology bubble collapsed he more or less became useless and with his ebullient on camera personality just annoying.
In recent years he has become a fixture on CNBC, part time slots in the morning, stock picks at around 3pm, and his one hour 6pm show of interviews, stock picks, and market commentary, always of course just on market days. His comments get my attention if it happens that the television is tuned in when he's talking because he is opinionated, at times has more of a sense humor than anyone else on CNBC and in fact is often interesting, but my viewing is usually not based on a serious attention to what he suggests as investments.
So what is the reliable "benefit" of Jim Kramer other than just entertainment and annoyance. Recently, from my perspective, I have pinned that down. It is, roughly speaking, the first 10 minutes of his 6pm program when he reviews the market day in a macro sense. He's knowledgeable and seems to have a broad array of contacts. He puts the market day in some macro summary context, right or wrong, who knows from day to day, but it is a genuine attempt to frame what has just happened and what that might mean for the overall market near term. It is often 10 minutes of time well spent if one has the inclination, and after that he goes into his interviews, stock picks, and his ego boosting ability to immediately answer call in questions about almost any stock. That is generally not time well spent for those who are not intense stock junkies.
Kramer is a character, and I happen to believe he is a good person in many ways. His value, however, should be taken in small doses overall, with positive emphasis on his macro views.
Postscript --- the only time that I ever met him, at a Chase investor meeting in the late 1990's, he was clearly ill at ease in an opening snack, alcohol, or ginger ale, type of opening reception. We talked for a short while but that aggressive personality that he becomes on television was completely missing. The word "shy" comes to mind. That one meeting drives my conclusion that he is a good person, an even humble person in real life, but as a performer he assumes another personality.
When Kramer first became well known, it was to a cadre of technology investors through a website he created that still exists under his partial ownership but without his participation today. That is "the street.com". In those late heady boom days of the 1990's his recommendations worked like the often used analogy of a "blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a dartboard". When that technology bubble collapsed he more or less became useless and with his ebullient on camera personality just annoying.
In recent years he has become a fixture on CNBC, part time slots in the morning, stock picks at around 3pm, and his one hour 6pm show of interviews, stock picks, and market commentary, always of course just on market days. His comments get my attention if it happens that the television is tuned in when he's talking because he is opinionated, at times has more of a sense humor than anyone else on CNBC and in fact is often interesting, but my viewing is usually not based on a serious attention to what he suggests as investments.
So what is the reliable "benefit" of Jim Kramer other than just entertainment and annoyance. Recently, from my perspective, I have pinned that down. It is, roughly speaking, the first 10 minutes of his 6pm program when he reviews the market day in a macro sense. He's knowledgeable and seems to have a broad array of contacts. He puts the market day in some macro summary context, right or wrong, who knows from day to day, but it is a genuine attempt to frame what has just happened and what that might mean for the overall market near term. It is often 10 minutes of time well spent if one has the inclination, and after that he goes into his interviews, stock picks, and his ego boosting ability to immediately answer call in questions about almost any stock. That is generally not time well spent for those who are not intense stock junkies.
Kramer is a character, and I happen to believe he is a good person in many ways. His value, however, should be taken in small doses overall, with positive emphasis on his macro views.
Postscript --- the only time that I ever met him, at a Chase investor meeting in the late 1990's, he was clearly ill at ease in an opening snack, alcohol, or ginger ale, type of opening reception. We talked for a short while but that aggressive personality that he becomes on television was completely missing. The word "shy" comes to mind. That one meeting drives my conclusion that he is a good person, an even humble person in real life, but as a performer he assumes another personality.
posted by John Borden at 11:25 AM
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