(TDS version for non-Hulu users).
Not a very good one, but a defense nonetheless. Re-watching the Daily Show beatdown, I just get the sense that Cramer is genuinely sorry. Additionally, Cramer is sort of collateral damage in all of this- remember, the spineless crap-weasal Rick Santelli was the original target, and for all his bluster, he refuses to show up. Cramer just got involved because he has a big mouth and doesn’t realize when to keep it shut. Say what you want about Cramer- he showed up. Where was Santelli?
But watching that, I really felt like Cramer is a conflicted guy. He knows the advice he is giving is bad, he knows he has been caught gaming the system, and he knows it shouldn’t be that way. But he just can’t help himself.
*** Update ***
if i were Cramer I would go punch Santelli in the neck.
Agreed.
kid bitzer
yeah, i feel bad for that madoff guy, too. he’s real sorry.
Aunt Moe
It was an odd one. Stewart does this very well, and very sincerely. Strangely, Cramer was totally unprepared. It was like a public scolding – heck, it was exactly a public scolding. And Cramer took it for CNBC.
Tom65
No sympathy from me.
At best, he’s an idiot for blindly believing the CEOs. At worst, he’s a co-conspirator. Fuck him.
Cramer showed up in costume – tie undone, shirt sleeves rolled up – and Stewart was having none of it. Cramer received the beat-down he deserved.
gex
So when do we get the defense of Cramer? ;)
John PM
Yes, he showed up, but he was a complete chickensh-t. He did not answer any questions and essentially exposed his belly to Stewart in an attempt to not get ripped to shreads. It did not work.
I have two takeaways from the interview: (1) This should be required viewing for every person currently in journalism school, not to mention the newsreaders and columnists who pollute our discourse; (2) This video should be used against every Republican (and a few Democrats) running for office in 2010. As Stewart said, all the Wall Street insiders knew this was game, but pretended otherwise.
P.S. – Santelli is a douche.
dianeb
Many moons ago when the build up to Iraq was blaring in the media, Cramer wrote in his New York magazine column how Wall Street wasn’t going to go back to normal and stop its jitters until Iraq was invaded. He then closed by saying that he kept a pair of wingtips in his closet that he wore when walking through downtown on 9/11, when he lost many friends. The dirt on them, he wrote, was all that remained of these people, and served as a reminder of that day and why Saddam had to be taken out of action at once.
Saddam was the mastermind behind 9/11, and the US had to invade Iraq to calm down Wall Street. Stupid doesn’t even begin to describe Cramer. Words failed me then and fail me now, but if I could find any I think "fuckwit" would lead the pack.
bvac
You fall for shit too easily. Whenever something bad happens, Cramer puts away the hyper personality, makes his voice a little shakey, and acts as if he’s just caught up in the crazy world of the stock market. Then its back to business. Remember last year or so he was screaming about Paulson knowing nothing about the people losing their homes? Was that before or after his Bear Stearns gaffe? How many times since then has he glossed over the details of the failing economy? These guys know whats up, they just don’t tell anyone until its too late. CNBC exists for them to cheerlead the stock market no matter, hyping up companies when they are doing poorly unless it suits them otherwise.
Paul in KY
I wish he would just tell the truth. Which is that he is a paid shill, paid to get people to play the stock market & trade stocks. If you don’t trade, the stock broker doesn’t get paid.
He is not objective at all. Or his objective is to get the rubes to throw their money into the market. Doesn’t matter what stock, the stock broker gets a commission on whatever the Hell you buy/sell.
TR
He deserves credit for manning up and appearing on the show, but he’s as guilty as the rest of them.
SpotWeld
I think a lot of the confusion deals with the fact that Jim Cramer deals in "financial gossip" rather than "financial news".
He basically operates as the "Entertainment Tonight" of Wall Street, but everyone wanted him to have the credability of more in depths anlysis program (which would have been much less entertaining.)
Cramer had to serve to cross purposes; 1) Give financial analysis, which is generally a serious endevor and requires a fairly high level of responcibilty and 2) Give an entertaining and somewhat gonzo program which requires a much lower amount of responcibility.
This is why Jon Stewart is held to a much lower standard than Crossfire was, Jon Stewart, at his core is a comedian and is therefore easily dismissed…. should Jim Cramer have been held as easily dismissed in his opinions?
TheFountainHead
I do have some (limited) sympathy for Cramer, but he was absolutely destroyed by Stewart and he deserved every moment of it.
I’ve always admired the tenacity with which Stewart goes after the hypocrites and pearl-clutchers in the media, but last night took my appreciation of him to a whole new level. As I’ve said here before, when Stewart retires there will be much moaning and rending of garments.
Olliander
This says it all really. Cramer is a remorseless snake-oil peddler and caters to the lowest common denominator on the "investor" scale. Just listen to the idiots who call his show. They are the dittoheads of the investor class. Look at the "investing" section of your local Barnes and Noble–you’ll see 10 books by Cramer, 10 by Suze Orman and 10 by Kiyosaki–they’re all crude opportunists, repackaging the same nonsense with different portraits on the covers.
I have no sympathy whatsoever for Cramer–he’s been doing this schtick for years, and the only ones who are sorrier than he is are the morons who fall for his crap.
And this is nothing new, he’s been discredited over and over and over and over again. He’s the same guy who got caught pushing his own book with the Real Money article back in the 1990s, was a shameless promoter of daytrading during the tech-bubble craze later that decade and to this day continues to plug the same two or three telecom stocks that have since fallen hopelessly below $10, knowing he can jump in and out of them with the mere mention on his show. All this while knowing very well, that daytrading is a loser’s game. Not to mention his hedge fund was a sorry performer for his clients, he has no significant track record whatsoever.
No pity for Cramer whatsoever–none.
TheFountainHead
Umm, no?
wilfred
Small fish consumed by big fish? Oh dear.
What the fuck does it take for people to realize that any ‘investment’ that offers the hope of turning a little into more is nothing other an a glorified Ponzi scheme in itself. Go back and read how RCA stock was manipulated in 1928-29.
Once happy days are here again people will be led back to the stock market like pigs to the slaughter. There is no fucking way that more than a select handful of people ever get richer.
Cramers will be there waiting for the new morons.
vishnu schizt
Defense of Cramer, well the only defense is the defense of the hangers on in the kewl crowd, the wanna be gamers, the guys who went along with smashing windshields at the car park. Fuck, it was a good time, shit faced drunk, laughing it up. We fucked them up good! Now it’s morning, grandpa is pissed his car got hammered, and oh shit, your face appeared on the surveillance camera.
Hey kid, sheriff came by this morning wants to ask you few questions.
So Jim, you gonna take the rap?
The Moar You Know
I’m sure Jim Cramer is sorry. He gave back all the money he made by gaming the system.
He did give back the money, right?
Otherwise, this wouldn’t be an apology, it would just be some self-serving bullshit from a rich guy, and the Jim Cramer I know would never do that.
Jim Cramer would never show up on television to spout some self-serving bullshit, right?
Otherwise, he would just be a complete dick who is a symptom of everything wrong with our society, and a good first candidate for a series of well-deserved televised executions.
Jim Cramer would be the wrong guy to start a series of televised executions with, right?
Robin G.
I’ll grant that Cramer did show up. That’s it.
Honestly, to feel bad for Cramer here is like weeping for Madoff because he’s suffering the indignity of wearing handcuffs. These guys made completely conscious choices, and they’re only sorry because they didn’t get away with it. Cramer put himself forward as a God, was very wrong on a lot of things (and in multiple cases gamed the system), and when someone pointed that out and criticized him, he whined to The Today Show instead of taking it like a man. Sorry, no dice.
Sorry, John, but I think your credulousness is showing.
calling all toasters
On a network that hires people on the basis of how shallow a cheerleader one can be, he’s one of the least bad. Although the fact that they still keep David Faber around shows that it’s possible to do some real reporting and keep your job there.
camchuck
I agree with John. None of this excuses his recklessness, but my gut says Cramer’s heart is with the little guy. Its just that he instead sold his soul to the corporatists for fame and fortune. I do think he’s coming to realize this. The question is, what does he do now?
Doug
Cramer would get more slack if he suggested to the world, "Hey, I’m just a clown that gets paid to make you laugh." Instead, he and his network promote him as someone whose show has value because of his superior knowledge. "In Cramer we Trust" and all that.
They seem to want to have the "hey take me seriously, I’m a professional" cake and the "hey I’m just an entertainer when I’m horribly wrong" eating of it as well.
Nicole
No. I have no sympathy. Cramer on TDS made me think of Rhett Butler’s line- "… in the exact position of a thief who’s been caught and isn’t sorry he stole but is terribly, terribly sorry he’s going to jail." He’s sorry he’s being called on his bullshit. And I’m usually a sucker for an apology. But every time I would start to weaken, Stewart would bring up people’s 401Ks and pensions and I’d get over it.
The Grand Panjandrum
He gets props for showing up. Bernie Madoff didn’t flee the country with a suitcase full of money either.Props to him for taking his medicine and going to jail.
Dave and Tom Gardner at the Motley Fool provide balanced analysis of the markets.
Cramer is a former hedge fund operator. That fact alone made me suspicious of his "advice" from the very beginning.
Zifnab
In defense of date rape…
Seriously, do you know how this sounds? Well, gee golly. Sure Jim Cramer was involved in the destruction of enormous amounts of wealth – both as a hedge fund manager in which he deliberately spread lies to undercut stock prices and as an economics pundit in which he gave patently bad advice over and over again (possibly for the same reasons, to misrepresent stock prices and profit) – but he seems genuinely sorry for it.
He knows that what he’s done is not only deeply amoral but an violation of SEC rules. But he just keeps doing it because
he never gets punishedhe can’t help himself!What a tragic and pitiful figure that Jim Cramer is. Oh? What’s that? I’m getting thrown out of my home because my sub prime mortgage just defaulted and my 401(k) is so deep in the shitter I can’t raise enough money to keep my wife and three kids off the street? Ok, let me get back with you.
Face
FTW.
Cramer probably thought he could charisma his way thru this interview. I think he had no idea just how pissed JS was. He shows up with his sleeves rolled up like he’s about to jump on his MM set. Like a friggin clown, which is exactly what he is.
gex
@wilfred: Most Americans don’t go for that BS. We’re the 401k, buy and hold investors. For many of the others, the whole point was to get into the Ponzi for unearned gains and then get out before it crashed.
John Cole
I’m not sure why everyone here keeps telling me this is a weak defense of Cramer when the first thing I said in the post was “Not a very good one, but a defense nonetheless.”
camchuck
I think Cramer showed up ready to defend lousy stock picks. Instead, Stewart asked him to defend the meta-role of CNBC. And for the first time in his life, Cramer couldn’t think of anything to say.
Zifnab
@John Cole: Because it’s no defense at all.
"I’m sorry I beat you up and took your shit. Now I will wallow in my bath tube full of money as a minor celebrity with his own basic cable TV show and know shame."
SpotWeld
@John Cole
Sort of like saying "Sure the Maginot Line failed utterly to keep out the Germans, but at least it was well built?"
Wilson Heath
Two threads of thought I have on CNBC:
First, I don’t think they saw their role to be pumping the bubble and being actors in the looting. They are boosters of the investment industry, true. But for the most part they look like dupes, rather than people who knew better but said nothing because they were making extra cash on the deal. (Yes, I’m sure they gained somewhat from the market bubble, but not as much as the ratings agencies, for example, which barked as loud as a watchdog with a mouth full of T-bone steak generally does.) Would they have more credibility if they did actual reporting? Hell yes. Would they have higher ratings if they were known to be truth tellers rather than cheer leaders? Hell yes.
Second, Stewart’s critique did accurately hit at what always has been a flaw of CNBC and most market-type news: the advice as to what’s smart conduct is not smart conduct for the average person. Churning and quick trades cost more money than they might bring in after expense for an individual investor. Basically, you’re generating fees for the investment industry. My index funds in my 401k took it on the nose last year, but if I had had to pay fees for transactions to take it on the nose, it would have been all the worse. CNBC has not been acting in the interest of anyone but the industry. That’s why they have such access to the grinning looters.
low-tech cyclist
I remember when a friend of mine had been shafted by some guy. Her comment was, "He means well." The thing is, meaning well only takes you so far. Cramer may be genuinely sorry, but he’s still part of an operation that’s basically a fraud, passing off bullshit as knowledge. The time to give him props is when he quits, issuing a public statement that he couldn’t continue to be part of a fraudulent operation.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
I felt some sympathy for the Cramer I saw on the stage — and whatever elements of decency and humanity he carries through his everyday life — but that doesn’t mean I don’t hate the damage he’s done. He’s not the biggest villain at CNBC, or in the media and finance sectors, but he was the only one vain enough, foolish enough or whipped enough to show up. I think Stewart recognized that, too.
Canadians can’t get Hulu or the TDS site, but the front page of The Comedy Network has the complete interview in three clips.
A Mom Anon
I’m sorry,but there’s no way I feel compassion for this assbonnet. He knew full well what the hell he was doing and didn’t care because he got his. He’s only sorry he got caught in his lies. He’s doing just fine,his books still sell,his show is still on the air,plus he just got a bunch of free publicity.
I have trouble feeling sorry for him. My husband just had to take a job making half of what he made before after a year of not working. He was let go after 15 yrs of working his ass off and basically is starting from the same place he was at when he was just starting out. I can’t find even a low paying job because I’ve been home raising an autistic child for 15 yrs. I’ve put in 20 applications in as many days,I won’t bore you with the shitty treatment I’ve got and I still have to go back over and over to try to convince someone to hire me. If I don’t find something we will end up losing our house,once we burn through all our savings to make up the difference. We don’t live in a mansion,don’t drive fancy cars and don’t do alot of anything that anyone could consider "extra".
Fuck Jim Cramer and all his fucking buddies sideways with a rusty farm implement.
El Cid
I thought Cramer was just a loudmouth doofus until I began reading stories of him systematically using his position to drive stock values around to benefit his short-selling schemes.
He’s been causing the problems, not just talking about them.
Leo
Yeah, I do feel kind of bad for the guy. He’s getting no worse than he deserves, but so many other people deserve it too — or even more so — that it seems unfair to single him out.
On the other hand, that’s how the world works. There’s no practical way to punish everyone who’s implicated in this clusterfuck, so we’ll just have to settle for beating up on Cramer "to encourage the others."
Laura W
Perhaps like Cain (I believe?) said the other night: "We read this blog so we can admire our own comments." (Paraphrasing, I think.)
OCD
Really? Can’t help himself? I don’t give a damn if Cramer feels bad. Does he feel bad all the way to the bank? He’s a hack that used naked short selling to make his money and now claims to be on the mission to "out" short selling? Puuuuhlease. I don’t care how many times he bows down to Stewart and says he’s sorry. I feel the same way Stewart obviously still does – Fuck Jim Cramer.
Dr. Rockso
I feel bad for the guy. Think about how you would feel, if you were put in his position. Of course he is sorry that so many people lost so much money trading on his "tips".
That does not change the fact that he is responsible for his actions.
Let’s say that you happened to be walking down the street dressed in a white lab coat. Someone comes up to you and asks. "What do I do about this terrible headache?" You tell him to take a EXTRA STRENGTH Tylenol and, perchance, you have one in your pocket. You had him teh painkiller and wish him well.
You meet headache guy the next day walking down the street again and he tells you (wonder of wonders) that your medical advice was spot on. "Gee," you think to yourself, "This stuff isn’t so hard. I wonder why people spend so much time in medical school." You commit yourself to learning health care tips and dispense them to people in need (often helping people out successfully).
Three years later, you are eating in a restaurant. Another patron, in a vigorous toasting gesture, accidentally smashes a wine glass and cuts herself deeply. Headache guy just happens to be in the restaurant, recognizes you, and calls for your help. "Don’t worry about calling for a doctor!" he cries. "This guy knows his shit!"
When she bleeds to death, it’s not really your fault. But she still bled to death. And you prevented (indirectly) the proper solution to the problem.
Napoleon
@low-tech cyclist:
As my mom would say, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
Nick
Seriously?
It seems pretty obvious to me that CNBC and Cramer realized they were in a war they could not win. Cramer’s contrite act seemed completely contrived, especially if you’ve seen his previous appearances on TV this week (the whinefest on Morning Joe was a particular classic – no contrition in that appearance, I can tell you.)
Cramer came out with his whipped puppy routine right from the start, and clearly was looking for any opening to deploy his "hey, I agree with you, and I’ve been trying to fight the good fight" defense.
It clearly seemed a deliberate damage-mitigation strategy – they (CNBC and Cramer) know that Stewart’s critique is valid (and wildly popular) and they are trying to save face.
I really can’t believe you bought this line of bull.
To his credit, Jon Stewart didn’t buy it, and made his case brilliantly. If only our press corp showed half the intelligence and integrity.
– Nick
Zifnab
@Leo:
The beatings will continue until morals improve!
Athenae
He should get a small cookie for showing up, but honestly. He can in fact help himself. He can in fact control his behavior. He’s not an animal. He can listen to the voices he apparently knew were out there saying, "Stop being such a dishonest, asskissing douchebag all the time and go do something useful with your life."
And yes, it IS that easy. It’s a choice, like everything from what you eat for breakfast on down. Nobody’s holding a gun to his head making him go on TV and be shouty and dumb. I don’t feel sorry for him in the slightest. He may not be Public Enemy #1 but he bears the same responsibility we all do for our actions, no more, but no less.
A.
libarbarian
The guy has buttons and sound-effects ….. kind of tips you off the "this isn’t serious journalism:"
El Cid
He showed up because he was afraid of what Stewart was doing to his show, i.e., his money-making scheme.
That’s it.
It wasn’t moral contrition or anything else. He either chose to or was pushed by the network to do the appearance as a PR move. Rightly or wrongly, that’s why.
Jon Karak
Having watched the show, I disagree that Cramer is "conflicted," rather he is instead resentful. Cramer resents that his Mad Money "character" was beholden to Wall Street pressures, despite his personal knowledge that the system was being corrupted & gamed. AND he resents being called to the carpet by John Stewart. But most of all, he resents being reminded that his show has a real and negative impact on people’s well-being.
It’s much easier to play a game when it is "only a game." Real life has consequences and Jim Cramer was a much happier man with the Mad Money fever. Cramer’s artificial isolation was taken from him. But it wasn’t the categorical disintegration of the financial system that shook him, it was John Stewart.
Jim Cramer needs to grow up.
Michael
That is the story here. The sad thing for the producers and personalities of CNBC was that they missed the obvious, once again, just like they miss the opportunity to do any in depth investigation and analysis.
The bottom line is that they’re lazy, just like the pigs who manipulate the system in order to make piles of money for no work. It is easy to get a lying CEO, hedge fund manager, puppet analyst or the like on camera to say "everything is great – we’re positioned to make a quadrillion dollars". And yes, in order to get them on camera to say that, you have to act like they’re telling the truth.
The fact is, though, they’re supposed to be a financial news and analysis network. People will rely on that information to make decisions on something which, as Stewart says, "is not a fucking game". And Stewart is right – there are two facets to the way this market works – there’s the innocent part designed to pull in the sucker money, and then there are the adventurers, the guys using our money to play their game.
I’ll say this – Cramer really was not prepared by his bosses for the meta theme that he was going to be hit with. Like John, I think his heart is probably now in the right place – frankly, I’m curious as to what he’ll say on his show tonight, and wonder if we’re going to see a complete theme change.
MattF
I have no particular sympathy for Cramer– he’s done stuff that’s indefensible specifically because he’s smart enough to know and do better. He could, at this point, do what Henry Blodget did– use his abilities to clear rather than to muddy the waters. But I’m not expecting that, I think that ‘way down deep, he’s a putz.
libarbarian
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!
The Wall worked exactly as expected. It channeled the German forces north. The French never expected the Germans to throw themselves at the line.
The failure was in the belief that they therefore had to skip over the "impassible" Ardennes and go through the low-countries. Turns out they went through the Ardennes.
LEAVE THE MAGINOT LINE ALONE RIGHT NOW!!!
LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!
sgwhiteinfla
John Cole
I guess the question is WHY do you think he was being sincere? Remember, just a week or so ago Cramer had his own rant aimed at President Obama because he thought President Obama wasn’t doing his job. Well I think most would agree that Jim Cramer didn’t do his damn job for the last few years. I don’t buy that he is genuinely conflicted or remorseful. I think he felt that if he went on the show sounding that way that Jon Stewart would take it easy on him. Want proof? Check out how he tries to make it seem like he was just letting the audience know what OTHER hedgefund traders were doing so as to expose them. Then Stewart busts him with a clip showing him ADVISING hedgefund traders to do the same thing. Playing the "Im Sorry" card was the only defense he could think up. But I don’t see him taking a pay cut since he fucked up a lot of people’s savings. Now if we come back a month from now and Cramer has totally changed the way he did his show I will say that maybe its for real. But I would bet whats left of my 401k that the next time his show airs it will be the exact same format.
Tattoosydney
@Jon Karak:
Yes. This was the feeling I was having, but couldn’t quite name while I was watching the interview.
Cramer is a six year old, who had fun playing a game where someone got hurt, and who finally got told off for his role.
Cat Lady
@camchuck:
This is exactly the take away – JS keeps telling Cramer this is not about you. He thinks he’s fighting for his reputation, and he’s missing the whole point. It’s like the words 401k and pension funds have a completely different meaning to him, which they do.
Real fear of prosecution and jail are the only corrective. Or guillotines.
crustaceanette
Wow. That was beautiful. Stewart said what needed to be said and what so many of us want the media to say on our behalf. And Cramer is babbling. Thank you, Jon, for speaking for us since outlets like CNBC won’t.
Svensker
I’ll shed a tear for the manful Mr. Cramer when he gives back the money he made gaming the system and screwing investors who believed what he was selling.
Or when he gets in front of the camera, says that he was completely wrong about everything, will from now on tell only the truth and do a real job of reporting about Wall Street, and pledges to donate 85% of his salary to the homeless.
Sure, he’s human and we are all "fallen" and sinful and he has the light of God in him, as do we all. But true repentance — not just saying "oops, sorry!" — is necessary before true forgiveness.
John PM
@Svensker: #52
Exactly! But not just Cramer; every single trader on Wall Street, the NYSE, the Chicago Board of Trade, etc., needs to be taken into a room and told that, in order to avoid a lengthy jail sentence (nka a "Madoff") they will need to give up all their money and assets, renounce their American citizenship, and live on the island of Elba. And they can take the entire Republican party with them.
crustaceanette
Cramer is sorry, alright. Sorry he got caught and he and his network have been thoroughly discredited by a comedian. That’s about it.
crustaceanette
A Mom Anon: hi, thinking of you – whenever I get lucky enough to find a job, I will be making 1/2 what I was making, which isn’t much, but at least I don’t have a family to take care of — I really hope something happens to make your situation better and soon (prayers)
— headpan aka crustaceanette
DougJ
Maybe other people are saying this too, but in my book, Cramer gets a ton of credit for going on the show.
DougJ +4
Mike in NC
Cramer, Santelli, and everyone like them belongs in jail. With mandatory weekly attendance at Gamblers Anonymous.
How about dumping David Gregory on "Meet the Press" and replacing him with Jon Stewart?
Trumandem
I have to say the comments section beat down on Cramer is something to behold. Cramer is not in a postition for any kind of defense. But let’s not fool ourselves. Cramer isn’t being pummeled for who he is and his role on CNBC. Cramer represents the MSM and the profession of journalism contextually for what THEY are: nothing more than enablers of the people that were in power for the past eight years.
Here’s the rock and a hard place the MSM now finds itself in. If they suddenly feel they now have an obligation to be responsible and hold the current individuals in power accountable its going to look like they are beholden to the previous office holders and prejudiced on their behalf. This is the bed they’ve made and they have to reside in it. The accountability (and btw I won’t be holding my breath on the fact they will now change their ways anytime soon) question is now moot. The only way to save themselves now is while holding the current administrations feet to the fire is lurch backward and start doing investigative pieces on why we are in the mess we are currently in. They also need to do more exposes on the Iraq war and the horrible impact its legacy will have.
Just last night I watched in slack jawed amazement as ABC News’ Charlie Gibson reported the ballooning deficit in the past 3 months since Obama has taken office without adding the fact the new administration finally adding the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan war to reflect the true cost of both wars to the treasury. The MSM is a joke. Its the fact "The Daily Show" which is based on satire and jokes is the one that’s sober, responsible and reasonable that’s troubling. The look on Jon Stewarts face throughout the segment reflects this feeling.
Now let me end my comment in true Jon Stewart fashion reflecting my sentimets toward the Charlie Gibsons, Katie Courics and Brian Williams of the world: fuck you.
georgia pig
@John Cole:
Sorry John, this isn’t even a prima facie case. Cramer is Santayana’s sentimental bandit, or the grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find," i.e., "She would of been a good woman… if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." We don’t have enough Jon Stewarts to do that.
r€nato
yes, he would be the wrong guy. He’s pretty far down on my list, actually. I’d start with Bush, Cheney, Addington, Rumsfeld, and then proceed to Madoff, John Thain, Richard Fuld and the rest of the Wall Street assholes who torched the economy and our investments.
A Mom Anon
@crustaceanette:
Thanks,you are a sweetheart. How are you doing?
The Moar You Know
I’m amazed at the number of posters who think that Cramer is in any way "sorry" for anything. He’s about as sorry for what he and the system he works so hard to both prop up and steal from does to "the little guy" as I am sorry for what the cows I eat have to go through to get to my plate.
Steak is yummy.
Jim Cramer would shoot you for your last dollar, and then turn in the spent brass for recycling money.
JIM CRAMER GIVES A SHIT ABOUT JIM CRAMER. No one else.
Olliander
Traders hardly manipulate the system. They take advantage of the imbalances in the system, that’s their job. They work minute to minute, second to second. There’s a separation between traders and the quants/executives in the top-floor offices who grease the politicians that encourage a favorable marketplace for their own benefit.
Big difference. Most traders–successful traders–have nothing but disdain for Cramer and the celebrity journalists/financial "experts"/media grandstanders on the major networks.
PeakVT
So when do we get the defense of Cramer? ;)
He telegraphs that he is an entertainer not a reporter every time he hits a sound effects button?
I don’t feel much hate for Cramer because he is clearly a clown. And I don’t feel too much hate for CNBC as a whole (except Lying Larry) because it is clearly a big PR operation. What bothers me is that people have been taking the channel seriously for over a decade now. Just like Fox News, CNBC shouldn’t exist in the first place.
John PM
@DougJ: #56
Does he, really. I think a lot of people addressed this in Tim F.’s post. Cramer really had no choice. If he didn’t go on, then he would look like a true WATB and would be mocked continuously by TDS as well as certain portion of the press (no to mention all the commentors here). I think that Cramer was hoping for the Bill Kristol treatment – some sparring with Jon Stewart, but in the end nothing too bad. Instead, he got hammered. Now TDS should take a page out of the Fox News playbook (never thought I would say that) and have reporters hound Santelli and get an ambush interview.
Graham
Slightly tangential to the topic, but is the inspiration for Colbert’s "Fuck ’em" button from Cramer’s show? It’s obvious where most of Colbert’s schtik (and I mean that respectfully) comes from, but I never knew the provenance of that one.
Napoleon
I am listening to Diane Rheems Friday new round up (Sully, Jeanne Cummings and John Dickerson guest) and Cramer/Stewart is a major part of the discussion. Diane noted that she has received a bunch of e-mails on it.
Cryptic Ned
Cramer has always known he gives bad advice. He’s a former hedge fund manager who’s now assisting other hedge funds by manipulating stock prices. Read more about it at this semi-hysterical website which nonetheless is extremely believable.
Laura W
@DougJ:
Whattarya drinkin’? Seen any good wine bars yet?
(Assuming the + refers to booze.)
Andrew
Stewart was too easy on Cramer. Cramer should be in jail for insider trading, particularly some pump and dump schemes, which have been well documented.
Keith
Cramer took the right tact, IMO, which was to show up with hat in hand and take his beating like the people want; it reminded me of Tyson getting beaten down by Lennox Lewis. I give him credit for being smart enough to know he was not going to beat Stewart at this unless the interview takes place on a trading floor.
DougJ
Deuchar’s today. So far, wine-wise, I’ve had a lot of good stuff — 2002 Girardin Corton, 1963 Taylor Port, 2005 Fevre Chablis Bougros (too young), 1986 Calera Jensen pinot (fantastic), 2003 Bonnes-Mare (Drouhin), 1979 Diamond Creek cab, 1990 Dom Perignon (also fantastic), 2004 Thomas pinot (very good), 2003 Williams-Selyem Sonoma Coast (good), 1994 Sassicaia (sic? — disappointing).
DougJ +5
DougJ
Well, he wouldn’t be the first person.
Rick Taylor
I haven’t seen the daily show interview yet. However I cannot feel sorry for someone who publicly dragged about making money by manipulating the market, talking down stocks and then selling short.
sarah
@John Cole: a defense of john cole, in defense of jim cramer. this post would be boring if all he and everyone else said was "I H8 TEH CRAMER1" isn’t discussing the nuance of pseudo journalism, market advise and media expectations more interesting?
sarah
i just think it’s funny that a fake trade analyst is getting dressed down by a fake reporter. we have such high informational and journalistic standards in this country!
Elie
— I respect Cramer manning up and appearing on the show.
I think that this is a very small practice that we will have to deal with a lot more and bigger forgiveness coming down the road… we won’t want to do it, some won’t but we will have to come up eventually with our approach to reconciliation with the past that Cramer represents, albeit only from a media perspective..
It will be one of our biggest challenges: how to acknowledge and correct mistakes but also forgive and move forward.
SnarkyShark
Just saw the piece.
Man what a beat down. CNBC is done.
Screamin' Demon
Yeah, a fake reporter. A fake reporter with more authenticity and integrity than most real ones.
Why is every single blog post you read required to entertain you? The angry, naked truth isn’t necessarily funny. John Cole’s half-hearted defense of Cramer is no defense at all, and people here are rightly taking him, and Cramer, to the woodshed.
charlotte
Thanks, John Cole, for yr insights and this thread. For the first time in a long time, it actually feels good to me that my family and I have been living paycheck to paycheck for the last decade. We lost our so-called investments many moons ago — and haven’t been able to save since. We’re getting by today the same way we’ve been for awhile now– and feeling grateful for what we have–our house. Hate to make us sound like The Waltons, none of that going on around here as sometimes Budweiser is involved.
It’ll be interesting to see if TDS starts finding it harder and harder to book certain guests. Stewart is a national treasure.
As for the general mood out here, I’d say this bit of Stewart on Cramer drama last night officially marks the end of the Bush era in a way that not even the Obama Inauguration could. Whew. I hope CNBC goes belly up.
eyepaddle
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Cramer.
But I’ll be honest–it’s not because of any faith in Jim, or belief that maybe he isn’t that bad. I just have such an aversion to embarassment that I don’t like to see others go through it. I know on a rational level I should be delighted that that asshole finally got a taste, but on some gut level I still feel pity.
This is why I can’twatch BIll Maher’s show–too many people say WAAAYYYYYY more than should and drill both feet deep into their alimentary canal.
Fortunately, reading about doesn’t bother me as much, or the CNBC’s of the world would be lining up to test me out as an easy mark.
Shinobi
There is so much bullshit on TV right now, and there is One fucking show that is willing to take CNBC to task for their total complicity in watching the markets fucking collapse.
I could give two shits about Jim Cramer, Stewart is right, it isn’t about him, it’s about the fact that CNBC was complicit in allowing people to get screwed. They made no effort to do even basic investigative reporting, or to even go so far as to think critically about the market. Still now people who predicted this collapse are brought on their network and treated with no respect. And the rest of the media sat around and watched this, and in some cases helped.
I hereby nominate Jon Stewart and The Daily Show for The People’s Medal of "Thank you for calling those motherfuckers out on their bullshit."
flyerhawk
You guys realize that Cramer wasn’t actually involved in creating the mortgage backed securities or offering sub-prime loans, right?
He’s a cheerleader. He’s no different than a sports interviewer or White House press reporter. They don’t want to say anything that will piss off the source and get them shut out of future interviews.
Cramer was able to get all those CEOs because they knew that he would give them cake walk interviews.
dr.hypercube
The gray lady is pretty funny:
Villager-iffic! Sorry NYT – he’s doing your friggin’ job – calling bullshit on obvious examples of same.
dr.hypercube
Also – it’s too charitable to call Cramer and his ilk cheerleaders. At best, they’re touts, more realistically, the pimp whose recommendation rolls you AND gives you a dose.
sarah
@Screamin’ Demon:
this is exactly my point. our economy is in the shit and everyone in power is a liar. wall street is out for the money, politicians are out for themselves and journalists and tv personalities sell their souls for access. consequently people have lost their 401ks, republicans prevent anything good getting though congress, and everyone on TV act as news day traders, sniping back and forth about machinations and minutia all the while real news and real investigative journalism are no where to be seen. We don’t get responsibility and regulation with our economy, honest public service from our politicians or oversight from our journalists. We are completely fucked as a country and the only outlet we have is the straw man vivisection of a puppet and patsy flying by the seat of his pants by a comedian forced to take up the mantle of the entire 4th estate on his shoulders. Yeah i think that’s funny in a "holy shit, how fucked are we?" kind of way. And until there is more accountability from all quarters, Jon Stewart appears to be the lone populist voice of outrage with a megaphone and some intellectual honesty and moral clarity. So don’t mistake my snarky interneticisms for naive acquiescence.
Library Grape
John Stewart busted out the most metaphysically earth-shattering can of nuclear-weapons-grade whoop-ass imaginable.
I really don’t think I could have wished for a more satisfying 30 minutes — Cramer looked like an assassin who failed in his objective cowering before Dr. Evil.
The government needs to legally mandate that this episode be played in every business school finance class and before the daily opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
http://www.librarygrape.com/2009/03/john-stewart-blows-jim-cramer-apart-on.html
John S.
@Olliander:
Sorry, but this a difference without distinction. Taking advantage of the system IS manipulation. This is exactly the same kind of bullshit Cramer tried to pull with Stewart when he got busted for singing the praises of highly dubious short-selling.
The job of traders is to make money by buying low and selling high. The only way to justify what you’re saying as "part of their job" is to say that it’s OK if they manipulate the market and take advantage of regulatory loopholes – as long as they make money.
I’m not a big fan of ends-justify-the-means rationales, although apparently YOU are.
Robin G.
Library Grape – I think the Whoop-Ass award still goes to Colbert for the Press Association speech, in fairness. But this was indeed satisfying.
SixStringFanatic
@flyerhawk: And you do realize that this was Stewart’s overall point, yes?
jonas
Cramer is probably the most visible douche on CNBC and deserved his beat down from Stewart — but it would have been a lot more satisfying to see a takedown of Kudlow, Santelli and/or Bartiromo. The first two just need repeated punches to face for years of unsurpassed arrogance and assholery — not to mention just sheer foolishness. Bartiromo is precisely the kind of journalist Stewart regularly rips on and needs to be ripped on: they value access and being around power more than speaking truth to it. When has she ever asked an even remotely critical or hostile question to one of the executives she regularly interviews? [Crickets chirping]. Yeah. Thought so.
Olliander
Legitimate traders don’t manipulate markets. Taking advantage of highs/lows, bubbles/craters is not a crime, nor should it be. A lot of traders made millions shorting Countrywide for example, not by cheating the system—but by seeing the irrationality of it all and acting accordingly. If the housing market is going through the roof and you buy property with the intention to flip it at a profit 6 months down the road–even though you KNOW the market is irrational–is THAT manipulating the system too?
Violet
When Cramer turns his insider knowledge/skills/contacts to good – like the counterfeiter guy in the movie Catch Me If You Can – then I’ll start to believe he really wants to help people. Otherwise, he’s in it for Jim Cramer.
Watching his body language, I do believe that deep down there’s a part of him that knows he’s doing wrong and is hurting people. Occasionally you see glimmers of that knowledge. But mostly he wants what he wants. He’s hyper-competitive, wants to game the system and to WIN at all costs. And that’s what drives him. Only when he’s cornered do you see that tiny better part of his nature come out a bit.
He didn’t have to come on the show. He could have shut up, kept his head down, and eventually something else would have capture the public’s imagination. Even TDS would have moved on. Mostly. So he deserves a bit of credit for sucking it up and taking the beating. Although I suspect CNBC told him he had to go. I don’t think it was totally his choice.
justmy2
John Cole,
Have you read his blog entry? He doesn’t sound conflicted to me?
When you are in a hole, stop digging.
r€nato
You’re right, and I think Stewart made the point as well. It wasn’t about Cramer or Obama or left vs. right. In fact Stewart had to keep telling Cramer, ‘this song is not about you.’
I think it would be far more effective to hang those bastards who created this disaster (Mozilo, Madoff, Stanford, Thain, Fuld, etc) from a lamp post outside the NYSE and leave their corpses there to rot for a week or so as an example to the rest of the Wall Street community, something for them to think about every day before they go to work. These fuckers on Wall Street still think they are untouchable, I can think of nothing else that would remind them that they are not.
feebog
I’m not sure why anyone would feel a whiff a sympathy for Cramer. The guy has made a career of shilling for the market. He has been wrong so many times you would think that no one would listen to a thing he has to say. Yet he still has a show on CNBC, and his books remain on sale across the nation.
He is not sorry for the damage he has done to individuals and this nation. He is sorry that he has been called out and exposed as a liar and a fraud. There is a difference.
JenJen
I really feel that what’s missing from this Cramer thing is that everyone seems to forget that quite recently, he called the President of the United States a Bolshevik, and referred to people who voted for President Obama as "Bolsheviks who stormed the Winter Palace." He goes on "Morning Poison" and spits out this jocular garbage with the Zoo Crew, as if they’re all sitting in a bar and nobody’s watching.
On his own show, he said President Obama is "taking cues from Lenin" and even held up a poster of Vladimir while speaking. He called the President "the new enemy," and said that "now we’re just worried about Marx, and I don’t mean Groucho."
Cramer is part of the problem, and he deserved what Jon Stewart dished out to him last night. I haven’t seen the full interview online yet, just the part they showed on television, but the only part of the interview that disappointed me was that Stewart didn’t call him out on very recent destructive rhetoric.
JenJen
@justmy2: It really is amazing that Cramer makes people pay to read what he’s really thinking (thanks for the freebie, Digby!), while he goes on TV and contradicts himself to the rubes nightly.
Genine
That’s pretty much my sentiment. It seems like he’s going to be the sacrafice. None of the CEO’s or other orchestrators of this mess will be paraded on television like this, so we’ll throw Cramer at the crowd so our anger can be taken out on him. I actually find it interesting that he is the one in the forefront of all of this. Wasn’t it Santelli and his ilk that started this whole mess?
Cramer is definitely part of the problem but he is, by no means, THE problem. Those that are THE problem are safely tucked away in Dubai where they have so much money, they’re working on air conditioning the beaches; or up in their penthouse offices, thousands of feet "above" the consequences.
I would also argue that its more the system, as a whole, rather than individuals that are the problem… but that’s a much longer post.
Anyway, it’s good that Cramer showed up. But it may be part of the show to deflect from other people.
HyperIon
@El Cid:
I hear you.
but so much of the stock market activity is influenced by hopes and fears. There the Tinker Bell clap harder effect is REAL. If we just believe it will go up, it WILL go up…for a while.
look, many "smart people" believed that being in the market was a sure win. cramer just helped them continue to hold that delusion. i really don’t see how someone with more than a modicum of common sense could have found cramer credible.
but then i immediately run away from anyone who claims that i can get something for free.
cramer could not have peddled this crap if there were not so many enthusiastic and stupid buyers of it. for me the puzzle is why they acted how they did, not cramer’s behavior. but i do agree that he is a jerk.
HyperIon
I tried to post this twice. The first time it did not appear.
The second time I got a wordpress error telling me that it’s a duplicate comment. What gives?
@El Cid:
I hear you.
but so much of the stock market activity is influenced by hopes and fears. There the Tinker Bell clap harder effect is REAL. If we just believe it will go up, it WILL go up…for a while.
many "smart people" believed that being in the market was a sure win. cramer just helped them continue to hold that delusion. i really don’t see how someone with more than a modicum of common sense could have found cramer credible.
cramer could not have peddled this crap if there were not so many enthusiastic and stupid buyers of it. for me the puzzle is why they acted how they did, not cramer’s behavior. but i do agree that he is a jerk.
Chuck Butcher
Cramer does what Cramer does, I think the question, and Stewart’s, is what is CNBC? If it is an infomercial, then that is what should be presented, if it is a news network then they need to do that job. I don’t watch CNBC because they have nothing to say to me, in either role. I don’t play in that game. I’ve seen Cramer and others when they’ve made news programs and that is the problem, they are presented as having some expertise and a news network affiliation.
The people who believe Fox News is something other than a Republican infomercial want to believe that advertising act of theirs. I suppose that is what CNBC does but the problem is the rest of the media acting as though they also buy that advertising. The news media doesn’t go apeshit when Beck makes his complaints about Democrats, it isn’t news. When a CNBCer makes complaints it is accepted as news. Why?
The answers to that question are a bit distressing for news organizations as a whole. But it doesn’t seem being right is a qualification for expert status.
Comrade Kevin
C’mon people, leave ol’ Cramer alone, he’s just an Excitable Boy.
passerby
I had the same impression John. This could be the best thing to happen to Cramer as it put him at a crossroads–and publicly at that. He must now choose to keep serving his elite corporate masters (CNBC and Wallstreet) or serve his countrymen (the rank and file stock holders).
Stewart made him the goat and may have tried to suggest it wasn’t personal but proceded to include the clips of 3 years ago of Cramer in full shyster mode. It’s personal. Cramer showed up and in my book he gets a fews stars worth of respect. Makes Santelli look more like the ass-clown he is.
I’m curious to see what Cramer (and others) do in the wake of this drumming.
Library Grape
@r€nato:
Amazing how when a businessman taints milk in china, they get executed. In the U.S., they get to ride off into the sunset with perhaps a few million less than they had at the peak.
The Pale Scot
Sorry John,
You shouldn’t buy Cramer’s cringing, He has been involved in market manipulation for years. Perhaps you might find some time to peruse this site.
http://www.deepcapture.com/
Financed by the CEO of Overstock.com
Written By Mark Mitchell, former editor for the Columbia Journalism Review and formerly with Time magazine in Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe, and The Far Eastern Economic Review.
I began working on a version of this story in January 2006, while serving as an editor for the Columbia Journalism Review….. In November 2006, a hedge fund that was at the center of the scandal I was investigating offered the Columbia Journalism Review a great deal of money. Shortly before CJR accepted the money, I left my job, so I do not know if my editors, whom I believe to be honest people, would have allowed me to persevere. But I have no doubt that the hedge fund’s “beneficence” was aimed at preventing the publication of stories like this one."
Jeremy Jimenez
Actually, I thought Cramer did a better job during the interview, by maintaining a diplomatic discourse. Just wanted to get a rise out of someone – of course Stewart floored him. The only motive I can think of for him showing up is that by doing so it would stop bringing consistently negative media attention to his own show. Though it should come as no surprise that comedic writers, from Shakespeare to Aristophanes, have usually filled the vacuum in society of speaking truth to power, perhaps because, of course, they are not supposed to be taken "seriously."