(CCN Englewood Cliffs NJ)
With The Dow at new highs of 10440, CNBC¹s resident revisionist historian Jim Cramer encouraged what remains of his audience To “Buy! Buy! Buy!” recommending the purchase of Williams Sonoma (WSM $22) who sells over-priced culinary gadgets that few actually need. “People LOVE overpaying for things!” he exclaimed.
The Carnival Barker host of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Mr. Cramer’s assertion has a solid basis in truth for those who listened to him. His most notable “Buy” recommendations have been Sears Holdings (SHLD) at $197 down 60%, Google (GOOG) at $700 down 20% and the almost daily reiteration to “Buy” natural gas stocks like Chesapeake Energy (CHK) at $43, which currently
trades for half that at $21. “Hey!” he told a befuddled caller “If you liked the stock at $43, you’ve got to be just nuts about it at $21!”
Coincidentally, Nielsen reports that his viewership has moved in lock-step with his recommendations, and is also down 50%.
Cramer remains his own biggest fan despite studies which show his picks have actually underperformed the markets and are no better than those chosen randomly by a chimpanzee.
Cramer’s most notable calls have been the “Buy!” recommendation of Bear Stearns at $65 which fell to $30 and then $2 the following week, before rebounding to $10. His call of the “market bottom,” which records show he made at 13,000, 12,500, 11,800, 10,000, and 9,000 before advising viewers to get out of the markets at 7900. His revisionist claim that he called the actual bottom at 6500 cannot be verified in print or on tape, and a $15,000 reward posted by a former follower for just such evidence remains unclaimed.
Apparently feeling better than a few weeks ago when he advised viewers to exit the market at 9100, Cramer extolled “I feel really good about the market here” as the Dow peaked for the day.
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