Cramer: "I Don't Want to Cause a Panic. But..."

A bit full of ourselves, eh what?
From CNBC via Yahoo Finance, Dec. 1, 2014:

Cramer's spells out oil's worst case scenarios

At what point are oil prices too low to keep helping the stock market go higher?

Jim Cramer thinks we have found it, with declines across the board seen in the Dow (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI), S&P (^GSPC) and NASDAQ (^IXIC). Sellers are worried that there could be something lurking under those plummeting prices of oil, even as there was a $3 rebound from the hideous oil session on Friday.

But could it be that bad? Let's say that oil really, really tanks due to excessive supply, mainly in the United States, and the low demand from China's slowing growth and European weakness continues. What are the worst case scenarios that could occur? The "Mad Money" host shared his take on the repercussions of low energy prices, to set the stage for what investors should expect.

Rails: There are certainly ramifications of low energy prices beyond production. Oil companies use rails in places where there is no pipeline capacity. With the decline in crude, it will become too expensive to drill in places with no pipelines.

Industrials: These companies are getting hit hard, including General Electric (GE), which has been noticeably present in the oil patch, and Dover, which was just downgraded from a hold to a sell.

Credit: "I don't want to finger any one company because we don't know how they're hedged, and we don't want to cause a panic. But there are stocks down 30, 40 and 50 percent in a matter of weeks and it's not because they're oil and gas companies. It's because they've borrowed a lot of money to drill, more than their current cash flow can cover," said Cramer. The extended credit could cause a real issue if stocks don't come back up....MORE

The last numbers I paid attention to (Q2) had Mr. C's audience in the targeted 25-54 demo at 2,000/day (no zeros omitted). CNBC's total daily audience was 162,000. Via ZeroHedge:

With those numbers there's probably no need to fear starting a panic.

Contrary to the thesis, despite the fact oil was down today the larger market managed to trade at an all time DJIA high, 17,897.05.
What the heck is he thinking?

For the record: The broader market is going higher, oil and gold are going lower and I'm going home.

*Previously on Blossom:
Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!
What Jim Cramer Does After Beating the Monkey 
"Jim Cramer Takes Issue With Own Investing Tips Being Thrown Back At Him, Demands Apology, More Gentlemanly Conduct (On The Internet)" GS; TSCM
Tracking Jim Cramer: "Investing in Mad Money: Price and Style Effects"
Cramer calls a bottom (again)
Bottom Caller: Cramer on Markets
First Solar Target Raised from $103 to $105 at Goldman Sachs, Cramer Confused (FSLR)
Cramer on BloggingStocks: I won't get excited this time
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO
Jim Cramer, Nancy Pelosi and T. Boone Pickens Walk Into a Bar (CLNE)
July 30, 2008
Jim Cramer: "Yes, the Market Has Bottomed"
I respectfully disagree but at least he's humble and lovable.
July 12, 2008
Cramer: Stocks are Doomed, Buy Wine Instead
Hillary Clinton talks with Jim Cramer...And: Bill Clinton, private equity maven?
No tips on cattle futures, a lot of green/clean though
.Bear Stearns: Jim Cramer Defends His Position, Is Still Hated (BSC)
How To Think About Jim Cramer’s Insane Confidence--Even For A Crazy Person--In Bear Stearns
Jim Cramer: Mad Money, Bad Blood (Behind the Scenes)
The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting look under the rock:
Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer

Full Disclosure- I've only seen Mad Money a few times, when friends would email links to particularly funny episodes. The guy is a self-confessed stock manipulator....

...And one of the funniest bylines you'll find on a market manipulation story:

Cramer vs. Cramer Will his crazy confession destroy his career? 
By Henry Blodget...

And many more.

Jim Cramer on: When Will Citigroup Bounce Back? and "Three Stocks That Could Double in the Next Year" (C)

The stock is up 8 cents at $3.91.
Long time readers know I follow Jim Cramer more for amusement rather than for hard info.*
From CNBC's Mad Money:

For Wednesday’s Mad Mail, Mike in Florida wanted to know what factors would most likely influence Citigroup’s [C  3.925    0.085  (+2.21%)   ] recovery and when, if ever, that recovery would happen. Cramer was quick to differentiate between the stock and the company itself, saying the government has been selling its massive stake in Citi and that has hurt the share price. The bank, however, is seeing improvement in its book value Cramer said, as its “underwater” assets “get better and better each quarter.” This is why he thinks the stock “goes higher” once the government is done selling “and you catch a move to $5.”

From BloggingStocks:

It's all well and good to say a stock posting improving earnings is a good buy with upside potential. But how much upside? The truth is that picking stocks capable of dramatic gains -- potentially as much as doubling your money -- is much harder. That's because charts don't offer much information for big moves like this, and efficient market theory argues against such short-term performance.
But finding doublers, while difficult, is not impossible.

One good place to start is screening book value analysis or cash analysis to find a deal, or to find potential acquisition targets. Also, while a turnaround typically takes more than a year to come to real fruition, there are still success stories -- such as Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which was trading around $60 in October 2009 and is now up to about $160 per share, topping even its 2007 highs.


Here's a look at three stocks that could double in the next 12 months if things play out. All of these stocks are actively traded, with an average volume of over 1 million shares daily, and they all have at least some stock options tied to them to reach that profit goal....

...#2 – Citigroup, Inc. (C)
Citigroup, one of the "too big to fail" banks, is slowly and sloppily getting out from underneath the government. What's more, bank pressure under Fin-Reg is hurting the stock. It's sitting at the bottom of its 52-week range ($3.11-$5.07) – a far cry from its +$50 valuation as recently as 2007.

There is undoubtedly a long way to go, and Citi may never get back to that lofty share price. CEO Vikram Pandit is probably not even half way to getting to a core Citi after divesting assets, so who knows what the smaller bank ahead could be worth on a per-share basis. But Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed he's put a few hundred million dollars into Citigroup on the theory that it trades at about 3 or 4 times what the future company's core earningswill tally. That kind of value coupled with a current share price that's about the price of a Big Mac makes a doubler a very real possibility....MORE

The post also mentions Energy Conversion Devices, I'd be careful with ENER, there is at least a 30% chance of a bankruptcy, i.e. very high risk for the chance at a double.


*Previously on Blossom:
Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!
What Jim Cramer Does After Beating the Monkey 
"Jim Cramer Takes Issue With Own Investing Tips Being Thrown Back At Him, Demands Apology, More Gentlemanly Conduct (On The Internet)" GS; TSCM
Tracking Jim Cramer: "Investing in Mad Money: Price and Style Effects"
Cramer calls a bottom (again)
Bottom Caller: Cramer on Markets
First Solar Target Raised from $103 to $105 at Goldman Sachs, Cramer Confused (FSLR)
Cramer on BloggingStocks: I won't get excited this time
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO
Jim Cramer, Nancy Pelosi and T. Boone Pickens Walk Into a Bar (CLNE)
July 30, 2008
Jim Cramer: "Yes, the Market Has Bottomed"
I respectfully disagree but at least he's humble and lovable.
July 12, 2008
Cramer: Stocks are Doomed, Buy Wine Instead
Hillary Clinton talks with Jim Cramer...And: Bill Clinton, private equity maven?
No tips on cattle futures, a lot of green/clean though
.Bear Stearns: Jim Cramer Defends His Position, Is Still Hated (BSC)
How To Think About Jim Cramer’s Insane Confidence--Even For A Crazy Person--In Bear Stearns
Jim Cramer: Mad Money, Bad Blood (Behind the Scenes)
The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting look under the rock:
Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer

Full Disclosure- I've only seen Mad Money a few times, when friends would email links to particularly funny episodes. The guy is a self-confessed stock manipulator....

...And one of the funniest bylines you'll find on a market manipulation story:

Cramer vs. Cramer Will his crazy confession destroy his career? 
By Henry Blodget...

And many more.

"Jim Cramer is an Insufferable Jackass"

This is not news, from Dow Jones' Market Talk:

I studiously avoid watching Jim Cramer. It’s not that he’s a stupid man, he’s a very smart man. It’s not that he isn’t a successful man, he a very successful. It’s not that he makes bad calls. Well, it’s not solely that he makes bad calls.

It’s that he’s an insufferable jackass.

So last night he’s on his show, trying to convince his viewers not to panic and to stay with stocks, and he rips Kelly Evans over her Ahead of the Tape column yesterday about auto-parts stores. Now, whether or not Kelly’s right or wrong can’t be decided in one day. Whether or not anybody who writes a column or hosts a show for a living can ever be 100% right isn’t the point either.

It’s not the shot at Kelly that got me. It was the shot at his viewers’ intelligence.

So, here’s Cramer, a guy who as you’ll see momentarily has been massively wrong in the past. Not just wrong, but spectacularly, historically wrong, and he’s on cable TV last night telling people to keep buying stocks....MORE

 Previously:

"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”
-Jim Cramer, on Mad Money

Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!
UPDATE-Jim Cramer Beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest
What Jim Cramer Does After Beating the Monkey
 Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer 

...And one of the funniest bylines you'll find on a market manipulation story: 
Cramer vs. Cramer 
Will his crazy confession destroy his career? 
By Henry Blodget 

Jim Cramer Says Sell First Solar (FSLR)

This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities. The offer can only be made by an albino dwarf.... 

Jim Cramer: Wrong as Wrong Can Be

Time for a laugh: Cramer Reviews 10 Warren Buffett Stock Picks (BRK.A; FRSL)
Warren Buffett Answers Jim Cramer on Ethanol (BRK.A)
Warren Buffett and Jim Cramer: Claws and Effect

 "Jim Cramer Takes Issue With Own Investing Tips Being Thrown Back At Him, Demands Apology, More Gentlemanly Conduct (On The Internet)" GS; TSCM
Bear Stearns: Jim Cramer Defends His Position, Is Still Hated (BSC)
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO

July 30, 2008 
Jim Cramer: "Yes, the Market Has Bottomed"
DJIA closes at 11,583.69 on it's way to 6,547.05 7 1/2 months later.

Jim Cramer: Mad Money, Bad Blood (Behind the Scenes)

The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting look under the rock... 

Poor Kamala: "Jim Cramer comes out swinging for Kamala Harris"

Why would he want to doom her campaign before it's even started?

From MarketWatch, July 24:

 “Mega versus MAGA” – Jim Cramer comes out swinging for Kamala Harris 

Presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked up a huge endorsement on Monday, from CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

Though whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing is another matter. 

A president Harris would “absolutely, absolutely, no doubt about it” be good for the stock market and American business, Cramer said, adding that her ties to Silicon Valley mean she’d be very supportive of the big technology companies that dominate Wall Street.

“Let’s not forget her brother in law is Tony West, who is a former general counsel of Pepsico, then was with the Justice Department, and is now the general counsel of Uber,” Cramer said. “And you tell me if there’s someone who’s more sophisticated [about business and the stock market] and knows more about business and the west coast than her brother in law, who would be an amazing adviser. They’re close.”....

....MUCH MORE

He may think it's all fun and games* but his words have an effect - he is the perfect contrary indicator:

February 2024
Cramer Called It
From Tim Knight at Slope of Hope, February 22—the chart goes back to the November 10 2022 IPO which raised $12 billion at an $80 billion valuation. It popped...then dropped...then dropped:

Rivian Down 94% From High

By Tim Knight - 1 hour ago (22, Feb 2024 8:30:00 AM)

If only there had been some way to see this coming………

In other news Slope is looking at going long something more pedestrian.

November 2023
Meanwhile, In Jim Cramer's World...
From Mr. Cramer's employer, CNBC, November 20:

Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigns from GM-owned robotaxi unit

And from Cramer:

wow, Kyle Vogt out at Cruise. I just did a big piece on this guy and thought he really had things humming.. Time to rethink...

— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) November 20, 2023

July 2023
Mass Panic As Jim Cramer Predicts Giant Bug Mutants Will NOT Attack Earth Next Tuesday At 2:17 PM

June 2023
Jim Cramer On Coinbase (COIN)

Via Tim Knight at Slope of Hope:

April 2023
Jim Cramer Defends His Favorite Bank, First Republic (FRC)

The stock closed down 49.37% today.

April 2023
Here's Another One: Early Jim Cramer Call Discovered
The tweeter used to run some money ($14 billion) for BlackRock, among other places. These days he beats up on Pfizer and has a boutique called Phinance Technologies as a side hustle.

😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/wlHhPdJU5S

— Edward Dowd (@DowdEdward) March 29, 2023

March 2023
"Jim Cramer Isn’t Worried About Credit Suisse. Does That Mean We Should Be?"
That was the headline at CryptoBriefing, October 3, 2022.
They continue:

Mad Money host Jim Cramer dismissed comparisons between Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers today on CNBC. He has a history of getting things wrong.

March 2023

In 2022, Jim Cramer said "you could make a lot of money" with Signature Bank $SBNY.

Today, the bank was shut down by regulators, making it the 3rd largest banking failure in US history. pic.twitter.com/8QZvcCXjuv

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) March 13, 2023

Previously: 

Jim Cramer: Buy Silicon Valley Bank!

And Wachovia two weeks before it failed (but didn't fail because it was the first bank named systemically important i.e. too big to fail):
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO

And:
"Jim Cramer Takes Issue With Own Investing Tips Being Thrown Back At Him, Demands Apology, More Gentlemanly Conduct (On The Internet)" GS; TSCM
*From the outro to May 2024's "Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan taking action to curb sorcery and charlatanism":

....The Cramer Exemption in New York Penal Code, Section 165.35:

§165.35 reads -

A person is guilty of fortune telling when, for a fee or compensation which he directly or indirectly solicits or receives, he claims or pretends to tell fortunes, or holds himself out as being able, by claimed or pretended use of occult powers, to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise, influence or affect evil spirits or curses; except that this section does not apply to a person who engages in the aforedescribed conduct as part of a show or exhibition solely for the purpose of entertainment or amusement. Fortune telling is a class B misdemeanor.

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Ag and shippers are the newest bull markets (CAT; DE; MON; POT)

It's been a while since we checked in on Mr. Cramer, although I'm told that our posts on Leonard the Wonder Monkey beating Jim* as a stock-picker are still getting visits.
Here's the latest via Blogging Stocks:

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's not too late to get on board these rocket ships.

During the great narrow bull market that was 2006-2007, anyone who hitched a ride on any bulk or oil carrier, any DryShips (DRYS) (Cramer's Take) or Diana (DSX) (Cramer's Take), or any Frontline (FRO) (Cramer's Take) or Nordic American Tanker (NAT) (Cramer's Take), or anyone who bought anything ag-related -- Deere (DE) (Cramer's Take), Monsanto (MON) (Cramer's Take), Potash (POT) (Cramer's Take) -- looked like a genius.

Beginning midyear last year, you looked like a moron.
You are now about to look like a genius again....

...Ag's a little more difficult because there's still plenty that can go wrong. The fertilizer stocks don't have the ethanol story behind them, and the spur -- a 30% increase in corn prices -- may not be enough to turn the complex around. The companies, particularly Potash, have been famously promotional throughout the downturn and quick to call any spike up the beginning of a new bull market. Chinese orders haven't helped. But I think that this space, at last, is at a bottom worth playing, and the breakout has been furious....MORE

*Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!

UPDATE: Here.
Original post:
(for one week only, the monkey is ahead on performance: see below)
"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”

Cramer; Aug. 20 show. Then he said let Cramer be Cramer or something, I wasn't paying attention, I was reading Warren Buffett's story about arbitraging cocoa beans against an equity.

Turns out Cramer was responding to the Barron's story
"Shorting Cramer" which had this line:

When we asked Cramer and CNBC for their own records of Mad Money's stock-picking performance, they had more excuses than a Tour de France cyclist dodging a blood test....MORE

Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!

UPDATE: Here.
Original post:
(for one week only, the monkey is ahead on performance: see below)
"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”

Cramer; Aug. 20 show. Then he said let Cramer be Cramer or something, I wasn't paying attention, I was reading Warren Buffett's story about arbitraging cocoa beans against an equity.

Turns out Cramer was responding to the Barron's story
"Shorting Cramer" which had this line:

When we asked Cramer and CNBC for their own records of Mad Money's stock-picking performance, they had more excuses than a Tour de France cyclist dodging a blood test. They complained that the list from YourMoneyWatch.com contained some stocks from the program's "Lightning Round," in which Cramer gives a quick analysis and a buy or sell decision on stocks phoned in live by viewers. These, they argued, shouldn't count in our tally.

I've been following Cramer via CramerWatch.org where they put his picks up against those of Leonard the Wonder Monkey.

Methodology:

Our method of evaluating Jim Cramer's stock recommendations is simple. We record his Lightning Round recommendations as he makes them on TV, and then we have our monkey make recomendations at random on the same stocks. We then wait 30 days, and see who came out on top.

Results to date:

Since November 1, 2005, Jim and Leonard's overall records are:

Jim Cramer - 138 wins, 138 losses, 48 ties
Leonard the Wonder Monkey - 138 wins, 138 losses, 48 ties

Ongoing Stats:
Jim Cramer is right 49.27% of the time.
Jim Cramer's picks average a 0.24% ROI after 30 days.

Leonard the Wonder Monkey is right 49.95% of the time.
Leonard's picks average a 0.43% ROI after 30 days.

Since Cramer seems to have decided to stop manipulating stocks

Cramer's comments surprised lawyers and regulators. "I think that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney are likely going to have to decide whether Cramer is just a braggart, or just confessed," says Gidon Caine at law firm Jones Day.

he may want to look at this:

Monkeys learn to do arithmetic for peanuts

...Addessi, a researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Rome, Italy, tested whether her capuchins could understand the value of monkey money, and then use it to buy the greatest amount of food.

From NewScientist
UPDATE: We've got a related post above.

Should Jim Cramer Be Locked Up?

Nah. Save that for Greenspan.
(I'm not kidding, more Monday)

We've had some fun with Mr. Cramer:
Jim Cramer: Wrong as Wrong Can Be
(the first we heard on THE bet)
Jim Cramer on Warren Buffett's stock-picking,
Jim Cramer beats monkey in stock-picking contest,
UPDATE: Jim Cramer...,
What Jim Cramer does after beating the monkey.
Here's our complete Jim Cramer archive.

Now the New York Post weighs in.
(Not because of this, I'm sure:
"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”
-Jim Cramer, on Mad Money)

From the Post:

'MAD' JIM CRAMER LOSES GOLDEN $50K BET

Should stock jockey Jim Cramer be locked up for aiding and abetting the subprime market meltdown?

The host of CNBC's "Mad Money" now owes $50,000 after losing one of the worst wagers of his entire career to rival trading wiz Eric Bolling.

Cramer, who favors the phrase "Boo Ya," made an on-air bet with Bolling about a year ago that financial services would be the hottest sector of 2007.

Bolling, a former trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange, placed his money on oil and gold.

Investors who took Cramer's advice would have taken a 30 percent hit to their portfolios as the stocks of financial titans such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch got hammered by the mortgage crisis.

On the other hand, investors savvy enough to follow Bolling's bet on gold and oil would have hit the jackpot, as the hot commodities jumped over 60 percent in the same period.

Cramer, through a spokesman, blamed his loss on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's...

DealBreaker is running a poll:

...We pretty much think this falls under the Countrywide Clause (which states that anyone dumb enough to give Angelo “Tanning Bed” Mozillo their money deserves to get screwed) but what the hey, we’ll play along.

Jim Cramer should be:

• Thrown in Jail.
• Let off the Hook.
• Raped by Cossacks
• Made Head of the Federal Reserve.
• Force Fed Deli Meats by Charlie Gasparino...
• Stripped of his TV Show/Radio Show/Website/ NYM Column...

Go here to vote.

Tesla to $1000; "Bitcoin May Hit $1,000,000"; Act Now Before It's Too Late! (and potcoin)

This morning Yahoo Finance had an attention grabbing headline:

Today's charts: Tesla could rally to $1,000; Cheesecake Factory sinks; IMAX announces job cuts

I mean, who doesn't like cheesecake? Errm...excuse me...onwards:

Tesla (TSLA) – A pair of bullish calls and strong results from Tesla’s Model X safety test is pushing shares higher in intraday trading. Billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC Tuesday morning that Tesla shares could rally to $500-$600 in 2018 and reach $1,000 by 2020. And he’s not the only one who thinks shares are set to soar. Germany-based Berenberg upgraded Tesla to a buy rating and boosted its price target to $464, implying the stock could rally 29% from Monday’s close. Analyst Alexander Haissl wrote, “Once the business reaches scale, the cash generation potential is significantly superior to existing premium OEMs, with cash flow per vehicle more than 50% higher.”

Tesla also announced that it received good news from the National Highway Traffic Safety administration. The electric carmaker said Tuesday that its Model X became the first SUV ever to get a 5-star crash rating in every category....

And from Jim Cramer via ZeroHedge, June 9:

Jim Cramer Goes Batty: "Bitcoin May Hit $1,000,000"; Act Now Before It's Too Late!
It’s hard to know when bubbles will end but when analysis goes ape-sh*t batty, it’s easy to know the bubble exists.

Jim Cramer’s analysis of Bitcoin provides a perfect example.

CNBC reports Cramer says it’s possible bitcoin could reach $1 million one day.

The price of digital currency stockpiled by companies to pay off potential cyberthreats could reach $1 million one day, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday.

Cramer was responding to a recent comment by Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget, who said bitcoin could go to $1 million.

“I think it could because the European banks are frantically trying to buy them so they can pay off ransomware. It’s a short-term way to be able to deal with cybersecurity. It is the way to pay off the bad guys,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.”

“When you get hit and you’re not sure how to do bitcoin, these cyberattackers have customer service desks,” Cramer said.

What Blodget Really Said
Blodget also mentioned the downside: “Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0),” said Blodget maintains the view that “ultimately, Bitcoin has no intrinsic value.”

New Target $1,000,000
he Coin Telegraph reports Bitcoin Price Can Reach $1 Mln: CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

On the CNBC show “Squawk on the Street,” Cramer stated that the demand toward Bitcoin is rapidly increasing and because of Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, its price could potentially enter the $1 mln region, which would bring the market cap of Bitcoin to tens of trillions of dollars.

However, Cramer’s reasoning behind his Bitcoin price prediction was fundamentally flawed as he failed to grasp the core purpose of Bitcoin and why investors are starting to purchase Bitcoin.

“I think it could because the European banks are frantically trying to buy them so they can pay off ransomware. It’s a short-term way to be able to deal with cybersecurity. It is the way to pay off the bad guys.”

Such claim is evidently non-factual because the European Bitcoin exchange market only accounts for nine percent of the global Bitcoin exchange market and it is behind the US, Japan, China and South Korea in trading volumes.

More importantly, Cramer’s statement fails to consider the fact that Bitcoin is being utilized as a currency and safe haven asset more than it is being used as a lifeline to feed ransomware developers....MUCH MORE

Last I saw Tesla was changing hands at $375.03 up 16.02 (+4.46%) on the day while Coindesk is quoting bitcoin at:

USD  $2,729.30 +1.74%

EUR  €2434.41

CNY  ¥19188.97

GBP  £2140.26 

Meanwhile, Gizmodo is reporting:  

Dennis Rodman Travels to North Korea While Promoting PotCoin, the Bitcoin of Weed [Updated]

Headed back to North Korea. Thank you https://t.co/zBtIFz1QBr for sponsoring my mission. I'll discuss when I return. https://t.co/oCEsSvI90B

— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) June 13, 2017

 

Approaching Anniversary: Jim Cramer Makes One of the Worst Market Calls Ever (DIA; SPY; WB)

Right up there with:

"There may be a recession in stock prices, but not anything in the nature of a crash."
-Prof Irving Fisher, Sept. 4, 1929

(the DJIA had peaked the day before at 381, it would bottom at 41 in 1932),
or Fisher's more famous locution
"Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." on Oct. 21, 1929.
Black Thursday came three days later.

At the time he was one of the most respected economists in the world.

Here's a post from July 30, 2008:
Jim Cramer: "Yes, the Market Has Bottomed"

I respectfully disagree but at least he's humble and lovable.
From CNBC:

If you thought you heard Cramer call a bottom during Tuesday’s Mad Money, you were right.“It smells to me like something, in fact many things,” he said, “have at last changed for the better.”

“I am indeed sticking my neck out right here, right now,” Cramer continued, “declaring emphatically that I believe the market will not revisit the panicked lows it hit on July 15. and I think anyone out there who’s waiting for that low to be breached is in for a big disappointment and [they’re] missing a great deal of upside.”

“Stop waiting,” he said, and “buy the next dip because I think it might be the last big one.”

Cramer pointed to five specific clues that proved to him that the market was about to turn up....

...“My bottom call isn’t gutsy,” Cramer said. “I think it’s just a smart call that all the evidence points toward.”“Bye, bye bear market,” he said. “Say hello to the bull and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”>>>MORE

DJIA closes at 11,583.69 on it's way to 6,547.05.
7 1/2 months later.

I know a lot of folks would argue that Cramer's worst call was Bear Stearns:
Bear Stearns: Jim Cramer Defends His Position, Is Still Hated (BSC)

From Gawker:

"Mad Money" host and bug-eyed madman Jim Cramer went on CNBC today to clarify his statements from last week about Bear Stearns, when he urged people not to move their money out of the firm. As we pointed out earlier in his defense, he was not referring to the company's stock, and his advice was actually perfectly sound....

Go to Gawker for the video.
HT: 1440 Wall Street.

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

While other people might remember his September 15, 2008 buy rec on Wachovia:
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO

By Sunday the 28th the Comptroller of the Currency was about to seize the bank unless it was merged or acquired by the start of business on Monday.

On a more positive note, Jim did beat a monkey in a stock picking contest.

Jim Cramer: "Big banks are a buy" (C; BAC; JPM: USB; WFC)

Sure, I've been a bit rough on Jim Cramer over the years:

Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!
UPDATE-Jim Cramer Beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest
What Jim Cramer Does After Beating the Monkey
Should Jim Cramer Be Locked Up?
Jim Cramer Admits: "I Screwed Up" In Recommending Wachovia Stock Two Weeks Ago Because I Liked The CEO
Bear Stearns: Jim Cramer Defends His Position, Is Still Hated (BSC)
July 30, 2008
Jim Cramer: "Yes, the Market Has Bottomed"
I respectfully disagree but at least he's humble and lovable....

For some reason though he seems to have a feel for the banks.
(BSC and Wachovia  notwithstanding)
For the mother of all linkfests go to "Jim Cramer on: When Will Citigroup Bounce Back? and "Three Stocks That Could Double in the Next Year" (C)" in which he was pushing C at $3.91 on Sept. 9, 2010. That's 26% in four months. As the retail guys say: "And Mr. Big, if you annualized that..."

From MSN's MoneyCentral:

Shares of Bank of America, Citigroup and other major financials are too cheap to pass up.
You want to know which banks to buy?

How about Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), PNC (PNC), JPMorgan (JPM) and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN)? How about U.S. Bancorp (USB)?

You know what these stocks have in common? Their prices are ridiculously low, kept down by rumor, innuendo, disbelieving analysts and lies.

Take Bank of America. On Monday I was listening to some clown -- and I use that term with great respect -- talking about $150 billion in mortgage liabilities. Hey, why not say they have to make good on every mortgage ever?...MORE, including video. 

Well, maybe more than a bit rough.

Jim Cramer, Nancy Pelosi and T. Boone Pickens Walk Into a Bar (CLNE)

Oh sure, now that the story is in the Wall Street Journal...
Truth be told, Cramer has been beating the drum on natural gas for a month now. He's early, although Hurricane Gustav may save his bet (butt).
From 24/7 Wall Street:

Cramer Chases Pelosi & Pickens in Clean Energy (CLNE)

On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer said that a stock you can buy that didn't even have to buy off politicians to do well is Clean Energy Fuels Corp....
... Cramer believes this is as big of a ringing endorsement of the highest sort, but because it is thin volume he wants you waiting five days before pulling the trigger....

From Reuters:
Clean Energy Fuels shares rise on Cramer comments

Shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose more than 8 percent after Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC's "Mad Money," recommended the stock citing the vehicular natural gas provider's growth potential if California authorizes an alternative fuel statute.

The California Proposition 10, also called California Alternative Fuels Initiative, seeks to use $5 billion in government funds to promote alternative fuel vehicles and renewable energy....MORE

Here's the Mad Money recap and video:
Nancy Pelosi Approves this Stock

When Warren Buffett owns a stock, there’s a good chance you want to own whatever it is he’s blessed as well. But Cramer dropped a name today of someone who might even be even more influential: Nancy Pelosi.

“It’s even better than Warren Buffett being a shareholder,” Cramer said, because Buffett doesn’t control the House of Representatives.”

Pelosi’s stamp of approval is huge because, without government incentives, gas stations that pump only nat gas are likely to go unused. So her investment in CLNE is “the clearest possible endorsement of natural gas as a transportation fuel,” Cramer said....

...Remember where you heard it first:

Fri. Aug. 15, 2008
T. Boone Pickens: Greenwashing and Rentseeking (CLNE)

Just to hammer the point home:

Mon. Aug. 18, 2008
Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens Walk Into a Bar (CLNE)

Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer

Full Disclosure- I've only seen Mad Money a few times, when friends would email links to particularly funny episodes. The guy is a self-confessed stock manipulator.

Ten days ago we had this post, I think it says more than Cramer intended:

From The Street.com:

"First Solar is a fabulous company that is highly speculative right here. ... That's how bad and nasty this bear market has become."

FRSL is trading around $172, down $110 from its high, three weeks ago, when Mr. Cramer made it one of his "2008: 5 picks for the next 5 years".

Here's Rat Tube on Cramer:

Maybe, just maybe, the single coolest thing I’ve ever seen on CNBC. Rick Santelli heard just about enough of Jim’s lies today (Tuesday, January 22, 2008). So, he called ol’ Jimbo out. What a glorious moment! The first time a CNBC-ite challenged their King. (No disrepect to you, Mr. Santelli, but Jim Cramer was crowned, King Shill the First in 2005.) The really neat thing is this: Although Jim got all huffy and tough sounding, and said how “bearish” he had been (you’ll see what I mean), I added some cute video clips that show that Rick Santelli was right: Jim was pounding people into stocks all last year. And, I do mean ALL. Enjoy! donharrold

Rat Says: Jim Cramer, aka CNBC’s Mad Money host is blown out of the water by Rick Santelli. RatTube has sung Rick Santelli’s praises since the market has become a political issue. He and Art Cashin are the only regulars on CNBC that tell the truth.

And one of the funniest bylines you'll find on a market manipulation story:

Cramer vs. Cramer
Will his crazy confession destroy his career?
By Henry Blodget

Jim Cramer and I had a bit of a tiff a few weeks ago, so some readers might view this column as just another round in that fight. Others might see it as the pot calling the kettle black, or schadenfreude. Think what you will—but as the author of a column about bad investment advice, I feel compelled to comment on what just might qualify as the worst financial counsel ever offered.

As the New York Post, the New York Times, and Reuters recently reported, Cramer gave an interview on TheStreet.com's Wall Street Confidential in late December (watch it here) that can be read as recommending that hedge funds boost returns by orchestrating stock prices and spreading false information. He said that "this is the way the market really works" and that those who don't do these things "shouldn't be in the game." He also talked about his own practices—orchestrating stock prices—to boost returns at the hedge fund he ran in the 1990s....MORE

Here's the transcript of the Wall Street Confidential episode:

You know, a lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund—when I was positioned short, meaning I needed it down—I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures. It doesn't take much money. Similarly, if I were long, and I wanted to make things a little bit rosy, I would go in and take a bunch of stocks and make sure that they're higher. Maybe commit $5 million in capital, and I could affect it. What you're seeing now is maybe it's probably a bigger market. Maybe you need $10 million in capital to knock the stuff down.

But it's a fun game, and it's a lucrative game. You can move it up and then fade it—that often creates a very negative feel. So let's say you take a longer term view intraday, and you say, "Listen, I'm going to boost the futures, and the when the real sellers come in—the real market comes in—they're going to knock it down and that's going to create a negative view." That's a strategy very worth doing when you're valuing on a day-to-day basis. I would encourage anyone who's in the hedge fund game to do it. Because it's legal. And it is a very quick way to make money. And very satisfying....MORE

Monkeys Beat Cap Weighted Indices

They also beat Cramer, but that's a different post.
From the Cass Business School, City U., London, April 4, 2013:

Researchers at Cass Business School have found that equity indices constructed randomly by 'monkeys' would have produced higher risk-adjusted returns than an equivalent market capitalisation-weighted index over the last 40 years.

A study based on monthly US share data from 1968 to 2011 found nearly all 10 million indices weighted by chance delivered vastly superior returns to the market cap approach - a discovery likely to come as a blow to investors that have billions of dollars worldwide invested on a market cap-weighted basis.

The finding comes from two papers* published by Cass Business School's Cass Consulting, and sponsored by Aon Hewitt, which investigated alternative methods of constructing equity indices.

Co-author Professor Andrew Clare, explained: "We programmed a computer to randomly pick and weight each of the 1,000 stocks in the sample; we effectively simulated the stock-picking abilities of a monkey. The process was repeated 10 million times over each of the 43 years of the study.

"The results of this experiment showed that many of the monkey fund managers would have generated a superior performance than was produced by some of the alternative indexing techniques. However, perhaps most shockingly we found that nearly every one of the 10 million monkey fund managers beat the performance of the market cap-weighted index."...MORE

...Out of the alternative indices, the Sales-weighted index performed the best, beating 99 per cent of the monkeys' randomly constructed indices.

* 'An evaluation of alternative equity indices. Part 1: Heuristic and optimised weighting schemes' and 'An evaluation of alternative equity indices. Part 2: Fundamental weighting schemes' by Professor Andrew Clare, Dr Nick Motson and Professor Steve Thomas of Cass Business School. The study was conducted by Cass Consulting for Aon Hewitt.
Download Paper 1
Download Paper 2

See also:
Commodity traders superior to chimpanzees, research shows

I made a serious career track mistake.
Years ago a counselor pointed out that I seemed to have an affinity for animals (It's true. Kids and dogs like me. So do drunks and folks suffering from various psychopathologies).
Had I followed up on her thinking I would now be tenured, trading outside my species and living the grant-proposal dream....

 ...chimpanzees in nature do not store property and thus would have little opportunity to trade commodities...

Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!

(for one week only, the monkey is ahead on performance: see below)
"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”

Cramer; Aug. 20 show. Then he said let Cramer be Cramer or something, I wasn't paying attention, I was reading Warren Buffett's story about arbitraging cocoa beans against an equity.

Turns out Cramer was responding to the Barron's story
"Shorting Cramer" which had this line:

When we asked Cramer and CNBC for their own records of Mad Money's stock-picking performance, they had more excuses than a Tour de France cyclist dodging a blood test. They complained that the list from YourMoneyWatch.com contained some stocks from the program's "Lightning Round," in which Cramer gives a quick analysis and a buy or sell decision on stocks phoned in live by viewers. These, they argued, shouldn't count in our tally.

Tracking Jim Cramer: "Investing in Mad Money: Price and Style Effects"

From CXO Advisory Group:

Measuring Money Madness

Do the stock recommendations of guru Jim Cramer on CNBC's Mad Money move the market? Do they beat the market? In their October 2008 paper entitled "Investing in Mad Money: Price and Style Effects", flagged by a reader, Paul Bolster and Emery Trahan examine the market impacts and performances of buy and sell recommendations made by Jim Cramer on Mad Money. Using daily closing prices for a sample of 1,387 clear buy recommendations and 534 clear sell recommendations from YourMoneyWatch.com spanning July 28, 2005 through December 31, 2007, they conclude that:

• Jim Cramer’s stock recommendations impact share prices as short-lived effects that reverse for buys but persist for sells, as follows (see the first chart below):
  • The average abnormal return for buys is +3.6% for the 30 days leading up to the show and +1.9% on the day after the show, suggesting that Jim Cramer is reacting to prior information and momentum. These returns reverse by an average -2.0% over the next 30 days.
  • The average abnormal return for sells is -2.0% for the 30 days leading up to the show and -0.7% on the day after the show, suggesting again that Jim Cramer is reacting to prior information and momentum. Over the next 30 days underperformance extends by an average -2.6%.
• The aggregate cumulative return for Jim Cramer's recommendations over the the entire sample period before trading frictions is 31.8% (12.1% annualized), compared to 18.7% for the S&P 500 index (7.35% annualized)....MORE

CXO wraps up with:

...In summary, evidence suggests that "while Cramer may be entertaining and mesmerizing to many of his viewers, his aggregate or average stock recommendations are neither extraordinarily good nor unusually bad."

For related research, see Blog Synthesis: The Wisdom of Analysts, Experts and Gurus. See especially the closely related research summarized in our blog entries of 10/1/07 and 8/15/06. See also the review of Jim Cramer's qualitative commentary on the overall U.S. stock market and the analysis of his Mad Money "Lightning Round" reactions.

Time for a laugh: Cramer Reviews 10 Warren Buffett Stock Picks (BRK.A; FRSL)

I've been intrigued as all get out by Jim Cramer's bullishness on FSLR (although I'm told that recently he's been recommending MO). Here's a quote from December 17:

...FIRST SOLAR (NASDAQ:FSLR) is major, despite today's 7% sell-off [$231.97 close -Climateer]; up over three-fold since his recommendation in March 2007. This one avoids the silicon wafer shortage in solar power. He likes the contracts that are signed for over $6 Billion out to 2012 and that is now a baseline for the next five years. He also likes that they produce for less and increase capacity. Even over $200, Cramer said it trades at 24-times 2010 earnings. He thinks that the forecasts may end up being too low.

Now Mr. Cramer said FSLR had earnings visibility but 2010? 24x?
I've probably got a different discounting algorithm on my slide rule.
Here's the line that made me smile:

On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer reviewed another Warren Buffett strategy by reviewing holdings to see if they are worth piggy-backing on. Here is a brief summery of Cramer's opinion on Warren Buffett's current holdings in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A):

Burlington Northern SantaFe (BNI)....Cramer says he's dead on with this and it's a good pick; Buffett holds more than 10% now.

Mr. Buffett* was not available for comment.
Both quotes via 24/7 Wall Street.

Cramer on FSLR.
Cramer on Buffett.

*We're fans of Warren, use the "SEARCH BLOG" box, upper left.

Cramer: Stocks are Doomed, Buy Wine Instead

From 1440 Wall Street:

Many professionals on the Street follow Jim Cramer. But not his recommendations; they fade those, and trade 'em the other way. And for those people, a buy signal has been issued:

Jim Cramer, the often loud and always bullish host of a popular CNBC show, is now bearish.

Cramer frequently tells his audience that he believes there is always a bull market somewhere, and it's his goal to help them find it.But this time is different; it's doom itself, Cramer recently wrote in New York magazine. "In 25 years on Wall Street, I have never seen things this bad."

His investment advice is always very specific, and he is also clear about what he sees over the short term."Sell everything. Nothing's working", he writes MoneyNews

Of course, fading Cramer is not a foolproof strategy. But for the oenophiles on the Street, whose day jobs include flipping stocks and bonds around, Cramer's advice on the wine market might give them pause.

Personally I am buying a few stocks in spite of Cramer's advice, but I have some wine for sale, now that he is collecting. If anyone is looking for a deal on 1994 Bryant Family Cabernet, drop me a line. Although I might want to wait and sell it into strength, assuming he pumps it in this edition of WineLibrary TV, where he digs into a bottle of Chateau Latour with Gary, among other goodies:...MORE including Cramer video.

This is a subject we have an interest in. Some of our earlier posts:

5 whiskeys worth collecting. Or: Make Ethanol in Your Backyard
‘Klimakatastrophe’ picked as Germany’s word of year. AND: 5 Drinking Stories That Put Yours To Shame
September sun to save Bordeaux 07?
The '05's have gotten spendy. Here's Berry Bros. & Rudd on the 2005's.
Climate change effects on wine
Wine into Biofuel: Reverse Transmutation-EU practices Backward Alchemy
Cold summer forces earliest French wine harvest on record
Climate change and the world wine map
CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WINE QUALITY
Climate Change and Wine
Thieves steal solar panels; Wine Fine
Global Warming Investments

"Bitcoin Prices Fall Below $4,500 but Could Still Reach $1 Million"

Following up on June 13's "Tesla to $1000; "Bitcoin May Hit $1,000,000"; Act Now Before It's Too Late! (and potcoin)".
From Money Morning:

Bitcoin Prices Fall Below $4,500 but Could Still Reach $1 Million

On Thursday, Bitcoin prices burst through the $4,500 level for the first time before retreating slightly in the afternoon. However, any retreat in Bitcoin prices is a good opportunity for long-term investors to add more of the cryptocurrency to their portfolios, as Bitcoin prices could reach $1 million.

The market capitalization hit a staggering $73.6 billion, as crypto investors grew optimistic that more countries around the globe will begin to embrace digital payment networks. In addition, developers behind SegWit2x said that they will implement the second phase of the digital fork in November 2017.

Below is a recap of cryptocurrency prices at 3:30 p.m. EDT
 
Bitcoin: $4,321.54, -2.34%
Ethereum: $301.23, -0.08%
Ripple: $0.156, -1.14%
Bitcoin Cash: $388.77, +30.14%
NEO:  $40.99, -13.27%

Now that we know all of today's price movements, here's what has been moving these cryptocurrencies…

Bitcoin Briefly Climbs to $4,500 but Quickly Falls
Bitcoin prices have increased by roughly $1,000 over the last nine days, as traders grow increasingly hopeful that it will become more accepted in mainstream finance. Still, there have been concerns expressed about the rise of the currency over the last few months. Goldman Sachs analyst Sheba Jafari predicted that Bitcoin was on the way to topping out at $4,827.

The analyst said that prices could then quickly be cut in half, falling as low as $2,221.
That bearish sentiment wasn't the only voice making noise on Thursday. Peter Schiff said that Bitcoin was in a "bubble."

Bitcoin Cash Prices Surge on SegWit2X Date
The Bitcoin Cash price rallied more than 30% on news that a mining pool called BitClub Network mined an 8MB block on the BCH blockchain.
This was the largest block found so far on the BCH chain.

Ethereum Prices Slightly Down on the DayThe price of Ethereum was mostly flat, trading at roughly $301.
Today, the firm Blockchain announced it had developed a wallet for users to hold Ethereum....MORE

The earlier calls for a million dollar price tag—
At Money Morning:

Why a Bitcoin Price Prediction of $1 Million Isn't Crazy

...That brings us to Wences Casares, the CEO of the Bitcoin wallet startup Xapo and a member of PayPal Holdings Inc.'s board of directors. In a May 22 speech to Coin Center, Casares repeated his Bitcoin price prediction of $1 million per Bitcoin in 10 years....

...But Bitcoin, which was worth just $0.003 shortly after its launch in January 2009, has consistently defied skeptics. Bitcoin has gained 88,999,900% since then. (That would have turned $100 into $89 million.)

To get to $1 million from the current price of about $2,300 would be a relatively easy 43,378% jump....

Roger that, relatively easy.

And at Climateer from ZeroHedge from CNBC so you know it's good, both Cramer and Blodget said something:

Jim Cramer Goes Batty: "Bitcoin May Hit $1,000,000"; Act Now Before It's Too Late!
It’s hard to know when bubbles will end but when analysis goes ape-sh*t batty, it’s easy to know the bubble exists.

Jim Cramer’s analysis of Bitcoin provides a perfect example.
CNBC reports Cramer says it’s possible bitcoin could reach $1 million one day.

The price of digital currency stockpiled by companies to pay off potential cyberthreats could reach $1 million one day, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday.

Cramer was responding to a recent comment by Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget, who said bitcoin could go to $1 million.

“I think it could because the European banks are frantically trying to buy them so they can pay off ransomware. It’s a short-term way to be able to deal with cybersecurity. It is the way to pay off the bad guys,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.”

“When you get hit and you’re not sure how to do bitcoin, these cyberattackers have customer service desks,” Cramer said.

What Blodget Really Said
Blodget also mentioned the downside: “Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0),” said Blodget maintains the view that “ultimately, Bitcoin has no intrinsic value.”...

Hmmm.... it appears that Cramer-"quote"-of--Blodget thing may be "fāke™ news.
Time to check in with the GS guys.

Goldman bitcoin technical analysts conferring

Commodity traders superior to chimpanzees, research shows

I made a serious career track mistake.
Years ago a counselor pointed out that I seemed to have an affinity for animals (It's true. Kids and dogs like me. So do drunks and and folks suffering from various psychopathologies).
Had I followed up on her thinking I would now be tenured, trading outside my species and living the grant-proposal dream.
This was first posted last January:

From RISK Over the Counter:

In a radical overturning of conventional wisdom, scientists in Georgia and California have found significant differences between commodity traders and chimpanzees. Chimps are, in fact, not very good at commodity trading:

the researchers found that chimpanzees often did not spontaneously barter food items, but needed to be trained to engage in commodity barter. Moreover, even after the chimpanzees had been trained to do barters with reliable human trading partners, they were reluctant to engage in extreme deals in which a very good commodity (apple slices) had to be sacrificed in order to get an even more preferred commodity (grapes)...

The report becomes particularly readable when it speculates on the reasons why:

because of their lack of property ownership norms...

...or, for that matter, pockets....

...chimpanzees in nature do not store property and thus would have little opportunity to trade commodities....MORE

See also:
Jim Cramer beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest!

(for one week only, the monkey is ahead on performance: see below)
"...You know what – I don’t work for Murdoch”

Cramer; Aug. 20 show. Then he said let Cramer be Cramer or something, I wasn't paying attention, I was reading Warren Buffett's story about arbitraging cocoa beans against an equity....

UPDATE-Jim Cramer Beats Monkey in Stock Picking Contest

What Jim Cramer Does After Beating the Monkey
[Mr. Cramer said this in August 2007!]

When not beating the monkey, Cramer writes this in New York Magazine:

The subprime-lending crisis is worse than you think, and could crush financial and real-estate markets for years.

You’re losing money right now. This very minute. You’re losing money if you own an apartment. You’re losing money if you own a country home. You’re losing money if you own a stock or bond mutual fund. You’re losing money if you have a pension plan. You’re probably losing money here or there, you’re probably losing money everywhere (except maybe from your savings account and wallet). But this is no Dr. Seuss story. It’s more of a John Steinbeck tale, and we are the victims, a new generation of Tom Joads, and it’s the damn bankermen who broke us. No, there won’t be a police officer to investigate, and the government, at least this federal government, won’t save us....MORE

More from New York

Don't miss Venus Williams Goes Shopping
only in NYMag

First Solar Target Raised from $103 to $105 at Goldman Sachs, Cramer Confused (FSLR)

FSLR was up 24.47% yesterday to $144.07. From TheStreet.com:

...First Solar (FSLR Quote - Cramer on FSLR - Stock Picks) price target raised at Goldman to $105 from $103 following strong Q3 results. Earnings were better than expected and management guidance included lower 2009 tax rates due to Malaysian tax holiday. Maintained Sell rating due to potential cuts to subsidies and oversupply issues in solar industry.

On October 6, 2008 Goldman downgraded First Solar from Buy to Conviction Sell and lowered their price target from $365 to $103. I, being a cynic, opined that Goldman and other insiders had completed their selling.
On Tech Trader Daily's post "First Solar: Q3 Beats; Signs $800M In Deals; Stk Shines" I commented:

Somewhere in the city,
an analyst just crapped his pants.

Comment by Climateer - October 29, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Jim Cramer went on record Oct 23:

Cramer's Solar Stock Sells: Is it time to sell solar stocks? On last Thursday's "Stop Trading!" segment, Cramer told viewers: "It's over! Duke Energy (DUK) had to cut back in solar." Cramer's Solar Stock Sells include First Solar (FSLR). Source

...He didn't have anything better to say about solar stocks. "It's over!" he said. "Duke Energy had to cut back in solar. SunPower(SPWRA Quote - Cramer on SPWRA - Stock Picks)? No thank you. " He didn't like Applied Materials(AMAT Quote - Cramer on AMAT - Stock Picks) on the basis of its solar division, either....

Source