Jim Cramer - Mad Money

Jim Cramer from MSNBC’s Mad Money likes to huff and puff a lot about different stocks, which makes him a target for overenthusiastic Americans looking to make easy money. As with most things in life, there’s a story behind the story…

1. Don’t Buy Cramer Picks Until a Week Later - you’ll lose money in the short term if you buy the day after he recommends something. Read this summary of a study: “Can you make money from Jim Cramer’s picks?“

2. CramerWatch.org - pitts Cramer versus a monkey in picking stocks, which is always a good time. The monkey is apparently better over the short-term.

3. Give Limited Data - If you want to see Mad Money picks, there are many websites that track them diligently. Interestingly, Jim appears to be giving you the straight deal by showing you his best and worst picks and their performance. Unfortunately, the data doesn’t go back very far. His “best” picks are no more than a month old, hardly long enough to be a safe investment for the average consumer, especially given the timing and monkey issues.

4. On a personal note, Jim Cramer lives in this $3+ million dollar house in Summit, New Jersey:

Personally speaking, I think most people are better off going with the buy-and-hold strategy of a diversified portfolio over the long-term. Chasing excitement rarely works out, unless you are willing to really put the time and effort into it. Short-cutting your time and effort using a TV show that a few hundred thousand other people also use, probably isn’t going to find any diamonds…