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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I have a little bit invested in the stock market (no Warren Buffett, I, though, sadly), which I’m trying to build into a retirement fund, since I had to wipe mine out with my prolonged unemployment (of course, assuming I make it to retirement, which is itself a dicey proposition). Given this, I try to watch at least the first segment of Cramer’s “Mad Money” show on CNBC to try to get his take on what happened on the market that day. I do this because, for the most part, he uses language that I can understand (sometimes he does lapse into the Wall Street patois and I get lost). Because of this, I thought it would be interesting to read his first book, in which he details his life from childhood through Harvard to Goldman Sachs to his days as a hedge-fund manager.
I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in the target audience.
I did okay until he got to Wall Street, then he started talking about “puts” and “calls” and “shorts,” without an explanation in sight as to what the hell he was talking about. (I’m actually still looking for the book that will explain these things—so far, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Stock Investing” isn’t doing it, but I’m only about halfway through it.)
Here was my other problem—and I’m not sure if it’s because of Cramer’s character or just my current “fuck-the-rich” attitude. When Cramer is at his hedge fund, he talks about how, if one of his assistants lost $25,000 on a trade, he would throw a bottle of water (or a phone) at that person and make them pay a $2,500 “fine".” Mind you, his fund was running about a quarter of a billion dollars so, while $25,000 seems like a lot to ordinary people, in his world, it is a pittance and not worth maiming somebody over. Also, in parts towards the end, he talks about getting angry and slamming furniture because his fund “only” returned 35% in a year instead of 40%, or in one “bad” year—at one point of which he was down over 30%—he “only” made a couple of percent profits. I’m sorry, I just cannot get broken up because the rich (including Cramer himself) “only” realized a 35% return on their investments in one year instead of 40%.
It was interesting, I’m glad I read it, but I would still like to know what the hell he was talking about in the last half of the book.
I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in the target audience.
I did okay until he got to Wall Street, then he started talking about “puts” and “calls” and “shorts,” without an explanation in sight as to what the hell he was talking about. (I’m actually still looking for the book that will explain these things—so far, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Stock Investing” isn’t doing it, but I’m only about halfway through it.)
Here was my other problem—and I’m not sure if it’s because of Cramer’s character or just my current “fuck-the-rich” attitude. When Cramer is at his hedge fund, he talks about how, if one of his assistants lost $25,000 on a trade, he would throw a bottle of water (or a phone) at that person and make them pay a $2,500 “fine".” Mind you, his fund was running about a quarter of a billion dollars so, while $25,000 seems like a lot to ordinary people, in his world, it is a pittance and not worth maiming somebody over. Also, in parts towards the end, he talks about getting angry and slamming furniture because his fund “only” returned 35% in a year instead of 40%, or in one “bad” year—at one point of which he was down over 30%—he “only” made a couple of percent profits. I’m sorry, I just cannot get broken up because the rich (including Cramer himself) “only” realized a 35% return on their investments in one year instead of 40%.
It was interesting, I’m glad I read it, but I would still like to know what the hell he was talking about in the last half of the book.
Interesting perspectives related to Cramer’s hedge fund days and dot.com involvements. Copyright is 2002 so many parts are pretty dated. Some interesting corollaries between an equities trader and a commodity traders. Well written.
Like an adrenaline rush packed into a book. I imagine Cramer writes like he speaks, so don't expect flowing prose. Scary and fascinating on a lot of different levels. Some of the financial talk was hard for me to follow but that didn't make it any less interesting. It will make you wonder how you, as an individual investor, could possibly ever pick anything that could even remotely be considered a safe bet, with all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that go on in the world of the Street.
If you are into stocks then this book would probably interest you. Although it is a biography about his life I found that it focused more on stocks rather than his personal life. There also isnt much about his youth but more about his life as an adult.