You Got Screwed! Why Wall Street Tanked and How You Can ... (ISBN 074324690X)

Unbelievable:
James J. Cramer is responsible for much of what occurred during the tech bubble. He was a cheerleader for the tech boom and now says that others got screwed? HE WAS DOING THE SCREWING! This is hypocrisy at its best. From his near firing at Goldman to the collapse of his own company (TheStreet.com is down 90% plus from its IPO price) Cramer is a genius - at cashing in on his own failures. Do not touch this book with a 50 foot pole.

The title of this book should be YOU GOT SCREWED! AND HOW JIM CRAMER SCREWED YOU!:
In late December 1999/early January 2000 at the height of the tech bubble, Jim Cramer appeared on CNBC and screamed this mantra like a maniac at viewers, "If you don't buy ICGE now you are an idiot!! ICGE -- ICGE -- I SEE GE -- I SEE THE NEXT GE -- Get it -- Get it now!" If I remember correctly those were the words he screamed in a fury. The word "idiot" may have been "imbecile" but the point is he wanted to make you feel really stupid if you missed this golden opportunity. Shortly afterwards the stock started dropping like a rock and Internet Capital Group fell from something like $220 a share to half that in no time flat. Now check out a chart to see where the next General Electric is. How Jim Cramer got away with this is beyond me. I just found an article in my archives dated 12/20/1999 about "Why Jim Cramer is a Big Fan of Internet Capital Group" but because of copyright laws I don't believe I am allowed to post it here. In the article he stated that his hedge fund owned a large stake in the company and that he was looking to buy more on any pullbacks. What a load of bull. When he says BUY, you should say BYE as you switch to another TV channel. Good luck if you put your trust in this guy.

Typical Cramer Rant - But What's The Point?:
Don't get me wrong, I kinda like Cramer. He's entertaining. He's funny. He's run a successful Hedge Fund. He's made a lot of money. He's also often wrong. Here's my personal experience with Cramer. A few weeks before the collapse of Tyco, Cramer was hyping the stock on his Real Money radio program. If I remember the quote correctly he said, "I would be remiss if I didn't buy Tyco at these levels". So Tyco fell to $32, I bought 1,000 shares. Tyco went to $35 a week later, I sold and made a sweet profit. A week after that Tyco tanked. The rest is history. I got lucky. Even though I made money, I suddenly realized how foolish it is to buy stock on the advice of any pundit. I counted my blessings, thanked God I didn't get creamed, and learned a valuable lesson. I wonder how many others weren't so fortunate. This book fires bazooka rounds at the corporate excesses of the 90's and early years of the millennium. It lobs well deserved grenades into the boardrooms of the brokerage industry. Then it spits a pea shooter's worth of advice at how to avoid getting "screwed" again. Like I said, Cramer is entertaining. Clearly, Cramer is angry at something or somebody. Maybe he's feeling guilty about his own contributions to the largess of Wall Street and wants to make amends. If that's the case then I understand why he wrote this book. It's a laudable goal. Who knows? What I do know is there's nothing really new in this book. It provides some very interesting background information about a pivotal point in the country's financial history. It readdresses some of the deck stacking practices of the financial services industry, and it rehashes, in a minimal way, sage self-help advice that can be found in numerous other places for free. It's not a bad book. And Cramer is not a bad guy. I actually believe the Real Money Cramer is a far different man than the Hedge Fund Cramer. A man for the better in my opinion. So I give him the benefit of the doubt. If you know nothing about how corporate shenanigans work or how Wall Street works this book is a good primer. You'll just have to go elsewhere for the details.

Very informative, worth every penny:
This short but very informative book gives you a history lesson on how companies have been screwing over the public for years to make a small group of people a lot of money, It teaches you how to watch for it and avoid becoming a victim of insider trading yourself. Worth every penny.

Lots of history; little how to.:
If you think you will learn a lot you will be disappointed. Great insight into how World com and Enron frauds occurred. I got screwed to the tune of $300k by both. Very little on how to avoid. Not much substance, easy read...depends on what you are looking for. Glad I borrowed from library and did not buy.