As investors, and the media, anticipate another nail-biter of a week on Wall Street, Jim Cramer is — and isn’t — taking credit for the Fed cutting interest rates on Friday. Two weeks ago Cramer scolded Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke for not cutting rates, pleading, “He has no idea how bad it is out there! None!”
According to a Bloomberg report, Cramer told viewers on Friday’s Mad Money, “(The Fed) obviously heard us, they acted” and “I love to say I told you so”. But, the article continues, “after taking credit on-air for nudging the Fed, (Cramer) backpedaled. ‘It’s obvious they didn’t listen to me,’ Cramer said in an interview later.”
The Mad Money host is also the subject of a Barron’s cover story, titled “Booyah?”. “He is held out by CNBC as the guy who can help viewers make big money,” writes Bill Alpert. “But a comprehensive and careful review of his stock picks by Barron’s finds that his picks haven’t beaten the market.” In response, Alpert writes, CNBC “said the show is mainly educational, and not just about stock-picking.”
>More, an emailer reminds us Cramer was a guest on CNN’s Reliable Sources this morning. Howard Kurtz, who’d profiled Cramer when he was still working on the street and not just on TV, said: “People ask me ‘is Cramer certifiably crazy or is this something he just puts on for the cameras?'” Cramer: “..you know that was actually me on Xanax, you’ve probably seen me unmedicated.”