Wow, I can’t believe Cramer admitted to manipulating futures.
“A lot of times when I was short, I would create a level of activity beforehand that would drive the futures. . . . It’s a fun game,” Cramer said in the Webcast, which was moderated by TheStreet.com Executive Editor Aaron Task.
Cramer later said that “no one else in the world would ever admit that, but I don’t care.”
However, seconds later, he acknowledged, “I’m not going to say that on TV,” referring to his show on CNBC.
A remarkably successful money manager when he ran the $450 million Cramer Berkowitz hedge fund, Cramer in the Webcast shared his “tips” on how to drive a stock price down so that a short-position – a bet that a stock price would drop – remains profitable.
He added that the strategy – while illegal – was safe enough because, “the Securities and Exchange Commission never understands this.”
Some people find it hard to believe that this type of stuff goes on but I see shady questionable moves all the time. Check out what Cramer had to say for yourself. I guess this video should be called Manipulation 101 (Edit: In case YouTube pulls the video again, here’s the video on TheStreet.com):
Cramer is really clowning on this video. I wonder if he forgot the camera was on and this was going to be broadcast on the net. Poor Bob Pisani and UBS. 
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Who woulda thought? :d
Curious.
What he says isn’t hugely surprising; that he says it at all, is.
He wrote about manipulation of stocks in his book, “Confessions of a Street Addict.”
http://www.billakanodoodahs.com/2007/01/jim-cramer-little-miss-goody-two-shoes/
What do you mean Poor Bob Pisani and UBS?
Cramer, always a class act
He claims to be looking out for the “little guy” on his show, yet here he sounds like he manipulated the market so “the little guy” retail investors would sell based on the panic he created. CNBC was a tool to help him make money. What an evil, arrogant bastard.
well, I am so glad this moron stopped listening five years ago to this clown…I look at charts, and read what trustworthy people like Mike and Teresa Lo are saying.
BTW, shouldn’t this open boasting be some kind of sentiment indicator???
I for one am greatful that Cramer shares this behind the scenes insight, even though he probably shouldn’t have. It helps me understand the workings of the market and why things often don’t make sense with a stock. I think the best strategy is just not to get whipsawed by unexplained movement either way, and stick with your original premise until proven wrong by more than just one hour of the stock going against you.
This whole time I thought Pisani was the dumbest person on earth but it turns out he is just a mindless puppet.
Geez, it only took three months for this video to make the rounds.
It’s a good one, and anybody who’s outraged needs to understand that this stuff goes on every day. Remember 3/7 when LEND suddenly dropped three bucks on “rumors”, and Pisani came on CNBC to report it? And then it regained the entire loss within a few hours. You suppose that was just the market looking for the right price?
Lots of the options backdating stories seem like they’re planted, as well.
That’s one of my favorite videos that I posted on my site too awhile back.
http://highprobability.blogspot.com/2007/03/weekend-videos.html
Not surprising at all, I know a lot more money managers and advisors who are “hit men” for hire by any companies who wants to bring up their share prices in a flash so as to take some cash off the table… the question is, how is the SEC condoning any of these people who eventually becomes known?
Just recently he said he wouldn’t be surprised if AMD went out of business. I thought to myself, gee that’s an awful irresponsible thing to say. Maybe he’s just trying to support short positions. Unbelievable.
A lot of the short-term manipulation is nominally legal… or at the very least, completely deniable. You don’t spread a rumor yourself, you just say that the rumor is going around and you heard about it third hand.
Cramer has, in other “Confidential” videos, stated that he himself avoided spreading rumors, because that’s explicitly illegal and because he was too easy a target. But the buy/sell/buy/sell stuff is apparently a basic tool in the toolbox; it only takes a little action in the right places to move the whole market or a whole sector.
If you learn to spot it, you can profit from it. I’m still studying.
Makes Martha look like a saint, don’t he?:)
Which serious investor is watching this guy. Only helps to track where the weak money is.
He is looking out for the “little guy”. Who else would tell you about what happens behind the scenes? Sure, he participated in these sorts of shenanigans, but at least he is willing to explain this stuff to us.
One thing I admire about Jim Cramer. He is a sincere guy when he talks in his shows. It takes a lot of guts to come out with statments like he made in this Youtube clip, which reinforces the manipulation that goes on in this “free-market” squeezing out of many small investors like me.I wish that there are more people like cramer on TV and web podcasts.
Bob Pisani isn’t a mindless puppet, he’s a willing pawn in this game, and no doubt, profiting from it.
Funny article on Trader Daily today.
http://www.traderdaily.com/news/item/5060.html
Reggie Thorn, thanks for that link–I love this excerpt, “…for assuming this if he were going by the feigned-yet-detached facial language of his interviewer (played by Aaron Task, also of theStreet.com, and well-deserving of a best un-supporting actor nomination).”
“He claims to be looking out for the “little guy†on his show, yet here he sounds like he manipulated the market so “the little guy†retail investors would sell based on the panic he created. CNBC was a tool to help him make money. What an evil, arrogant bastard.”
Whatever. Every big player manipulates the markets. That’s the whole point. A market is a war between traders.
Don’t think for a second that Cramer should be lauded for his honesty–he spoke not to alert the little guy but to to BRAG about his ability to move a market. It is a pity that a billionaire with much more firepower could not crushed cramer when he was hedge fund manager. He boasts in an arrogant cold way about how he personally SCREWED the little guy and Mad Money people trust him?
Knowiing what he knows about how the markets are so rigged–why does Cramer advise the little guy to enter into the ring with unethical hedge fund managers, manipulated chart data(hedgies know how to push the price and trigger FALSE alerts), fraudulent analyst data, fraudulent upgrades/downgrades? Why becuse Cramer wants your money. And he found a boatload of suckers with his show.
Well, with this out in the open, it’s pretty obvious the average investor has no chance to make money in the stock market if you’ve got these big fund managers out there manipulating it, in essence their goal is to make the average investor lose their shirt so they can make more profit. I think the average investor would probably have more luck in Las Vegas than in the market.
The video link above has been disabled. But the video is available on YouTube. Here is the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZTt7IQB9rc0
So far Mr. Cramer is getting off scott free. CNBC has done nothing and said nothing in response to this seemingly illegal behavior by its highest rated carnival clown.
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