Wacotrib.com - Cramer fireworks livening up stock market

[Thierry Martin]

Really good overview of Jim Cramer

Here is an excerpt:

Love him or hate him, Cramer is proving to be a draw to the traditionally staid CNBC cable network. "Mad Money" has averaged 161,000 viewers since its debut in mid-March, according to CNBC. That's up 59 percent for the same time slot in the previous year.

The viewership suggests there's an audience thirsty for the bravado, the brassiness and the bluster Cramer exudes for the world of bulls and bears.

But just who is watching?

A strategically placed street sign that reads "Main St." and "Wall St." on Cramer's set may hint at his audience.

In an interview earlier this week, Cramer said his fan base is wide and varied judging from the letters he receives. They include notes from an 11-year-old girl who watches the show with her father to the chief executive officer of one of the largest securities firms in the United States.

Cramer said if you strip away the antics – which include the sound effects of a bull bellowing for good buys and a bear growling for stocks to avoid – you're left with the fundamentals needed in any good portfolio. That includes the principles of diversification, opting for stocks that pay dividends and doing homework on a company. The latter is the element needed to beat the street, Cramer said.

"I call it a game because it is a game," he said. "I think it's a game that with a lot of hard work you can beat."

A typical day for Cramer starts at 4 a.m. When most of America is still in bed, Cramer begins scanning the headlines of major newspapers, Web sites and trade publications to get a jump on the day's events. He keeps tabs on stocks on six monitor screens during trading hours. He takes the time to sit in on at least three conference calls.

In between, he juggles a syndicated radio show, the CNBC gig and serving as a contributing editor to TheStreet.com, an online financial magazine he co-founded in 1996. While he brings his outspokenness to all of those endeavors, Cramer said most people would be surprised how normal his life is.

He is dad to two daughters, coaches soccer, participates in a police athletic league and helps run soapbox derby races. While those are all fitting items on the resume of an uber-soccer dad, his professional resume is equally golden.

The whole article is here:

http://www.wacotrib.com/biz/content/...jimcramer.html

[NCDave]

Thierry,

Thanks for putting up this and other articles about Jim Cramer. It helps round out the picture on exactly who he is where he is coming from. I'm glad to see he has been at it awhile, and has been successful (although not sure how much is investing and how much is Street.com per another poster). He sure is fun to watch, in any event.