A Must Read

Cramer is the best. This book really is a great guide to investing. If you want to learn the basics pick this one up and get reading.

Good information but at times it was over my head and hard to get through. Think he has valuable information and stories but maybe not for a beginner investor.

great for beginners however very broad and doesn't break down analyzing companies well. P/e and eps, and management may get you to research a great company but shouldnt be the only to aspects you look at.

Purchased this book at Goodwill for $2, fascinating read which gives actionable insights and hard fought lessons in investing in the stock market from legendary hedge fund manager Jim Cramer. More of a practical handbook for new and experienced traders than "Confessions of a street addict" by Cramer, this book helped me to be more successful in stock market investing, without suffering losses during a terrible bear market. One of my personal favorites and I recommend reading for any one interested in practical tips on investing in the stock market. "Confessions" is more for those interested in the personal ups and down and biography of Cramer as a stock trader.

Bueha! Jim Cramer is loud and a madman on his TV program. You might not like his style, but this book is a good guide for investors or those interested in learning about buying stock. According to Cramer it's "not buy and hold" when it comes to stock. It's "buy and homework." This is good advise - i.e. if you're not willing to spend time (1 hour per week) on each stock you own, don't invest in equities.

Interesting book, interesting ideas/theories. Sometimes I thought things could have been explained a little more clearly, but maybe that's just me.
I think that people who have some stock experience already would get more out of this one than complete beginners would; you don't have to be an expert, but if you need concise definitions and have never bought a stock, this may not be quite right. On the other hand, just reading these kinds of books, even if they're over my head, help me learn by immersion ;-)

I started listening to Jim Cramer about a decade ago when I was still living in South-East Austin. There was a 50,000 watt AM station (WOAI) being broadcast out of San Antonio that was somehow able to get coverage all the way to me, some 80 miles away. As I drove around town I would listen intently as Jim would invite me and my leaky 1989 Ford escort to join him in a piece of the action. He was exciting, motivating, and usually right. Cramer was my first real glimpse into the finance world, and ten years later I still listen to him with just as much interest, (no pun intended). I can't help but think that in some small way, the years of enthusiasm Cramer has given me in regards to the market is most likely one of the reasons I will begin work on a Master's degree in Finance this coming year.
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After many moons of listening to Jim on the radio and then his television show, "Mad Money" over on MSNBC, I decided to take the time to read one of his books. He's written several, but I chose, "Real Money - sane investing in an insane world." I wanted to read this introductory book on the stock market because I had questions; questions so embarrassingly simple that only a conversation between me and Jim's silent text could provide the privacy I needed while overcoming the learning curve. Jim came through for me big time. I was baffled before I had bought the book as to why if you buy a stock from a company, and the company won't buy it back nor pay you dividends, that it is worth anything at all... I was baffled as to what use the P/E ratio was to me, or why do some investors tell you to keep your money in the market even when everything is falling. The answer to those and dozens of other obtuse and seemingly simple questions are cleverly sorted out in Jim's book. Because of that, this is a must read for any novice or intermediate investor.

Cramer's Twenty-five Rules for Investing
1. Bulls, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.
2. It's OK to pay the taxes.
3. Don't buy all at once.
4. Buy damaged stocks, not damaged companies.
5. Diversify to control risk
6. Do your stock homework.
7. No one made a dime by panicking.
8. Buy best-of-breed companies.
9. Defend some stocks, not all.
10. Bad buys won't become takeovers.
11. Don't own too many names.
12. Cash is for winners.
13. No woulda, shoulda couldas.
14. Expect, don't fear corrections.
15. Don't forget bonds.
16. Never subsidize losers with winners.
17. Check hope at the door.
18. Be flexible.
19. When the chiefs retreat, so should you.
20. Giving up on value is a sin.
21. Be a TV critic.
22. Wait 30 days after preannouncements
23. Beware of Wall Street hype.
24. Explain your picks.
25. There's always a bull market.

Really disappointed in this book. The book is very dated and he is just bragging about himself most of the time. Far too much jargon and not enough real content. Sad because I find that beneath his entertainment act in TV, he does have solid advice. This book didnt convey that. Newbie investors will like it - he makes it seem too easy and trivializes it as a game. Although he does caution often about the risks, it gets lost in rest of the content. Watch his show rather than waste time reading this.

This book is dated, but the stock picking advice is still solid. I enjoyed gaining insight on how to pick stocks, how to diversify and, most importantly, when to buy and when to sell. Well worth a listen or a read to help you manage your portfolio a little more successfully.

I've read a lot of investing books and this one is not one of the best. I love to watch Cramer on CNBC because he is so entertaining. His first book Mad Money is better for an investor like me.

This book had a very interesting idea of how to invest but to me I feel it was just to hard to understand the basics of the investing going on in this book. I need the book to go in depth on were to invest money and how instead of listening to technique to make more. You need more background information before you can do those technique therefore this book was hard for me to understand. If this book described the basics of investing I would like it much more.

This book is about the rules that governs cramers trading.
about his rules that have helped him win in good and bad markets.
he wants you to win and he wants you to know the games that others are playing with you.
so further lets get to the body of the work that cramer has laid out for individuals with investment on the mind.
His chapter listing is as such
Staying in the game
Getting started the right way
How stocks are meant to be traded
Some investing basics
Spotting moves before they happen
Stock picking rules to live by
Creating your discretionary portfolio
Spotting bottoms in stocks
Spotting Tops
Advanced Strategies for speculators
Epilogue
Index


Staying in the game

is the essence of investing of not quitting when the going is rough and to continue doing homework even when the tides seems as though it is against you.
the fact of tides is that they recede as they also come.
It talks about intelligent investing and that no investor has infinite bullets to get it right so you have to be making good calls to stay in the game.
Stay tough so that you can get past the really bad years because the stock market is cyclical.

Getting started the right way

This chapter is very important it talks about cramers interest in speculation as well as the fact that he decries the buy and hold mentality. At some point you have to sell and no one is going to tell you when that time is so you have to figure it out for yourself. So this chapter takes you on a tour of thinking of thinking about the angles and playing them because you must.
He warns of penny stocks and shell companies and how you have to be on your guard so you are not taken by these companies so that you do not loose all that you have worked so hard for. This chapter talks about paychecks and how they almost never have enough left over to do any thing that really matters with. Thats part of the reason why I want to invest I want to be able to carry out the things that I have been thinking of so long with the environment of my creation.

Rules that beyer created that cramer thought was important

t1 If you only learn from mistakes you will not repeat them

t2 Only go to the tracks where there aren't lots of good ttplayers so you can clean up

t3 Only bet on situations where you have total conviction

It takes homework to be a trader.

This chapter also discusses some of the things that happen when you are going to have an ipo.


How stocks are meant to be traded

Multiple * Price = Earnings
Price / Earnings = Multiple

Limits allow you to set prices without having to pay unless the trade is executed.
Multiples are often set improperly for small lesser known companies. When the economy turns down debt can be a real killer.

Some investing basics
This chapter discusses the idea of where your portfolio may want to be depending on risk and age. Although he certainly says that even early on some of your cash should go to retirement investments. Speculation is part of the key to his achievements. As time goes on you have to shift your focus so that you can live well as time passes. Separate your speculative pool from your retirement pool. Diversification is the only free lunch on wall street. At least five stock for diversification and one hour per week with those stocks for homework. Make sure you are investing in viable companies before you measure growth. Long term growth to determine purchases vs dollar amounts.


Shared ideas
cramer and buffett both follow the paper
buffett cramer and soros look for their inadequacies and change in situations
buffet and cramer believe in homework and keeping up with whats going on.
buffett and cramer, soros lived through some tricky deals and still have done well.

Spotting moves before they happen
This chapter talked about the specifics of a one point move and its exactly what you think its a large purchase by large brokerages or other people with large amounts of assets buying a large amount of assets. Market dislocation and fully valued sectors. Looking for big moves when you are looking for these moves you are focusing on the paper and the paranoia of the people. The psychology and the psychology of fear and the game that is generated by the psychological factors that make people make bad decisions because they are not keeping it together under stress and duress.
Different techniques and rules cramer uses for each cohort and discuss.
tRotational catalysts
tshift group to group depending on macro backdrop.

testimate revision catalysts

secrets of large cap investing.
24 percent year no down years because he figured out the markets and which companies where going to beat expectations.
what happens when the fed changes things how it squeezes and expands cash flow. Cyclical buy and sell chart on pg 115.
the value of cash in some markets.
the importance of the fed.
sell in time.
valuing companies
40% management
30% fundamentals
15% technical analysis
15% alpha factor


Stock picking rules to live by
Tactics
wealthy money is impatient.
rules of the trade
tnever turn a trade into an investment
tyour first loss is your best loss
tits okay to take a loss when you already have one
tnever turn a trading gain into an investment loss
ttips are for waiters
tyou don't have to profit to sell
tcontrol losses winners take care of themselves
tdon't fear missing anything
tdon't trade headlines
tdon't trade flow

twenty five investment rules to live by
tbulls and bears make money pigs get slaughtered
tits okay to pay taxes
tdon't buy all at once arrogance is a sin
tlook for broken stocks not broken companies
tdiversification is the only free lunch
tbuy and homework not buy and hold
tno one ever made a dime by panicking
town the best of the breed its worth it
the who defends everything defends nothing or why discipline ttrumps conviction
tthe fundamentals must be good in a takeover
tdon't own too many stocks
tcash and sitting on the sidelines are fine alternatives
tno woulda shoulda coulda
texpect corrections don't be afraid of them
tdon't forget bonds
tnever subsidize losers with winners
thope is not part of the equation
tbe flexible
twhen high level people quit a company something is wrong
tpatience is a virtue giving up is a sin
tjust because someone says it on tv doesn't make it so
talways wait thirty days after earnings preannouncement tbefore you buy
tnever underestimate the wall street promotion machine
tbe able to explain your stock picks to someone else
tthere is always a bull market somewhere

Creating your discretionary portfolio
tyou will do time consuming sometimes tedious homework
tspend an hour per position per week doing research
tyou must be interested in business
tyou must have someone to talk to about the idea
tcramer can't encourage you to quit you have to endure

Spotting bottoms in stocks
Look for balance sheets that are out of whack vs long term fundamentals. first thing he gauges is market sentiment. capitulation crescendo bottom sell offs the only people left are the people not moving. catalyst.
find the bottoms and buy and sell some on the way up.

Spotting Tops
Look for tops and sell before tops so that you don't kill your market appreciation. Competition caps companies as well as taking from them if a move happens in the other players zone. When ever management is vague it is a top because management wants to show off good results. Over expansion a company cannot handle its growth this causes a top. Government blindside, this happens when the gov changes rules and you get unexpected consequences. When retail cannot expand any more it hits a top. Fad stock tops occur when the fad is depleted of its energy and it's not going to go anywhere from there. Accounting mayhem things with the books seem cooked you have to get out. The grilled egg top you have to leave because its to hot and being in to long with force loss.

Advanced Strategies for speculators
The arithmetic of buying calls
call option
price = purchaseprice * 100 * option

shorts

Books that Cramer recommends
Reminiscences of a stock operator by Jesse Livermore - psuedonym Ed Lefevre
Picking winners by Andy Beyer