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UT hosts "Mad Money"
03:15 PM CDT on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A pep rally guaranteed to rattle the rafters on the UT campus is dedicated to Bevo's brothers on Wall Street -- the bulls.
KVUE.com
Jim Cramer visits UT's McCombs School of Business Monday.
The game is the stock market. The show is "Mad Money." And the man with the Spirit Stick is an investor's biggest cheerleader, Jim Cramer.
His popular CNBC show tapes Tuesday at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas.
In two years of hosting "Mad Money," Jim Cramer has won over audiences with his entertaining approach to investing.
"I'm kind of like on a mission to explain the game to people and get them interested. It is the greatest game," he explains.
He frequently uses props and costumes to help his viewers better understand a stock he thinks is worth buying. Diplomacy is checked at the door when he explains why another company's stock should be sold. Those tactics bring out his harshest critics.
"I think the intelligentsia has this huge bias against me. I kind of find it amusing because I was one of them -- and couldn't live with myself," says Cramer, a former hedge fund manager. His 24% annual return made his rich clients even richer, but now he's giving a boost to the smaller investors, many of whom are college kids.
Business undergrad Marshall Cowden was inspired to fire off a few e-mails after seeing "Mad Money" shows at other schools.
"I thought, 'Why isn't he at Texas? We're top notch, like the other places he's been,'" says Cowden.
His letters to Cramer helped bring the show to the McCombs School.
Cowden says Cramer's appeal is in making a tough topic easier to understand.
"A lot of people are intimidated by picking stocks and looking at financial markets. The average person is not excited by it. He brings an entertainment aspect to it. He's so excited and fired up, and makes a subject that not so accessible, more accessible," adds the sophomore from Portland, OR. "He brings credibility through his background. He's not just some guy screaming about stocks. He's had real success in the real world."
UT officials were willing to open their doors.
"His college tour has been well-received at top business schools around the country, and it is a wonderful opportunity for us to show off our students and our campus to a national audience," says Dave Wenger, Director of Communications at the McCombs School of Business. "McCombs students work tremendously hard, and this is an opportunity for them to relax for a couple of hours, show their school spirit and enjoy something fun."
Young investors greet their champion with thunderous cheers at each campus visit. Their enthusiasm for the subject was initially a surprise to the increasingly popular TV personality.
"I didn't care about any of this stuff when I was in college, so it's hard for me to believe that other college kids do. But college kids today are very different from when I went to school...and a lot of them are focused on making money," says Cramer.
Similar to the way that many 20-somethings steer clear of network news in favor of "The Daily Show," so it goes with "Mad Money" and young investors.
"I think that they want the business news, but they don't want it in a straight way. Is that good or bad? I think it's important sometimes to have no value judgments. Is it working or is it not working? I think that's better than good or bad...I'm despised and loved. As long as I'm watched, I think it's good," says Cramer.
Is television any easier than navigating the treacherous waters of hedge fund management?
"I'm trying to use the same amount of rigor. I'm actually working a little harder now than I did when I was at my hedge fund, because I'm willing to work nights and weekends. The show's that important to me," he adds.
And his tone matches the times. Cramer's shows during the recent market swings featured a more serious approach to weathering the volatility and making sense of the big price drops, while staying in the game.
"What I'm trying to do is get people to recognize that their paycheck's not enough, but I'm not a credit card cutter-upper. That's not my thing. And I'm not a FICO score guy. I'm a guy who's saying, 'Look, if you have the time and inclination, I think we can work together to make more money. If you don't have the time and inclination, I think we can work together to make you a better client.'"
Cramer tossed out the traditional "buy and hold" philosophy for a mantra of his own: "buy and homework." If investors don't have one hour each week to devote to researching each stock they own, Cramer has some advice for them, too. Buy a mutual fund. But if you're willing to put in the time, Jim Cramer wants to help you make some mad money.
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