Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Jim Cramer's dramatic statement



These are the times that try men's souls--Thomas Paine

Amy Winehouse is turning to Scientology. Previously unknown Jim Petruzelli TKOs Kimbo Slice. The most shocking event of all though: Jim Cramer is dissing the stock market.

Jim Cramer went on the Today Show yesterday and advised people to take any money out of the stock market that they will need in the next five years. Why? He sees the possibility of a 20% decline in the Dow and wants to help the little guy get out of the way of a runaway train. I admire his sense of noblesse oblige. It is also refreshing to see a money manager that it's okay to raise cash.

Some will see this as a sign of capitulation, not unlike that famously contrarian indicator "The Death of Equities" BusinessWeek cover from August 13th, 1979. Still, I don't think that Cramer is consistent enough to serve as a contrary indicator. He is of the school of whatever's working. Cramer throwing in the towel is him saying, "If I can't figure this out, I doubt if you can." He's just being honest in his exaggerated manner. Most people should not be trying to time the market. They should ride out the markets short-term fluctuations. He just made a compelling case for investing in low-cost index funds, much better than Buffett did with his bet against Protégé Partners LLC.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

well this is really a dramatic one