Mad Money

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Mad Money with Jim Cramer

Logo for the Mad Money television show.
Genre talk show, investment
Presenter(s) James Cramer
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel CNBC
Original run March 14, 2005 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Mad Money is an American financial investing television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on the CNBC cable/satellite TV channel on Monday, March 14, 2005.

Cramer defines "mad money" as the money one "can use to invest in stocks ... not retirement money, which you want in 401K or an IRA, a savings account, bonds, or .. the most conservative of dividend-paying stocks" [1]

Mad Money replaced Dylan Ratigan's Bullseye for the 6pm Eastern Time slot. On Monday, January 8, 2007, CNBC began airing reruns of the show at 11pm, Eastern Time, on Monday through Friday, and at 4am, Eastern Time, on Saturdays.

Mad Money was a big departure from the programming then offered by CNBC. Rather than provide the same financial news offered in CNBC's daytime shows and available from many other sources, Cramer offers investment strategy and stock-picking advice in an entertainment format.

Contents

[edit] Features of the program

The majority of the hour features the flamboyant, colorful Cramer shouting, leaping, and gesticulating around the set and at the camera, all while providing his viewers with investment advice. This format skews the show more towards being entertainment rather than a source of financial information.

Cramer is usually standing up with the fisheye lens Steadicam close to his face, zooming in and out, all the while providing his stock picks and his reasoning (with his voice inflection known to suddenly change from calm to shouting). Cramer also throws various objects on the set (papers, pencils, etc.) and even smashed up a model plane when explaining his thoughts on Boeing stock; on another episode he used a telephone receiver to destroy a computer keyboard. Whenever his book - Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World, or Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich - is mentioned by a caller, he scurries to grab the book, flashes it for a split-second, and promptly tosses it to the floor as a cheap plug gag. He also has small, plastic bulls (and bears) that he either throws around, squeezes or decapitates with his hands, a ball-point pen, knife, or his teeth.

Cramer's use of stock-related metaphors resulted in the February 14, 2006 show where he featured an entire show centered around these bulls. After a 130-point gain in the Dow, Cramer, dressed as a chef complete with hat and apron, chopped off the heads of the bears with a large chef knife and placed them into a pan with onions and tomatoes. He called it a "bear stir-fry" or a "bear souffle." A similar event occurred on February 28, 2006 where he put his toy bulls through various kitchen appliances such as a slicer (which he clogged and complained about) and a food processor. And on May 17, 2006, after a 214-point plunge on the Dow, Cramer cooked toy bulls through a rotisserie oven. It is not hard to see the bulls' locations, since Cramer has a lot of them decorated all over the studio (there are usually more bulls than bears on the set). Recently the studio has also featured Cramer bobblehead dolls which utter phrases (such as "Are You Ready Skee-Daddy?"). The bobbleheads, bulls, and bears are so popular that they have sold on eBay for over $70, $40, and $35 respectively. Also, Cramer has National Football League yellow penalty and red coach's challenge flags that he throws whenever he believes a company has behaved unethically (penalty) or when he questions a stock decision (coach's challenge), respectively. He will also throw the flag when a caller unethically uses the national television audience to promote a stock for self-interest. If a caller rambles on and on about their own thoughts on a stock, Cramer will lie down on the floor of the set with a Mad Money pillow and blanket and act as if he is going to sleep. On the May 10, 2006 episode, Cramer had a sword on the set, and used it to cut his aforementioned Mad Money pillow, his book, his chair, and his aforementioned toy bears and bulls.

Other props include a box of Uncle Ben's rice, with Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Ben Bernanke's picture, an audio version of Jim Cramer's Real Money, a Louisville Slugger baseball bat, pink Mad Money pigs, and his third book, titled Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich, which was released on December 5, 2006.

On the May 19, 2006 episode, Cramer had a monkey named Ka-ching make an appearance on the show. Ka-ching wore a CNBC t-shirt, sat in Cramer's chair, pressed the buttons that made sound effects, and threw the foam bulls around the set.

On the September 13, 2006 episode, Cramer injected one of the Mad Money bulls with Restylane, a cosmetic facial treatment to eliminate wrinkles.

In October 2006, a customized Daktronics BB-2122 scoreboard was installed, featuring the show's original drawings of bulls on the left and the original drawings of bears on the right with numbers below the pictures. Since January 22, 2007, the scoreboard now features the show's current drawings of bulls and bears, replacing the aforementioned original drawings as mentioned above. On the top center, it shows the date in month:day format. However, in the Sudden Death (a booyah free zone) segment, the date turns into a countdown clock, and it counts down the time, with the final minute being in seconds and tenths to the end of the segment. Alternatively, the monitors also show the timer in analog and digital format and flashes within the last 10 seconds. He starts it off by saying there goes swifty!

[edit] Mad Money segments

The general format of the show starts with two segments, where Cramer recommends one or more stocks in a group with his rationale for choosing them. At the end of each segment Cramer will take 1-2 calls from viewers with questions about either the stock he recommended, or another stock in the same industry or which the viewer thinks may benefit from the topic discussed.

The third segment is the Lightning Round (see below).

Segments four and five will feature either one of the segments listed below or another recommendation. Cramer does not take calls on these later segments except for the Am I Diversified?, Stump the Cramer, and Sudden Death segments.

The final segment of the show is Sudden Death (see below).

Some of the segments featured on Mad Money include:

  • Executive Interviews: an interview with a CEO, CFO, or an officer at a company Cramer wishes to feature.
  • Am I Diversified?: A Wednesday segment, which is seen after the Lightning Round, where Cramer evaluates a caller's portfolio to see if it is well-balanced between different sectors in the stock market (in recent episodes, claiming that callers have "figured out the game" (i.e., generally have diversified their portfolios), he now comments about the quality of their picks as well as the diversification thereof) It is the only segment, as a rule, where Cramer is sitting in the chair.
  • Pick of the Week: A segment in which Cramer picks a stock which he feels should be bought or at least studied carefully, usually before it is widely known or praised by others.
  • Beating the Racket: An occasional feature where Cramer argues "nose to nose" with fellow financial columnist Herb Greenberg (in person or via satellite) in which Greenberg focuses mainly on stocks that could lose money, usually a stock Cramer recommended.
  • Cramer vs Cramer: A segment in which Cramer checks the accuracy of his stock predictions from previous weeks.
  • Danger Zone: An occasional feature in which Cramer profiles a stock that he feels does not have sound investment fundamentals but may appear attractive to investors.
  • Mad Mail: A segment in which Cramer answers e-mail questions sent to mailto:madmoney@cnbc.com.
  • The Week That Was: A video montage featuring various moments from the current week, aired at the end of the program in place of the Sudden Death segment on Fridays.
  • Pimpin' All Over The World: A segment (not actually using this title, but Cramer will reference the song by Ludacris of the same name) where Cramer profiles a potential play in an international market. Usually the play is not a direct investment--Cramer considers many of those to be too dangerous due to lack of accurate financial insight, especially in emerging stock markets--but a derivative, often another foreign company with ADR's traded on the American markets with significant investments in the emerging market, though in some cases Cramer will advise against the ADR's (if they trade on the pink sheets, which Cramer believes do not have significant volume to generate profits) and recommend actually buying the stock in the foreign exchange.
  • Stump The Cramer: A segment in which callers name a stock they believe Cramer doesn't know anything about; if successful, the caller receives an autographed copy of his latest book, Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich.
  • Am I Nuts?: A feature which premiered on the first Main Event special in which Cramer "evaluates a patient" (from the live audience) to figure out, just as the segment's namesake, if the person is nuts in owning a certain stock, and then gives them a "prescription." This segment is considered to be a Main Event exclusive.
  • Cramer's Game Plan: A segment in which Cramer picks his Game Plan stocks and makes his predictions for the coming week. This segment is aired on Fridays.
  • Sudden Death: The final, one-minute segment of the Monday through Friday shows (debuted on July 21, 2006). Launched by the phrase "There goes swifty", this segment is similar to the Lightning Round, but is referred to as a "Booyah-free Zone". Cramer will hang up on callers who attempt Booyahs, pleasantries, or other chatter. On Fridays, The Week That Was is seen in place of this segment.
  • Sell Block: A Thursday segment in which the stocks Cramer recommended in past shows go on the "Sell Block." This segment debuted on the August 24, 2006 episode.
  • Know Your IPO: An occasional segment in which Cramer spotlights a stock's upcoming IPO.

[edit] Subtitles

Subtitles are frequently used to underscore some of the "bullet points" in Cramer's presentations. They are also used to explain some of the off-topic, obscure historical, literary, or pop-cultural references he may make. Subtitles are also used for disclosure stocks owned by Cramers charitable trust, ActionAlertsPlus.com, for disclaimers related to any claims made by callers, and to show callers names.

[edit] Lightning Round

The only segment which appears on every Mad Money show is the Lightning Round segment, where viewers call in (on live shows, they stand before a microphone in the audience) and ask Cramer about a specific stock. He claims, however, that he does not know the callers, and that he does not know their stock questions ahead of time. And he also claims that his staff prepares the graphics on the fly. (Information about how to call in is given to callers at 1-800-743-CNBC.)

Cramer's object is to showcase his encyclopedic knowledge of stocks (and his flamboyant personality) by taking as many calls as possible before the Daktronics buzzer goes off, but when it does, Cramer gets upset and may take 1-2 more calls.

Prior to beginning of the segment Cramer will abuse the office chair provided for him by throwing it on top of other "victims" (damaged office chairs), also damaging the studio's wall and glass displays as well. The damage was made apparent by a caller in the Lightning Round on March 1, 2006, which prompted Cramer to throw his chair again at the glass display, causing it to crack even more. Cramer has said that the reason why he throws chairs is because he hates sitting down on the job. He often had to be at his old hedge fund by 4:30 am, and if his employees sat down they would often try to go to sleep, so chairs became "the enemy".

At the start of the segment on March 6, 2006, nearly two-thirds of the glass display on the right side of the set was damaged by Cramer throwing a chair through the display, twice, which showed only the letter "M," the first letter of the word "MAD," as seen on the display. The original glass display on the right side of the set (which was shattered by Cramer throwing the chair through the display) was replaced with a new one on April 12, 2006. These types of chair throws will often be reaired at the end of the round with the narrator saying, "This isn't business as usual".

The segment usually airs at 20 minutes past the hour for approximately 15-18 minutes. Additionally, a new "Overtime" session debuted at the end of The Lightning Round on the March 2, 2006 episode. In conjunction with the buzzer going off, a siren was heard, the "On Air" light flashed repeatedly, and the monitors around the set had Cramer rotating infinitely with lightning and siren images merged into the background, that latter also displayed on the viewer's TV screen at random intervals. Cramer took 5 more calls after this. However, the "Overtime" session was discontinued, starting with the Mad Money 1st Anniversary show on March 14, 2006.

A recent change to the Lightning Round, mostly to add more callers on the segment, started on the March 24, 2006 episode, when Cramer stated that he would no longer throw the chair at the start of the lightning round everyday, reserving it only for select occasions, mostly when he can "justify" throwing it due because of negative events, bad market days, or lies are said about stocks which he could refute (those are usually put on the chair to be thrown).

One of those examples, came on an April 18, 2006 episode, when he threw the chair after he was upset about UnitedHealth, one of the stocks he owns in his charitable trust. Two other examples came on the May 5, 2006 and May 11, 2006 shows, respectively, when he took the toy bears (after a 138-point gain on the Dow) and the toy bulls (after a 142-point loss on the Dow) along for a chair-throwing ride. Eliminating the chair throw usually saves about a minute which is used to add one or two more callers.

On the July 19, 2006 episode of Mad Money, after a 212-point gain on the Dow, a man in a bull costume assisted Cramer in throwing a chair at the start of the Lightning Round.

In mid-August 2006, the original wooden walls on the right side of the Mad Money set, which had holes punctured by Cramer's chair throwing, were replaced with new wooden walls. It also brought the set back to its original luster before Cramer started throwing chairs at the start of the Lightning Round.

[edit] Mad Money sound effects

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Another of the features that make the show stand out are the on-screen graphics and radio-like sound effects that Cramer activates during the show. The effects are activated with a panel of oversized red buttons, with the exception of sounds made after Cramer tosses his book to the floor after a caller mentions it (those sounds are made by the studio crew).

The effects are:

  1. graphics with sounds:
    1. a pair of bellowing bulls
    2. a pair of roaring bears
  2. sounds only:
    1. squealing pigs (a reference to someone holding a stock too long before selling, and missing out on the profits -- or as he says, "Bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs/hogs get slaughtered"--or some reference to a meat company when it is being discussed.)
    2. a screaming man falling out of a window and then crashing on the ground (a stock Cramer considers to be "killing everyone." Cramer sometimes calls this sound a "man out the window.")
    3. a wrecking train (a stock Cramer considers to be a disaster. Cramer calls this sound a "train wreck.")
    4. a train coming to a stop
    5. a National Football League referee calling, "Personal foul. Unsportsmanlike conduct." (unethical behaviour by a company, or a question Cramer does not like, such as a caller trashing a Cramer favorite stock)
    6. an alarm in a diving submarine and the submarine captain commanding, "Dive!"
    7. a train conductor calling, "All aboard!"
    8. a ringing cash register (used when Cramer recommends selling all or part of a caller's current holding)
    9. a buzzing sound (buzzer)
    10. a bomb whizzing while in free fall and then exploding as it crashes
    11. a trumpet playing Call to the Post (a kind of bugle call, a horse racing reference) usually heard at the beginning of The Lightning Round
    12. Cramer uttering, "Sell, sell, sell." (triple sell)
    13. Cramer yelling "Don't buy! Don't buy!" (his line from a cameo in Arrested Development)
    14. a machine gun being fired
    15. a choir singing Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah (used when a caller asks whether to sell or hold on to a stock that has done well).
    16. a bowling ball knocking down pins ("pin action" reference)
    17. a truck beeping while backing up (usually used when he recommends large purchases of a stock, which he refers to as a "'Mon Back")
    18. a hotel reception bell
    19. a toilet flushing
    20. a guillotine's blade falling
    21. a heart monitor flatlining (generally referring to a stock that hasn't done anything, either upwards or downwards)
    22. a crowd cheering with a round of applause (commonly used when a caller's family--especially children--give Cramer a Booyah)
    23. an ominous voice saying "the house of pain" (used when a Cramer or caller's stock pick didn't do as well as hoped)
    24. a stampede (presumably of bulls)
    25. Cramer uttering, "Buy, buy, buy." (triple buy)
    26. a dog barking
    27. howling ghosts (a Halloween reference used to represent a probable disaster of a stock/company or a very risky stock to buy, sell or hold, but especially during Triple Witching Hour)
    28. a baby crying (preferably a girl toddler)
    29. playing of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (American company or "Stars and Stripes" reference)
    30. a jail cell closing, the pun being "sell" block
    31. a sultry-sounding female saying "house of pleasure" (used when a Cramer or caller's stock pick has done well; the opposite of "the house of pain")
    32. a shotgun being cocked, then fired
    33. trumpets playing, ending with a clang of cymbals
    34. a "gong" sound (formerly made by the studio crew)
    35. doorbell #1 ringing ("opportunity knocking" reference)
    36. doorbell #2 ringing (higher pitched sound than doorbell #1)
    37. a crack of a whip
    38. a jackhammer drilling
    39. a crowd booing
    40. a boxer using a punching bag
    41. an electrical shock
  3. sounds heard after Cramer throws his book to the side
    1. a high-pitched voice saying "oh!"
    2. monkeys screaming
    3. a doorbell ringing
    4. an explosion
    5. a man coughing
    6. a car wrecking
    7. tires screeching
    8. a crack of a whip, followed by a horse neighing
    9. an electric guitar playing a note
    10. a spring making a "boing" sound
    11. a "gong" sound (now used and activated by Cramer as shown above)
    12. water being splashed, possibly caused by a diver
    13. a crowd cheering
    14. a squeaking sound
    15. a baseball umpire saying, "strike!"
    16. a banging drum
    17. a man yodeling
    18. a falling tree, with a lumberjack yelling, "timber!"
    19. a rooster making a "cock-a-doodle-doo" sound
    20. people saying, "Cheese!" altogether
    21. a familial "Booyah" (pre-recorded)
  4. Sound heard to signify the end of the Lightning Round
    1. Daktronics BB-2122 buzzer

Sometimes, Cramer will press certain red buttons at once as explained above altogether if he is highly upset about a stock. This has happened many times in the show's run. Also, in the most recent episodes, Cramer has been using a whip, causing the red buttons to activate at once as well.

Also of note: On May 24, 2006, Cramer began using the "Vonage the dog" reference, along with the corresponding "dog barking" sound (which he brought back 2 weeks earlier). On June 20, 2006, Cramer introduced a live dog on the show with a name tag around its neck. The name tag read, "Vonage". Coincidentally, the "Vonage the dog" reference was first used the same day Vonage was the worst-performing IPO of 2006.

[edit] Boo-yah! catch phrase used by Cramer and his listeners

On Tuesday, May 24, 2005, a viewer asked Cramer by e-mail on Mad Money's Mad Mail segment what his boo-yah! catch phrase means, and Cramer replied he himself did not have a clue.

On the next day, Wednesday, May 25, 2005, two viewers e-mailed him on his Mad Money program and said that Cramer's boo-yah! catch phrase is similar to the Booyah registered trademark of the Booyah Bait Company[2] or to the phrase of SportsCenter's Stuart Scott, but Cramer answered that his phrase is not copied from that company nor from Stuart Scott, and that he apologizes for any similarities, since his boo-yah phrase means "Are you ready to make some money?" The phrase was also used in the film White Men Can't Jump, from the convertible after Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson win a pick-up game (1992).

On the August 19, 2005 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Cramer explained the origin of boo-yah: "Here's what happened: A guy calls me on my radio show, and he says ‘You made me a 100 smackers on K-Mart— a hundred points...’ —he's from New Orleans— ‘...and we have one word for that down here and it's boo-yah.’ Then the next guy calls and he says ‘you know you made me a lot of money on [a stock] so: boo-yah!’ And now they all say it. It's not my rap".

The boo-yah has since become a common first greeting phrase of his callers. A popular trend is for callers to have their young children shout boo-yah; Cramer will announce "a familial booyah" and push the "crowd cheering" button. Recently, there has also been callers have their fraternity or sorority friends shout boo-yah; Cramer will also announce "a collegiate/fraternity/sorority booyah" and push the "crowd cheering" button. Another trend on the show is the "stuttering" boo-yah, "b-b-b-b-ooo-yah!"

Cramer has since come up with a new phrase, "Are you ready, skee-daddy? It's the Lightning Round on Jim Cramer's Mad Money!"

Another commonality is for a caller to ask "Hows momma doin'?" to which Cramer replies "Momma doin' fine.

See also Booya.

[edit] Other commentary on Cramer phrases

In June 2005, a viewer explained to Cramer by e-mail the difference between a pig and a hog, which is a domesticated pig, so Cramer changed one of his catch phrases to "Bulls make money. Bears make money. Hogs get slaughtered.".

[edit] Mad Money live broadcasts

Mad Money has featured live broadcasts, the first four in 2005 and 2006, respectively, were referred to as Mad Money Main Event, while the 2006 shows (other than the July 12 edition, which was also referred to as Mad Money Main Event) was referred to as Mad Money Back to School.

[edit] Mad Money Main Events

The first Mad Money Main Event was broadcast on July 20, 2005. Cramer had his show taped in front of a live studio audience of about 150 guests. The show was promoted on CNBC using commercials that showed Cramer locked up in a padded room in a straitjacket and tape over his mouth, as if he was in a mental institution (a reference to Cramer's book, the subtitle of which is "Sane Investing in an Insane World"). The Main Event was introduced by boxing announcer Michael Buffer with his catch phrase "Let's get ready to rumble!". The featured guest on the show was New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (a classmate of Cramer at Harvard Law School). Cramer went into the crowd and gave high fives to audience members who claimed to have had made money by following his stock tips. True to the commercials, it featured a segment titled Am I Nuts?, which had audience members asking Cramer about their stocks. Mad Money was expanded to a special 90 minute edition for this occasion.

Mad Money Main Event II premiered on October 26, 2005. In the commercials, Cramer is now a surgeon instead of a patient, who performs surgery on the crippling economy (in this case, from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, yet there were other factors). While "operating," Cramer proclaims "The bull's alive!" signifying that he was successful. It featured special guest Donald Trump. It ran for only 60 minutes and brought back Am I Nuts? from the first Main Event; this has been the trend for future shows.

Mad Money Main Event III was broadcast on November 30, 2005, and featured Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio. Cramer entered the studio as a surgeon.

Mad Money Main Event IV premiered on January 11, 2006 with guest Les Moonves, CEO of CBS. This episode featured Cramer coming out in the straitjacket.

The fifth Mad Money Main Event show was broadcast on July 12, 2006. Like the second and third Main Event shows, Cramer entered the studio as a surgeon. His featured guest in the fifth edition was Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC Universal.

It is interesting to note that on each of the Main Events thus far, significant stock market activity has coincidentally occurred (e.g. Google reaching a price of 350, which Cramer had predicted, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average attaining a 4-year high.)

[edit] Mad Money Back to School (2006)

The first Mad Money Back to School event was broadcast on February 1, 2006 from Harvard (Cramer's alma mater). Cramer's special guest was Eliot Spitzer, who was a classmate of Cramer's at Harvard Law School. Cramer said that his favorite part of the taping was the question-and-answer session with students; due to the nature of the show, however, this segment was limited to approximately five minutes.

Football players Joey Armao, Stephen Sheehan and Carl Ehrlich assisted Jim in the Lightning Round. Cramer noted the three players were wearing Under Armour gear, and noted the downgrade of the company by a firm. He didn't like the downgrade, and the players assisted him in grabbing the chairs for the signature chair throw. But the players seemed to jump the gun too early, grabbing the chairs before Cramer gave the signal to start the Lightning Round. Once Cramer gave the signal, "Are you ready, skee daddy?", the players gave him a strong "Booyah!" before throwing the chairs to start the signature round.

The commercials promoting the event primarily featured "Britney", a cheerleader obsessed with Cramer (she has multiple copies of Cramer's book – "in case I want to read it more than once" – is smitten by Cramer's picture and bobblehead doll, and ends the commercials with the phrase "give your investments something to cheer about--Booyah!"). On the January 30, 2006 episode (the last live episode before the event, the January 31 episode was a special featuring Cramer's top 10 American industrial stocks), the final Lightning Round caller was identified as "Britney from Colorado"; this was a promo for the upcoming event as the caller was the "Britney" featured on the commercials. The "Back to School" cheerleading campaign was thought up by Creative Director Dan Hoffman, who featured his cousin as the lead cheerleader Britney.

The first Back to School broadcast gave Mad Money its single highest rated episode since it was launched. The 6 p.m. ET airing produced a record 365,000 viewers, while the subsequent 9 p.m. ET and 12 a.m. ET airings gave the program 138,000 and 128,000 viewers respectively.[3]

The second Back to School broadcast originated from the University of Michigan on April 25, 2006. Once again, commercials featuring the aforementioned "Britney" have aired at the beginning of segment breaks. Originally, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was Cramer's second stop on the tour with an air date of March 29, 2006, but this visit was cancelled due to "logistics." Cramer's special guest on the second Back to School broadcast was David Brandon, CEO of Domino's Pizza.

The third Back to School broadcast originated from Columbia University in New York City on May 16, 2006, again promoted by the aforementioned "Britney" commercials. In that episode, a female audience member assisted Jim in throwing a beach chair at the start of the Lightning Round. Cramer's special guests were George David, CEO of United Technologies, and Raymond Milchovich, CEO of Foster Wheeler. This episode was the lowest rated Back to School edition to-date.

The fourth Back to School edition was broadcast from Boston College on September 20, 2006. Once again, it was being promoted by the "Britney" commercials. Cramer's special guest on the fourth Back to School show was Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press.

The fifth Back to School edition was broadcast from Georgetown University in Washington, DC on September 29, 2006, promoted once more by the "Britney" commercials. Georgetown was the final stop for the 2006 leg of the Mad Money Back to School college tour. Cramer's special guest on the fifth Back to School show was NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory.

[edit] Mad Money Back to School (2007)

The Mad Money Back to School college tour resumed with the sixth Back to School broadcast on February 7, 2007. The first stop in the 2007 leg of the tour was at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Cramer's special guest on the sixth edition was Celgene President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Robert J. Hugin.

The second stop in this leg was on March 20, 2007 at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin. Cramer's special guest on the seventh edition was William R. Johnson, President, Chairman, and CEO of H.J. Heinz Co.

The third stop in this leg was on April 4, 2007 at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. The show was actually broadcast from the school's renowned basketball arena, Assembly Hall. Cramer's special guest on the eighth edition was Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and a 1981 Indiana University graduate.

The fourth stop in this year's tour will take place on April 24, 2007 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

[edit] Other special broadcasts

[edit] Mad Money 1st Anniversary Special

On March 14, 2006, the 1st Mad Money Anniversary show occurred. The episode was a mix of answering stock questions with a great number of clips from previous episodes.

The episode aired clips including past chair throws, specials, Herb Greenberg arguments, viewer call-ins, and other forms of media in which Cramer has been shown.

The anniversary special also introduced two new sound button animations, replacing the original bull and bear animations with more animated, cartoonish bulls and bears, but retaining the green and red backgrounds. (Green means up, and red means down on a ticker.) Also, during the Lightning Round, when callers made mention of the book (Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World), they were greeted by 3 dancing girls holding large cardboard cutouts of the front cover.

[edit] Mad Money 2nd Anniversary Special

On March 14, 2007, the 2nd Mad Money Anniversary show occured. The episode looked at highlights from the show's sophomore year, including clips of guests Cramer has interviewed on the show.

[edit] Viewer "Challenges"

Mad Money has promoted two viewer challenges, one in late 2005 and another in early 2006.

[edit] Mad Money Challenge

In October 2005, the Mad Money Challenge was introduced - an online stock trading game where people ('investors') must earn the most money possible by investing in real stocks on the NASDAQ and NYSE. Players received $100,000 in false money to invest in any stock they wanted.

From October to December 20th, 2005, over 40,000 people participated, with the top investor (identified as "Greg from Massachusetts") winning with more than $250,000 and having the opportunity to speak with Cramer live on Mad Money.

As of January 2006, no announcement has been made for a subsequent Challenge.

[edit] Mad Money Booyah Challenge

In this contest (which ended on February 28, 2006), viewers attempted to utter the most creative "Booyah". The two winners were featured in the July 12, 2006 Mad Money Main Event, and assisted Cramer in the chair toss.

[edit] Cameos

In 2005, Cramer appeared as himself in two episodes of the now-defunct FOX TV series Arrested Development, sealing his entry into American pop culture. He appeared to first announce that he had upgraded Bluth Company stock to a "Don't Buy" from a "Triple Sell", and then to say that the stock was not a "Don't Buy" anymore, but a "Risky". Cramer has also appeared on the syndicated morning program Live with Regis and Kelly, offering basic investment advice. He also had a very energetic appearance on a summertime episode of NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien. He also appeared on one of the first episodes of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. And in the spring of 2006, he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, also on NBC (which, like CNBC, is owned by parent company, GE), and on the ABC late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live.

While not "cameos" by definition, Cramer has also made several appearances on NBC's Today to talk about economic issues, such as high fuel prices or globalization. He tones down significantly for those discussions.

Cramer appeared in a 2006 episode of Cheap Seats, a show on ESPN Classic that gives a new perspective on old ESPN sports footage. The Sklar brothers (hosts of the show) asked Cramer to evaluate the NBA prospects of then-college player Marcus Fizer (a la pharmaceutical Pfizer), and Cramer told them to sell their stock in Fizer's NBA career.

[edit] 60 Minutes interview

On November 13, 2005, Dan Rather did a sit-down interview with Cramer on 60 Minutes. Among the topics of discussion were Cramer's past at his fund (including footage of Cramer trading during the 90s at his New York offices), his violent temper while at the fund, and what finally led him to come to his senses and "calm down" (to the extent that Cramer can ever be considered relaxed). Footage of Cramer at his family home with his daughters and wife was also included. On November 15, 2005, Jim mentioned on his program that he received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails after his 60 Minutes interview.

Note that this report was taped before Cramer's radio show, Smart Money with Jim Cramer, moved to WOR and became syndicated under the CBS Radio banner.

[edit] Production

Mad Money is recorded in the new Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio in the Global Headquarters of CNBC, a national cable television network owned by NBC and GE.

The show is recorded occasionally with a live studio audience around 4 p.m. most weekdays for air that night, to be repeated occasionally when a live show is not viable. As the show is being ingested digitally in the Thomson Grass Valley MAN, the show is assembled by the editor and producer to be made into the air product viewers watch Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. (ET). When difficulties arise, the show is occasionally "hot-rolled".

Mad Money is known for standing out visually and audially due to the tremendous talents of the cameramen, particularly the jib cam operator and steadicam operator and the technical director who combines all the elements flawlessly in this crazy frenzy of action; topped off by the brilliant flurry of sound effects, music cuts, and audial variety that this business news show exemplifies, not to mention being a needed addition when listening to CNBC on satellite radio services such as XM and Sirius.

As of March 2007, among the many Mad Money contributors to the making of the television show include many veteran CNBC staffers including production guru Dan Hoffman (responsible for the "Cheerleader" series of "Back to School" advertisements, Main Event Show Open's (Straight Jacket and "the bull is alive" Operating Room) also currently working on Fast Money, which follows a similar format); executive producer Regina Gilgan; producer Rich Flynn, currently at the helm of the program; producer Chris Schwarz, responsible for creating and delivering the final show to air, after creating special Avid Adrenaline edited elements by CNBC Staff Avid Editors such as Darren Kotler, Conrad deVroeg, Nick Stantzos, and Steven Banton, and constructing the show with CNBC Staff Grass Valley NewsEdit Editors Keri Conjura, Vanessa Rowe, and Cosimo Camporeale. Kat Ricker, George Manessis, and the dynamic and energetic Jackie Deangelis are the show's producers; besides compiling all elements needed for air, they help determine the show's editorial direction. Ben Rippey, the show's phone Producer, lines up callers and questions for the first 2 segments and the popular "Am I Diversified" segment. Original music for Mad Money was composed and performed by Willie Wilcox of Willie Wilcox Music.

[edit] Criticism

Jim Cramer has been quoted as saying that Mad Money "is a show that is about education, entertainment and making money."[4] The show features a disclaimer at the start of the program to that effect. As is the case with all sufficiently prolific stock prognosticators, some of Cramer's picks diminish in value.

Notable Cramer picks that went south include Yahoo! (recommended at $38, and $33), Viropharmacutical (recommended at $22), Marchex (recommended at $24), Rambus (recommended at $34), Cendant (which has since reorganized since the recommendation), Capstone Turbine (recommended at $5), as well as dozens of other duds (Cramer most often references Dick's Sporting Goods as an example of a stock dud, as one day after his recommendation the price fell 15% on a weak earnings report).

In April 2006, Jim Cramer featured the soon to be IPO of Sealy (NYSE: ZZ) on Mad Money. Cramer stated that the IPO price was between $14 and $16 but approved paying up to $18 per share. Jim predicted that Sealy shares would reach $20 fairly soon, calling the Sealy IPO the next way to make a "quick, easy, painless 10% gain". To the contrary, Sealy shares peaked at a mere $18.20 and fell below $12 less than three months later to an all time low of $11.64. However, less than a year later the stock regained its value to above its IPO. Nevertheless, Cramer suggested the Sealy IPO to be a trade and not a long term investment.

Thestreet.com, Jim Cramer's financial web-site track his "Mad Money Performance" for the last 6 months. You can type in any ticker symbol that Cramer has mentioned and see the date Cramer mentioned it and its performance since that date. However, the site does not track stocks he recommended that do not trade on American exchange, some of which have done poorly, and inflate the appearance of successful picks. Two examples include Louis Vuitton of France and ATS Automation of Canada.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
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[edit] References

  1. ^ Cramer, James; "Cliff Mason" (2006). "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich". New York: Simon & Schuster, 45. ISBN 978-1-4165-3790-8. 
  2. ^ BOOYAH baits website. Lurenet.com. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.
  3. ^ NBC Universal (2006-02-03). KICKOFF OF CNBC's "MAD MONEY BACK TO SCHOOL TOUR" EARNS BEST RATINGS TO DATE. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  4. ^ Gough, Paul. "'Mad' man adds insight to CNBC money news", The Hollywood Reporter, Nielsen Company, 2006-03-28. Retrieved on March 11, 2007.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links


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