Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s "Mad Money" for an astonishing 18 seasons, has served as the receiving end of many jokes.
His stock-picking record — despite the on-air shouts, blurts, and high-octane isms — has remained close enough to market averages to avoid being laughed out of town, and off his show.
Recently, a Twitter account was born that is aptly named "Inverse Cramer ETF." It has over 25,000 followers and this description: “Tracking the stock recommendations of Jim Cramer so you can do the opposite.”
A Brief History of Cramer: Cramer graduated from Harvard with a law degree, but he did not practice law. Instead, in 1984 he got a job with Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). Shortly after in 1987, Cramer left to start his own hedge fund called Cramer Levy Partners. For seven consecutive years, Cramer's firm beat the S&P. Yet, by the end of the 1990s, the money had gone mad.
In August 1998, the firm lost 21% in just one month. For the year, it was down by 16%. In 2001, Cramer retired from the fund, and finally, in March 2005 Cramer recorded the inaugural episode of "Mad Money. "
It’s difficult to figure out exactly how many stocks Cramer has talked about through his journey as the host of "Mad Money," but it’s likely in the thousands. Like most financial pundits, Cramer has made wrong calls. We’re going to look at a few of them here:
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) Cramer urged listeners to dump HPE stock in 2012, citing "broken corporate culture," within six months of his sell notice, HPE ripped 110%.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Cramer pounded the table with a sell notice on Netflix on Nov. 2, 2012 before it moved 174.49% higher within six months of the call.
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) On Nov. 20, 2012 Cramer voiced an exit notice on Best Buy. Within six months of the call, Best Buy was up 124.64%.
Kohl’s Corp (NYSE:KSS) Cramer set a Buy rating on Apr. 7 2015. Wthin six months, Kohl’s shares were trading 41.11% lower.
Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO) Cramer set a Buy rating on Apr. 7 2015, and within six months Qorvo shares were trading 37.8% lower.
