Cramer comes to Praise "The Fleck"
Of Herb and Homework
By James J. Cramer
5/4/00 1:00 PM ET
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Herb Greenberg nailed Dell (DELL:Nasdaq - news - boards) today. Crushed it like a bug on a windshield. He used crackerjack prognostication from Bill Fleckenstein.
There was only one problem in the piece: He felt compelled to defend why he quoted Bill Fleckenstein, so that the angry emailers wouldn't bother him.
Oh my. What a crime.
I have been opposite Bill Fleckenstein on television probably more than any other person. I have opposed him on everything from Crossfire to Fox to CNBC. And every time I learn from him.
OK, maybe he and I disagree about the direction of stock prices. BUT I HAVE ALWAYS LEARNED THE TRUTH FROM THIS BRAVE SOUL ABOUT IMPORTANT ISSUES LIKE P.C. DEMAND AND SEMICONDUCTOR DEMAND.
Fleck is all about homework. He makes millions of calls. He does a massive amount of research. Sure, he can be wrong at times; so can I. But he is right about these larger issues far more than he is wrong.
At our morning meeting, I mentioned the Greenberg flag of Dell. I said that I thought Herb would nail it for a couple. Nobody said, "Oh that? Just Fleckenstein." They did say, "Yeah, Fleck sounds like he has a handle on the next Q."
Instead of emailing Herb hate mail about these things, why not thank him for giving you the flag? Why not be proud that he is part of our fold instead of being part of some newspaper somewhere that you might not get a chance to read until it is too late? Why not be glad, in these tougher times, that Herb is out there telling you some of the bad stuff. The brokers aren't going to give you much of that. THEY NEED THE MARKET HIGHER.
Herb doesn't. He could care less.
As I have often said about Herb in the last 15 years, particularly during these bear phases: Hate him or love him, but if you don't read him, you are trading blind. If he goes to the Fleck well, it's because he thinks Fleck can make you some money. That's enough for me. |
