a little birdie flew bye and whispered in my ear that you got pumped in the QQQ's, don't you think before you buy?:
Wrong! Dispatches from the Front
Super-Size Those QQQs, Will Ya?
By James J. Cramer
12/20/00 1:20 PM ET
URL: thestreet.com
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How much money has to be lost speculating on the QQQs (QQQ:NYSE) before we recognize that maybe this "investment" isn't as good as picking some safe stocks?
People love the QQQs. They are, like my old wise boss at Goldman Sachs used to say about the OEX, like "popcorn." You can't eat enough or have enough of them. Tastes great, less filling.
To me, the QQQs are almost the devil's work. They are so seductively easy to buy that I think they are almost entrapment vehicles; they entice you to part with your money. I had some fellow in here today who worked as an assistant at a hedge fund that blew up, and I knew it was the QQQs, the hedge fund equivalent of heroin, that did it. He didn't even have to tell me.
(Oh, and you folks who can't resist irony, go right now and buy QQQs because Cramer's blasting them, as if that is really some sort of investment philosophy, after all we have been through together.)
When the era is written, I think we will look back and be embarrassed at how EASY we made investing, whether it is folioFN, the thing that SEC ex-Commish Steve Wallman put on the map, or QQQs or the instant account that gets you a trip to Hawaii for $500. Or the idea that we should jam stocks into Social Security. It should not be easy to buy a stock. It should be hard. It should not be easy to buy an index. It should be hard. As hard as buying a car or at least a DVD player. We got to the point that we would Ask Jeeves and Simon and aBuzz (???!!) whether we should get long, like it was a good restaurant below 14th Street or something.
The QQQs are the fastest of foods. Sometimes this year I think we used about as much judgment buying them as we would choosing a Quarter Pounder with Cheese versus a No. 4 Value Meal with Supersized Fries. No, check that. I have debated sometimes for hours, mentally, whether to get the No. 4.
If it is so easy to buy, ask yourself, is a car as easy to buy? Or a television? Mull it over more. Debate it more. And then, maybe go buy a good stock instead. You won't regret it.
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James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his fund had no positions in any stocks mentioned. His fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns, both before and after the columns are published, and the positions that his fund takes may change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at James J. Cramer .
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