I'm not comparing Cramer to Soros, just really pointing out that all managers can have a bad year. Soros has had them including last year, so have the others I've mentioned. No one demands some sort of explaination from the others, even many of the crapy managers out there. Don't see any boards bashing Buffet for underperforming last year, nor one for Mark Mobius, nor Barton Biggs. The later two lost BIG money recently. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Cramer's 5 year numbers were close to Soros', and probably for less risk which is more important. Even if Cramer's performance is only just above average, why hold him to a higher standard than most???
It's gotten to the point on this thread that people who like theStreet.com can't come here to chat about the site or Cramer or whatever with out having to put up with cheap shots from pricks like you guys. Yes, Cramer's performance IS worthy of some different, different from the standard guys like you are holding him to. He should get the same respect as anyone else with his long-term performance numbers. And in reality, no fund manager needs to explain his performance, good or bad, to you or anyone else EXCEPT his shareholders. The fact that Cramer's come clean even if he only talks about some bad trades or did it after it hit the press does put him in a different class. Who in his right mind would NOT have "preferred that his returns had not been made public." Judging from the crap the guy has to take from people like you, it's amazing he continues to maintain any public presence at all.
I didn't buy Hayes, Fairchild, or those crummy regional banks. Nor did I short the market and stay in cash at its bottom like Cramer did in the fall of '98. 'Nuff said?
But did you make even close to as much money as he has the last 5 years? Just because he made some big mistakes over the course of a year in which many others did too doesn't mean jack. Do you manage a fund? If not, then whatever you did vs. Cramer doesn't matter. He's managing money and sees the markets from a totally different perspective than you would. If I had bought only AOL, CSCO, YHOO and a few others, I could have (and actually I did) beat him by far too. Doesn't mean he's an idiot and you're a hot shot!!! A chimp could buy those stocks an make money. But, as a money manager, he's paid to manage risk just as much as he's paid to perform $$$ wise. You just don't seem to get that. Hedge fund investors want to be able to sleep at night and generate LONG-TERM returns. Anyone leaving the fund because of one bad year shouldn't have been there to begin with. |
