Cramer's Star Outshines His Stock Picks - This week's Barrons

An interesting tidbit that really caught my attention:

The recent performance of Mad Money's stocks resembles past periods in another striking way. Our research reveals that the stocks Cramer picks as Buys have been rising versus the market for several days in advance of his show, while his Sells have been falling. This doesn't prove there is a leak in the tight security surrounding CNBC's show. It could merely mean that Cramer and his staff are heavy-footed in their research. Or it could mean that his stocks are primarily momentum plays. That is the network's explanation. "Jim likes to recommend 'what is working'," said CNBC communications vice president Brian Steel in a written response Friday. "So it is no surprise there would be movement in these stocks prior to Jim mentioning them."

I have been noticing this since 2005. I run scans for stocks rising with an increase in volume, and I notice that when I research them on the internet, they often have new coverage from Cramer's website.

The implication by Barron's here is that there is a "leak", which they carefully point out they are not accusing anyone of. I honestly don't think there is a leak either, I think that Cramer and his staff are looking for stocks just like myself and many other stock pickers do, ones that have an increase in trading activity. I really think that since Cramer left the hedge fund industry he is out of the loop. I would be willing to bet that the people he used to rely on for info back in his trading days probably don't even return his phone calls anymore.
 
If you are a part of the media in any form, a tv host like Cramer, or a book author or a radio host, you do not want to get on the bad side of Barron's. Back in the 60's Nicolas Darvas wrote his second book called, "Wall Street, the Other Las Vegas". Barron's refused to allow the publisher any advertising space because Darvas was accusing brokers and exchange members of shenanigans. Hence, his second book was a flop compared to his first.

Back in the 90's there was a group of people who kept track of the Barron's Roundtable stock picks and they published their study showing that the Roundtable sucked, much like Barron's is doing to Cramer now. However, Barron's struck back at them saying that they skewed the data to make them look bad. Back then the digital information age was just getting underway and print media was still the dominant force. Barron's got the last word back then and the study was dismissed as bunk.

However, as we continue moving forward in the digital information age, Barron's will become less significant.
 
There is no bigger fade than Barrons. I just cant imagine them having the audacity to point fingers. Insanity.
 
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