cramer is feeling the heat. he has had a bad month with a long string of blowups. bol,mo,unh,pwav,ceph.
Painful Blowups Come -- and Go
By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist
4/11/2006 2:36 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Jim Cramer
Pain! Pain everywhere. I am no stranger to it, I am no stranger to the catcalls and the aggravated people who are upset with the market. You bought Ciena (CIEN:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) at $5.50, you are plenty angry. You bought Bausch & Lomb (BOL:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) 20 points ago, you are livid. Heck, you bought UnitedHealth Group (UNH:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) at $60 and change.
I must be an idiot!
Wait a second. Let's understand some things. The market's undergoing a correction. People are scared about Iran, scared that oil is going to $80, scared the Democrats are going to take over Congress -- big health care worry. I have had a few untimely blowups, as if there is such a thing as a timely blowup.
I guess if this had never happened to me before, I would be sweating it. But you know what? In 1998, I was down $98 million for the year in October. $98 million. Talk about an idiot! You had to short me, right? I heard the catcalls big-time -- I even had David Faber call me and ask if I was going belly-up. I had people saying that I was a war criminal, for heaven's sake. (If you want to hear more about this, click here to watch the free video of my interview with James Altucher.)
It was a bad bet to short me. I finished up for the year, a couple of percentage points up. Not good, but not disastrous.
Whenever I read the catcallers -- and I read all my emails and blog comments -- I think about that much more dire period, when everybody was calling for my head and people thought I would never ever pick another good stock again. You know what? I did.
I don't thrive on the tough talkers anymore. No bravado. But I can't pay too much attention to them because I know the game, I know that there are hot and cold streaks, I know that you can't really game a fungus problem that didn't exist three weeks ago and I know that the people who are unhappy with me aren't ever really going to be happy with me.
So be it.
All I can say is that I guess I have seen it all. I have felt the disasters and the pain. This feels like all the other disasters and pain.
Nothing better, and definitely not worse.
I used to say, "Come bet against me." Now I don't even care. Just do what you have to do to go make money, whether it is with me or without me.
But remember, these things come and go. And they have now come.
They will go. Again.
At the time of publication, Cramer was long Bausch & Lomb.
Painful Blowups Come -- and Go
By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist
4/11/2006 2:36 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Jim Cramer
Pain! Pain everywhere. I am no stranger to it, I am no stranger to the catcalls and the aggravated people who are upset with the market. You bought Ciena (CIEN:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) at $5.50, you are plenty angry. You bought Bausch & Lomb (BOL:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) 20 points ago, you are livid. Heck, you bought UnitedHealth Group (UNH:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) at $60 and change.
I must be an idiot!
Wait a second. Let's understand some things. The market's undergoing a correction. People are scared about Iran, scared that oil is going to $80, scared the Democrats are going to take over Congress -- big health care worry. I have had a few untimely blowups, as if there is such a thing as a timely blowup.
I guess if this had never happened to me before, I would be sweating it. But you know what? In 1998, I was down $98 million for the year in October. $98 million. Talk about an idiot! You had to short me, right? I heard the catcalls big-time -- I even had David Faber call me and ask if I was going belly-up. I had people saying that I was a war criminal, for heaven's sake. (If you want to hear more about this, click here to watch the free video of my interview with James Altucher.)
It was a bad bet to short me. I finished up for the year, a couple of percentage points up. Not good, but not disastrous.
Whenever I read the catcallers -- and I read all my emails and blog comments -- I think about that much more dire period, when everybody was calling for my head and people thought I would never ever pick another good stock again. You know what? I did.
I don't thrive on the tough talkers anymore. No bravado. But I can't pay too much attention to them because I know the game, I know that there are hot and cold streaks, I know that you can't really game a fungus problem that didn't exist three weeks ago and I know that the people who are unhappy with me aren't ever really going to be happy with me.
So be it.
All I can say is that I guess I have seen it all. I have felt the disasters and the pain. This feels like all the other disasters and pain.
Nothing better, and definitely not worse.
I used to say, "Come bet against me." Now I don't even care. Just do what you have to do to go make money, whether it is with me or without me.
But remember, these things come and go. And they have now come.
They will go. Again.
At the time of publication, Cramer was long Bausch & Lomb.

