This is a great question and here are my reasons for why he should be held accountable.
Jim Cramer bills himself as a sophisticated former money manager with a proven track record and extensive financial knowledge. He works for NBC on a financial news network where it is generally assumed among layman that the news is to be reported fair and accurately.
There are many persons out there that are simply not knowledgable of the financial system or how Wall Street really operates. They turn to these "experts" on the financial news networks because that is the only resource they have available to themselves.
Its true that we all have the option to turn on or off Jim Cramer. We dont have to listen to him. However, Jim misrepresents himself and some of his actions are definately suspect.
Simply put, if I established a backroom call center and solicited retirees to invest into faulty stocks, would you say that is illegal? Definately and such operations have been shut-down by the SEC.
What is the difference between a backroom boiler operation and Jim Cramer? Jim is obviously trying to get people into certain stocks and someone is making a profit. There is sometimes mysterious unexplained volume right before the show.
Yes, everyone has a choice to listen or not to listen, but its also not right if someone is misrepresenting themselves for financial gain to persons who may not be knowledgable. I would call that fraud.
Quote from HolyGrail:
Why does he need to be held accountable? It is YOUR choice to follow any recommendation. He doesn't have control over your account.