"The Perfect Storm"

I keep hearing that term: "The Perfect Storm". On TV, the pundits keep saying that--it's because of Friday's high unemployment number combined with the $10 move in the price of oil. I hate most of the financial shows on TV. "Fast Money" is the only one worth watching, in my opinion. Real traders talking about the market, not broadcasters, reporters, or television personalities (except for Dylan Ratigan, of course--he doesn't bring much to the table.)

Jim Cramer's book, Real Money, is outstanding. Other than that, I've found him difficult to follow. His two most recent books have been disappointing. He's more of a celebrity than an ex-hedge fund trader these days. His TV show, which I watched religiously for about two years, is now a waste of time in my opinion. Too much useless information to filter out in order to get at the good stuff. I've discovered many of my winners by watching his show in the past (Chipotle & Transocean along with ones I didn't buy, but he was right about, like all the agriculture stocks and First Solar). But he tries to do too much and doesn't realize that you can't be an expert at everything, although he tries. Plus, he's an ex-hedge fund trader who is trying to re-invent himself as an investor of the people--a long term guy. He can't do it. I subscribed to his "Acton Alerts Plus" charity stock portfolio and it's generally pretty awful. Cramer seems to want to be in conservative, "blue chip" stocks that either do nothing or get creamed. In addition, he is way too loyal to his "friends", despite proclaiming the opposite on his show. Sears, New York Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs: all owned or run by friends of Cramer and all recent losers (I've owned and lost money on them all). Yet he is a good stock picker in other cases and doesn't ever put his money where his mouth is when it comes to growth stocks. It doesn't make any sense.

I've learned a lot from Cramer's book and I learn a little from "Fast Money" at times. But I realize that you aren't going to get much out of financial television. Especially when it comes to predictions. Like Ken Heebner said in a recent interview, it's better to have real information. Predictions are useless.