Michael Delaney

Must Settle - Cramer's Stop Trading! (10/20/08)

Some people cannot stand to watch Jim Cramer (my wife) and some people find him highly entertaining (me). The solution to this problem in my house is that I watch him upstairs and my wife watches something else downstairs and everyone is happy.

If you buy some stock based on a recommendation from JC and you lose money on that stock, is it JC's fault? Of course not. Not any more than if you lost money on a stock S&P had given 5 stars. Or lost money on a stock from Goldman Sachs conviction list. In the end, if you decided to buy it, you have to take responsibility for the purchase.

The smart move would have been to bail out of everything when it was down 10% and sit in cash while you watch all the angst from the sidelines for the past six weeks. And don't buy back in until things start to get better. But I am only playing with mad money, so I stayed in the market. Jim's show is about buying and selling stocks. It would not be very entertaining if the last 30 shows were just him telling you to stay in cash. Where would the fun be in that? So in a bear market, listen to Jim for ideas, but don't buy until things turn around unless you can handle some pain.