Confessions of a Street Addict

Submitted by Book Library on 8 July, 2010 - 12:59

In the most candid look at Wall Street since Liar's Poker, James J. Cramer, cofounder of TheStreet.com, radio and television commentator, and for years one of Wall Street's premier money managers, takes readers on a no-holds-barred tour of life on Wall Street-revealing how the game is played, who breaks the rules, and who gets hurt.

Everyone on Wall Street knows Jim Cramer, and Cramer knows Wall Street better than anyone. For fifteen years he ran Cramer, Berkowitz, one of the Street's most successful hedge funds with a compounded annual return of 24% after all fees. In Confessions of a Street Addict he takes us from his fascination with the stock market as a middle-class kid in the Philadelphia suburbs to Harvard, where he began managing money. After an apprenticeship at Goldman, Sachs, Cramer set out on his own with his wife, Karen, the "Trading Goddess," as his partner. Cramer brilliantly describes the life of a money manager the frenetic pace, the constant pressure to outperform the market and other fund managers, and the shark-like attacks fund managers make as they circle a fund perceived to be in trouble.

At the same time that he was managing money, Cramer was one of the best-known commentators on the financial markets. A former president of the Harvard Crimson, Cramer had been a newspaper reporter before he began managing money. While he was a fund manager, he wrote for Smart Money and other publications, making him one of the first money managers to offer insight and analysis from inside the world of finance.

With the rise of the Internet and online publishing, he co-founded TheStreet.com, the online financial Web site. In one of the most fascinating chapters in this book, Cramer takes us inside the IPO of TheStreet.com, where he found himself a knowledgeable but helpless onlooker as his own Web site came on the market at an unrealistically high price that it never reached again, a harbinger of the dot-com disasters that would soon haunt the stock market. Throughout the book Cramer is characteristically outspoken, outrageous, and candid about everyone, himself included. There has never been a high-wired, high-octane book about Wall Street like this one.

Positive Review of Book

I recommend reading this book, even if you don't like the stock market or investing. I could hardly put it down once I started to read it. Jim Cramer is not only an exciting individual, but he has tremendous writing skill. You will be amazed at how much fun you will have reading this book, because every line you read causes you to crave the next and the next and the next.

If you desire to see inside the mind of someone on Wall Street this is your opportunity. At times you will envy him, at other times you will despise him, but in the end you will walk away with a deep respect for him. Even if you disagree with his total workaholic mentality, his work ethic will astonish you. He is one of the truly interesting people in the financial world and he has given you the guided tour of his life.

Personally I look forward each day to Real Money on the radio and Kudlow and Cramer on CNBC each night, so this book was a logical next step in understanding the Markets and the people who move them. Don't miss this one or you will regret it.

Negative Review of Book

I purchased this book because I have a keen interest in trading, having managed money for several years now. Although this book has some good points, as a whole it is not reflective of the mind or life of a trader. It seems to be more of an autobiography and not a very attractive one. I would urge others to stick with Schwager or Neiderhoffer. Or if you are particularly bearish, try James Grant.

Author Biography

James Cramer (born February 10, 1955)[1][2][3] is an American television personality, a former hedge fund manager, and a best-selling author. Cramer is the host of CNBC's Mad Money and a co-founder and Chairman of TheStreet.com.

Table of Contents

  1. Early Years
  2. Goldman
  3. Money Man
  4. Building a Hedge Fund
  5. SmartMoney
  6. The Birth of TheStreet.com
  7. Dow Jones Again
  8. Desai
  9. The Man with Two Careers
  10. Media Man
  11. Cendant
  12. Berkowitz
  13. The Hiring of Kevin English
  14. Crisis in 1998: Part One
  15. Crisis in 1998: Part Two
  16. Crisis in 1998: The Trading Goddess Returns
  17. Inside the IPO: Part One
  18. Inside the IPO: Part Two
  19. Media Madness
  20. Taking Back TheStreet.com
  21. Repositioning Cramer Berkowitz
  22. Getting Out
  23. Confessions of an Ex-Street Addict

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