Jim Cramer's Real Money by Jim Cramer, Robert Bender (2005, Hardcover)

Everyone interested in the stock market knows who Jim Cramer is. He's that guy who yells on TV, throws his chair and rips off the heads of foam bulls. Kind of like how Ozzy got famous for biting off the heads of bats (hey, he needed rabies shots that one time). If that's what you think Cramer is about, then you really need to read this book.

First thing, this guy is incredibly smart. In this book he does an excellent job of passing on his knowledge and the trading strategies that made him money in the hedge fund business. He doesn't repeat the same stock market aphorisms that most investing books throw around. His ideas are original and practical.

Most people think he's all about speculation. That's just not true. He starts off with his own brand of asset allocation; 4 high quality stocks and one speculative stock per portfolio. He then goes into an easy to understand discussion about what he means by "buy and homework". He may scream that on TV, but to understand it, you need to read it here.

On page 115 he gives, arguably, the most valuable chart in stock market investing. It's the "Cyclical Investing and Trading" chart that tells you what types of stocks to buy depending on where we are in the the economic cycle and what the federal reserve is doing. You just can't get this kind of information anywhere else. Go to a book store and pull the book off the shelf - look at that page for a while - you'll see what I mean.

Another feature of this book are his rules of trading. All very good and while you may have heard of some of them, maybe even came up with some on your own, it's best to have them in front of you in plain English when you're trying to make a buy/sell decision. If you go back and look at all of your unsuccessful trades, I guarantee that you'll find you violated one of his rules.

Ok, so what about negatives with this book. It's a bit disorganized and disjointed. Some parts need to be read several times before they are fully understood. As you read it, you may find that he leaves you hanging in some spots. Don't worry, as you read on, he will finish what he started, just not in the order that you expect.