Mad Money is an American finance television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on CNBC on March 16, 2005. Its main focus is investment and speculation, particularly in publicly traded stocks. In a notable departure from the CNBC programming style prior to its arrival, Mad Money presents itself in an entertainment-style format rather than a news broadcasting one.
Cramer defines "mad money" as the money one "can use to invest in stocks ... not retirement money, which you want in 401K or an IRA, a savings account, bonds, or the most conservative of dividend-paying stocks."
Mad Money replaced Dylan Ratigan's Bullseye for the 6 p.m. Eastern Time slot. On January 8, 2007, CNBC began airing reruns of the show at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, on Monday through Friday, and at 4 a.m. Eastern Time, on Saturdays.
Features of the program
Opening
Cramer usually starts off his shows by saying this, or an alternative version of this phrase after the opening credits: "Hey, I'm Cramer, welcome to Mad Money , welcome to Cramerica, other people want to make friends , I just want to make you money, because my job is not just to entertain you, but to educate you, so call me at 1-800-743-CNBC."
Show Medium
Cramer is usually standing up with the fisheye lens Steadicam close to his face, while providing stock picks and investing advice. His voice inflection often changes from calm to shouting. Cramer also throws various objects on the set. Whenever one of his books is mentioned by a caller, he grabs the book, flashes it, and tosses it to the floor as a plug gag. In addition, he has a panel of oversized red buttons, which activate various sound effects. The online version of the show's sound board is available at madmoney.cnbc.com.
He also has small, plastic bulls (and bears) which he has incorporated into his shows. After a large gain in the Dow, Cramer, dressed as a chef, chopped off the heads of the bears with a knife and placed them into a pan with onions and tomatoes. He called it a "bear stir-fry" or a "bear souffle". On February 28, 2006 he put his toy bulls through various kitchen appliances. And on May 17, 2006, after a steep plunge of the Dow, Cramer cooked toy bulls through a rotisserie oven. The studio has also featured Cramer bobblehead dolls which utter phrases such as "Are You Ready Skee-Daddy?"
Also, Cramer has National Football League yellow penalty and red coach's challenge flags that he throws whenever he believes a company has behaved unethically (penalty) or when he questions a stock decision (coach's challenge), respectively. He will also throw the flag when a caller unethically uses the national television audience to promote a stock for self-interest. If a caller rambles on about a stock, Cramer will lie down on the floor of the set with a pillow and blanket and act as if he is going to sleep.
Other props include a box of Uncle Ben's rice, with Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Ben Bernanke's picture, an audio version of Jim Cramer's Real Money , a Louisville Slugger baseball bat, and pink Mad Money pigs.
On the May 19, 2006 episode, Cramer had a monkey named Ka-ching make an appearance on the show. Ka-ching wore a CNBC T-shirt, sat in Cramer's chair, pressed the buttons that made sound effects, and threw the foam bulls around the set.
In October 2006, a customized Daktronics BB-2122 scoreboard was installed, featuring drawings of bulls on the left and bears on the right. The scoreboard usually displays a score from the previous night's sporting events, usually a high profile game, i.e. Monday Night Football, or a score from a general NFL, MLB, game etc...The scoreboard also shows the date, but in the Sudden Death segment, the date turns into a countdown clock to the end of the segment. On the pre-taped shows which are re-run on days Cramer takes vacation, it shows an impossible date, with the digits displayed often representing the phone number to the show. The Daktronics BB-2122 scoreboard is not used during Back to School road shows.
Segments
The general format of the show starts with two segments, where Cramer recommends one or more stocks in a group with his rationale for choosing them. At the end of each segment, Cramer will take one or two calls from viewers with questions about either the stock he recommended, or another stock in the same industry or which the viewer thinks may benefit from the topic discussed.
The third segment is the Lightning Round . Segments four and five will feature either one of the segments listed below or another recommendation. Cramer does not take calls on these later segments except for the Am I Diversified? segment.
According to CNBC's Mad Money website (as of August 2007), Mad Money regularly includes the following segments:
(NOTE: Some of these segments below may be discontinued as of this writing.)
- Lightning Round: See below.
- Game Plan: A Friday segment in which Cramer draws up his game plan to prepare you for the week ahead. He lays out all the plays you will need to make Mad Money when the bell rings on Monday morning.
- Sell Block: A Thursday segment in which Cramer puts the stocks he recommended in past shows in the Sell Block . From stocks that are lost causes or moneymakers, Cramer tells the viewers when it's time to pocket the proceeds and put those stocks in the Sell Block .
- Sudden Death: Seen at the end of most shows, this Booyah-free zone gives viewers one last chance to name their stock and get Cramer's feedback. But this rapid-fire Q&A ends when the clock reaches zero and the show's over. Launched by the phrase, "There goes swifty!", this segment is very similar to the Lightning Round . Cramer will hang up on callers who attempt Booyahs, pleasantries, and the like. This segment was discontinued in 2009.
- Am I Diversified?: A Wednesday segment in which Cramer reviews five stocks in each caller's portfolio and suggests how they might consider enhancing their diversification. This is the only segment, as a rule, where Cramer is sitting in the chair.
- Mad Mail: Cramer answers viewer Emails sent to mailto:madmoney@cnbc.com.
The other segments featured on Mad Money (some of which are no longer current) include the following:
- Pick of the Week: A segment in which Cramer picks a stock which he feels should be bought or at least studied carefully, usually before it is widely known or praised by others.
- Beating the Racket: An occasional feature where Cramer argues "nose to nose" with fellow financial columnist Herb Greenberg (in person or via satellite) in which Greenberg focuses mainly on stocks that could lose money, usually a stock Cramer recommended. This segment has been discontinued.
- Cramer vs Cramer: A segment in which Cramer checks the accuracy of his stock predictions from previous weeks. Seen on Fridays.
- Danger Zone: An occasional feature in which Cramer profiles a stock that he feels does not have sound investment fundamentals but may appear attractive to investors.
- The Week That Was: A video montage featuring various moments from the current week, aired at the end of the program in place of the Sudden Death segment on Fridays.
- Pimpin' All Over The World: A segment (not actually using this title, but Cramer will reference the song by Ludacris of the same name) where Cramer profiles a potential play in an international market. Usually the play is not a direct investment—Cramer considers many of those to be too dangerous due to lack of accurate financial insight, especially in emerging stock markets—but a derivative, often another foreign company with ADR's traded on the American markets with significant investments in the emerging market, though in some cases Cramer will advise against the ADR's (if they trade on the pink sheets, which Cramer believes do not have significant volume to generate profits) and recommend actually buying the stock in the foreign exchange.
- Stump The Cramer: A segment in which callers name a stock they believe Cramer does not know anything about; if successful, the caller receives an autographed copy of one of his most recent books. This segment has been discontinued.
- Am I Nuts?: A feature which premiered on the first Main Event special in which Cramer "evaluates a patient" (from the live audience) to figure out, just as the segment's namesake, if the person is nuts in owning a certain stock, and then gives them a "prescription." This segment is considered to be a Main Event exclus
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