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Jim Cramer just laid out his playbook for the rest of 2026 — five themes, 13 stocks — and right on cue, the internet lit up to mock him. (1)

It always does. A few years back, someone even launched an exchange-traded fund built to do the opposite of whatever the “Mad Money” host said. (2)

I thought it was one of the dumbest ideas I’d ever heard. The market agreed. The fund was shut down and liquidated less than a year after it opened. (2)

I’ve watched “Mad Money” for more than a decade, and made millions in the market over my career. One of my best trades came straight off Cramer’s signature call on Nvidia — “own it, don’t trade it.” (3) I put about $10,000 into it during the pandemic.

Last year I sold half for a $115,000 profit and let the rest ride — that half is worth around $220,000 today. Which is another thing Cramer preaches: take some profits, then play with the house’s money.

So when I see the pile-on, I don’t see a clown. I see a guy whose best advice most people are too busy mocking to follow.

Is he never wrong? Of course not. Nobody bats 1,000 — and research shows the average investor underperforms the very funds they own, mostly by buying and selling at the wrong time. (4)

That’s the whole point. Here are five things Cramer’s critics get wrong.

1. His best call was never a stock — it was “own it, don’t trade it”

People want Cramer to hand them a ticker that triples. But his most valuable advice isn’t a pick. It’s a temperament.

“Own it, don’t trade it” is how I held Nvidia through every scary headline instead of bailing at the first 20% drop. (3) The hard part was never buying a good company. It’s sitting still while your gut screams at you to sell.

Apple taught me the same lesson years earlier. I bought it before I ever watched Cramer, held on through every scare, and it turned a $1,700 investment into a roughly $800,000 gain. Same principle: pick something great, then get out of your own way.

Of course, Cramer doesn’t know everything, and I don’t follow his lead without doing additional research of my own. If you don’t have the time or patience to do likewise, why not get another set of expert eyes to help?

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2. They cherry-pick the misses and skip the wins

Every Cramer flub gets a highlight reel. His good calls vanish down the memory hole. That’s not analysis — it’s confirmation bias with a YouTube channel.

Nobody clips the times he told you to own the best companies and stay put. I own Cramer faves Microsoft, Google, Lilly and Meta — together they’ve made me hundreds of thousands.

A fair scorecard keeps both columns; most critics keep only one.

Important: I’ve owned the stocks mentioned in this article for years. They are not recommendations in any way, shape or form. Nor am I personally endorsing  Jim Cramer. In other words, this isn’t advice: just my observations.

One thing before we keep going — the financial world is louder and dumber than ever. Hot takes everywhere. Almost none of it is worth your time. I’ve spent 35+ years cutting through the noise so you don’t have to. Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter — 10 seconds, no spam, just the stuff that matters.

3. The “inverse Cramer” trade is a lot harder than it looks

Betting against him sounds clever until you try it with real money. The fund that did exactly that couldn’t survive a year. (2)

It’s true, however, that a separate app that fades his picks claimed to beat the market in 2025, so the debate isn’t fully settled. (5) But “do the opposite of this guy” has never been the free lunch the mockers pretend it is.

4. Following anyone blindly — Cramer included — is the real mistake

Here’s where I part ways with the superfans. The goal was never to outsource your brain to a TV host. Cramer himself tells you to do your homework.

The people who get hurt aren’t the ones who listen to Cramer. They’re the ones who chase any hot tip with money they can’t afford to tie up — and have no cash ready when real opportunities show up.

When the market finally goes on sale, that’s the money you buy with. Always keep some powder dry.

5. The noise is the enemy — not the man

The real threat to your returns isn’t Jim Cramer. It’s the fire-hose of hot takes pushing you to buy at the top and sell at the bottom.

The antidote is boring. Own good things, don’t bet everything on any one of them, and tune out the screaming. Most of the stocks I have I’ve owned for many years…decades in some cases.

And remember to hedge your stock positions. For example, I’ve also owned gold for years, a hedge that’s paid off handsomely this year. A Gold IRA lets you roll retirement money into physical gold with the same tax treatment as a traditional IRA (minimum investment $15,000).

Precious metals carry their own risks, including price swings. But diversification isn’t just a good idea. It’s a necessity.

The bottom line

I made a small fortune off Cramer suggestions, but I still won’t tell you to follow him — or anyone — with your eyes closed. Watch, learn, think, then decide. That’s the job.

The people who built a business betting against him are gone. The ones who quietly learned “own it, don’t trade it” are still here, still compounding.

Sources: Yahoo Finance (1); Yahoo Finance (2); Yahoo Finance (3); Morningstar (4); Yahoo Finance (5).