CNBC celebrity stock picker Jim Cramer has an affinity for making over-the-top statements. While guest hosting CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” March 24, he turned his critical sights from policy makers and corporate CEOs to the American public.
“The American public don’t know jack,” Cramer said in response to public discontent with the government’s $29 billion contribution to the bailout of investment bank Bear Stearns. “They’re just glad they’re just not going to lose their job. I mean, this thing was so out of control. Everybody on Wall Street thought they were going to lose their jobs 10 days ago. We’re thrilled.”
The federal government is putting up [1]$29 billion at a 2.5-percent discount rate so JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: [2]JPM) can take over Bear Stearns (NYSE: [3]BSC). Cramer called it “small change.”
Cramer said Americans “don’t know jack” when CNBC correspondent Michelle Caruso Cabrera asked him to explain how he would justify the bailout to Americans who are awaiting economic stimulus checks for only $300. Cramer replied as if the state of the entire American job market hinged on how the fall of Bear Stearns was handled by the federal government.
Although Cramer claimed 10 days ago everyone on Wall Street was worried about losing their jobs, just 13 days ago, on March 11, Cramer said on his “Mad Money” show that [4]Bear Stearns was not in trouble. That proved to be incorrect on March 17 when it was announced JP Morgan Chase was going to take over Bear Stearns for $2 a share. On March 24, JP Morgan Chase [5]revised its offer to $10 a share.
Cramer often appears on NBC’s “Nightly News” and “Today” to give viewers insight on the American economy. Although Cramer does not hold an economics degree, he holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and worked as a trader for Goldman Sachs (NYSE: [6]GS).
Cramer admitted on CNN’s March 23 “Reliable Sources” that [7]his March 11 assertion that Bear Stearns wasn’t in trouble was wrong.