Jim Cramer has a thing about Jon Stewart, and other revelations

Still, I found Cramer sorta endearing.
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Of course he's endearing, he's a showman. I don't think he'd have gotten where he is today if he wasn't capable of both being likable, being able to listen to at least some criticism, and putting on a convincing persona. But people have a bad habit of confusing experts with entertainers (or talking heads). This isn't to say showmen can't be experts, but so many put on the act of being an expert so well, we almost want to believe they are the expert they pretend to be.
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-MBirchmeier

But who is an expert? The guys at Fidelity with my Fidelity Freedom 2030 mutual fund absolutely stink!!!! Why aren't they pilloried by Stewart, or Time, or other so called guardians of the people's money. When it comes down to it, Jim Cramer is the very, very LEAST of our problems.

@rrsafety: Here's some mutual-fund-bashing for you (but it is old, and I ought to revisit the subject):
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/01/20/335617/index.htm

Thanks Justin, great article. I had not known the history of Vanguard/Wellington, very interesting.

I think revisiting the subject is a great idea. I consider myself a pretty straight thinking fellow and "try to do the right thing" with my money. I have been investing for retirement in a buy-and-hold manner, over many decades, in a diversified portfolio that gets more conservative as I approach retirement. I understand that through a Fidelity Freedom Fund I pay more than I would if I did this investing myself using index funds, but part of what I'm willing to pay for is a professional to keep the fund diversified and age-appropriately balanced while picking generally the right stocks at the right time. A similar approach is done with the 529 plan I use for college savings.

But the more I look at this issue personally (and in articles) it seems that these types of "responsible fund of funds" 1) Can't pick stocks, 2)Aren't well diversified, and 3) Aren't necessarily age appropriate - especially for the college savers.

The Johnsons of Fidelity are worth billions, and yet, have they ever actually done anything of value for the average investor over time?

Kramer doesn't get it. The minute he said to Jon Stewart that he recommended stock because the CEOs were friends of his and they came on his show and said everything was all right, that's when he admitted to the world that he is not an "Analyst", nor is he an "Expert". He didn't analyze or research anything. He's a talk show host, the stock equivalent of Oprah. Only if I buy a book recommended by Oprah, I'm not out thousands of dollars.

He should quit now.