Jim Cramer's personal stats
- Age: Born on Feb. 10, 1955
- Source of wealth: Former hedge fund founder and manager, author, and television personality
- Marital status: Married
- Residence: Summit, NJ
- Children: Two daughters, one stepdaughter, and one stepson
- Education: Bachelor's degree in government from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor (law) degree from Harvard Law School
Jim Cramer's investment approach
Cramer's investment approach follows opportunity. Whether the market's up or down, he believes there's opportunity somewhere and it's the investor's responsibility to find it. In a bear market, that opportunity could be hiding in a less prominent industry or in a different asset class, such as bonds or cryptocurrency.
Admittedly, being opportunistic is an open-ended strategy that is not easy to teach or implement. Fortunately, Cramer also promotes some specific investing rules to guide his followers and fans.
1. Do your homework
Cramer recommends investors devote sufficient time to researching stocks, both before and after buying them. For pre-buying research, he stresses the importance of learning the business model, understanding the financial statements, appreciating the product value, and researching the leadership team.
After buying a stock, Cramer recommends shareholders spend an hour researching each stock they own. Instead of "buy and hold," he recommends "buy and homework." Those who can't or won't put in the time may be better suited for lower-maintenance index funds.
2. Diversify across sectors
To Cramer, diversification is easy and obvious protection against sector weakness. After all, the investment community is fickle -- one bad news event can bring down an entire industry. When that happens, being diversified protects you from feeling the full force of the downturn.
