;)

I'm obviously parahprasing here, but Cramer's overall philsophy has always semeed to be that long-term, the stock market is a great place to have your money and isn't nearly as "risky" as most people think.

What he said was that for any amount of assets where your window is five years or less, to take it all out. But that doesn't mean to sell ALL of your investments, because presumably, most people have a lot of investments with a longer horizon than that.

Wow, he admits to selling or doing business with everythng that's failed. Yep, he's the guy I want telling me what to do with my money.

And what's this about taking out of the STOCK market what you'll need for five years? Has this guys advice been to have EVERYTHING in the stock market all along without a safety cushion for the tough times?

People with half a brain should have already had their safety cushion in a safe harbor long before the market began to crash. They shouldn't have to sell at a loss because they all their assets at risk.

Also, everything you read online is true...kept that in mind!

Aside from that, his advice is sound. You need to liquidate your assets as time comes near to use them. Anybody who follows the old 100 minus your age rule for retirement wouldn't have to do a thing.

People are ridiculing his decision to say this on TV, because those same people may have lost money as a result of it. He honestly did this because he felt it was the right thing to do. Normally, it could be argued that he made money from this, but short selling is suspended at the moment so that is unlikely.

Though i don't like him, what he said was - "whatever money you may need for the next five years, please, take it out of the stock market." That's a far cry from 'sell everything" you have in the stock market.

"Honey, a crazy guy is waving his arms and foaming at the mouth on the TV telling me to invest in X. What do you think?"

"He's on TV and he's very entertaining. Buy it!"

Regardless, you should look at where your money is, evaluate what it's doing and if it's in good places. If not, redistribute your cash. Hell, if you have a lot of money floating around in the stock market, a very good investment is to buy property. BUY property - as in, if you have enough cash floating around, get some properties, even if they aren't hugely expensive or in great neighborhoods. Over the next few years, fix them up, rent them out and hold on to them. It's extremely unlikely that housing will go up to the inflated prices we had before, but property is property. Unless everything goes to hell, it is always a good investment, provided you OWN it (come on people - no more lousy mortgages).

Sad to say, but as the economy continues to struggle, people will likely be renting homes. If you have the money and you're worried about your investments, this is a very sound one to make.

Why is he on tv again?

It's possible that Jim decided to "clarify" his comments after a chat with higher ups at CNBC. I'm sure they were none too pleased that the host of a popular show on their channel recommended people not do what they tune into the show for in the first place. There is the risk that this could mean lower viewership, ratings and thus ad revenue.

But of course I'm just speculating.

personally, i find this advice a little refreshing. for once, someone is telling the truth - you can't just assume that the stock in your portfolio is just going to rebound - some of it will & some of it will not. now's the time to take inventory, assess your risk & make an educated decision about which stocks you should keep, which ones you should sell (even at a loss) & which ones you should buy more of.

maybe if he had said it that way, he wouldn't be in the hot seat.

As recently as July, Cramer said on his CNBC show "Mad Money" that the market had bottomed out.

Heres your sign.

simply put: If you are going to need your money in the next 5 years, then the stock market is NOT the place where you want your money. (of course this is good advice for anytime - not just during these fun rollercoster times)

If you don't need your money for at least 5 years, then you should keep it in and ride it out.

But at the same time, they have numerous people on there EVERY DAY who they ask the same question to: "What do you think people should do in light of the financial crisis?"

You're going to get a million different answers - and you already KNOW if you're invite THIS guy on, he's probably going to say something you don't like.

Another guy deserving a good 'ol fashioned punch in the face, someone call that nice fellow that punched Dick Fuld and tell him we've got another job for him to work on ...

"Do you think I'm causing a collapse?," he asked Vieira. "I worked at Goldman Sachs. They almost went out of business. My insurance was with AIG. It did get nationalized. Lehman Brothers is a place I traded with for years. It's disappeared, as has Bear Stearns. I've sold a lot of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds. They don't exist anymore."

In other words, wherever Cramer goes, you will know him by the trail of the dead.

I fear for Maria B.