Action Alerts Plus
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Honesty
(3)
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Quality
(1)
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Cost
(1)
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Support
(1)
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Verified Trades
(3.5)
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User Experience
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Summary
Jim Cramer is a public nuisance.
He claims to be have graduated from Harvard and Harvard Law (Magna Cum Laude) but apparently nobody has ever seen his diploma. Nor is he registered as a lawyer, or ever practiced law. Apparently, TradingSchools.Org is the first to ever ‘call him out’ for this outrageous claim.
Jim Cramer claims to be a former stock broker at Goldman Sachs and “made a bunch of people rich.” Yet, FINRA has no registrations of Jim Cramer as a stock broker, and the employment at Goldman Sachs appears to be yet another fantasy.
Jim Cramer claims magnificent success as a “Hedge Fund Manager.” Yet, no record of this supposed “Hedge Fund” exists. Yet again, FINRA has no record of Jim Cramer ever managing a public hedge fund, or being a financial advisor in any capacity.
According to FINRA, Jim Cramer is a “fictional TV character” that was “apparently created for entertainment purposes.”
For the past 19 years, Jim Cramer has published and sold a stock picking service named Action Alerts Plus. The performance has been abysmal. In fact, he has never beaten the SP500 his entire career. Once factoring in commissions and subscription fee’s, the average investor would be deep in the red. And probably broke.
The “Money Back Guarantee” attached to the Action Alerts Plus newsletter is the source of multitudes of complaints filed with TradingSchools.Org. In short, getting a full refund is nearly impossible.
The only verifiable thing we could actually confirm about Jim Cramer is that he once was homeless, slept in his car, and held a job as an ice cream salesman.
Pros
Great television entertainment.
Books are easy to read.
Is a great salesman.
Cons
His books are worthless scribble.
His track record of investing is atrocious.
Claims a Harvard JD that nobody can verify.
FINRA has no record of any employment at Goldman Sachs, nor any financial registrations.
Claims to be a former Hedge Fund Manager with massive profits. This appears to be a ripe fantasy.
Bogus refund policy and the source of many complaints.
Thanks for reading today’s review of Action Alerts PLUS
Action Alerts Plus is the “super secret insider picks” of TV host Jim Cramer. The cost is $299 per year.
We all know Jim Cramer. He is on CNBC every f*ng day. Whacking buttons that proclaim that a stock is “BUY BUY BUY” or “SELL SELL SELL.”
It truly amazes me that people actually take this guy seriously. They watch his TV show, then they head over to The Street, Jim Cramer’s very own pump channel where he will glean upon thee — “the secrets to everlasting wealth and prosperity.” Or some other BS that sounds remarkably similar.
Just pay the $299 fee, and the Jim Cramer secret stock picks will pour forth upon the computer screen, bestowing yet more layers of “financial wisdom.”
And the refund policy? Well, Jim claims a “full 30-day money back guarantee!” And “if you don’t like it, you get your money back!” What a bunch of BS.
Money Back Guarantee of Action Alerts PLUS is BOGUS
As 39 readers of the TradingSchools.Org blog can attest, the money back guarantee is a bucket full of holes. Complete and total nonsense.
Here are a few choice quotes from TradingSchools.Org readers:
I signed up for a 30 day subscription and then cancelled 2 days later. No refund. After multiple attempts still no refund. -RM
Visa refused my refund. The terms of service does not match the promises on the website. Buyer beware. -LL
Autobilling is a scam even after cancelling. Harder to remove than a toe bunyon. -J
Attempt to cancel and you must fight through an army of telephone sales people trying to talk you into staying. -RH
Just dont give them your credit card number. You will regret it. -CT
At TradingSchools.Org, we were curious why a well-known television personality would go through such great lengths to hustle ‘mom and pop’ investors out of a few hundred dollars? And so, we called The Street with this bushel of complaints and asked what in the hell was happening over there.
The salesman on the telephone was the typical boiler room sales agent. He immediately starts pitching the “two-year special pricing” where you can prepay “only $400 for hedge fund style stock picks.”
Hedge fund style stock picks– are you kidding me? And so I asked, what hedge fund has Jim Cramer ever managed? According to the salesman, Jim Cramer is a “15-year former hedge fund manager averaging nearly 70% per year” or so he claimed. So I asked, where is the audited proof? Do you have any sort of track record? The salesman replied, “Hedge fund managers are not required to report their performance.” Just wow.
Next, I explained that I have been bombarded with complaints about non-refunds of credit card purchases. The salesman next explained, “before signing up, customers should read the fine print, and we clearly state that refunds are only issued in special situations.”
The only customer we could find that actually did get a refund? Well, he had to hire a lawyer to draft a demand letter. The letter from the lawyer cost him $200.
Jim Cramer: a hedge fund manager?
Jim Cramer claims that he “retired in 2001” as a “hedge fund manager” from his very own investment management company. The name of that company was supposedly Cramer Berkowitz. He also claims that he was a former stockbroker for Goldman Sachs.
All of this should be easy to verify, right? Wrong.
Next, we headed over to FINRA.Org. The regulatory body in charge of stockbrokers, money managers, financial advisors, etc. Their records and databases date back to the 1980s.
According to FINRA — Jim Cramer has never been registered as a stockbroker, at Goldman Sachs, or anywhere else. Additionally, FINRA has no registrations or records for any company named Cramer Berkowitz. It appears that Jim Cramer just made all this shit up.
As incredible as all this sounds…I recommend that readers call the FINRA hotline at 800-289-9999. Ask them for yourself. Simply ask, “I am calling about that TV guy named Jim Cramer of Mad Money” and “do you have any records or registrations for him?” They will tell you plainly…”We have no records on this guy.”
Can someone please tell me how this guy has been on TV, for all these years, and nobody ever did a simple background check? We just turn on the TV and automatically believe that CNBC must have vetted him, else he would not be on the TV.
Jim Cramer: Action Alerts Plus Track Record
Apparently, I am not the only person that thinks that Jim Cramer is nothing more than a bogus TV personality. And that his stock picks are pure baloney.
In 2016, researchers Jonathan Hartley and Matthew Olson of the Wharton School of Business published a verifiable track record of Jim Cramer’s Action Alerts Plus — this study encompassed an incredible 16+ years. The results were not encouraging.
In fact, they discovered that if you invested $1,000 in 2001-2016, then your net profit would be $975. However, once you factor in average commission costs, you would have only $542 remaining.
Finally, you have to factor in the annual subscription fee of $300. Which gives you a total return of -$4,558.
Now let’s consider if you simply took that $1,000 and purchased the SPY or SP500 tracking ETF. Your total profit would have been $2,071. And you would have never wasted $5,100 in subscription costs.
In fact, if you would have simply invested $1k in the SPY ETF and added $300 per year (the cost of the Action Alerts Plus), then your total account would now be worth $17,256.
Action Alerts Plus 2017 through 2019
The above study encompasses the years 2000-2016. But what about 2017, 2018, and 2019? We asked the salesman about that performance as well…
The response was yet again discouraging. Apparently, Jim Cramer continues on his amazing losing streak of lagging a simple SP500 benchmark for all of these recent years as well.
Finally, the salesman quipped “Look, we have thousands and thousands of happy customers and they cannot all be wrong.” On the contrary, they all appear to be stupid.
Jim Cramer: who is this guy?
Over the years, Jim Cramer has made some truly incredible claims. For example, he once claimed that he graduated from Harvard University and Havard Law School (Magna Cum Laude), but when challenged to “show his diploma,” he made up a new story that he wrote a negative story about Harvard staff and they “waived him off stage” and this is the reason he never received his diploma. (remarkably similar to this buffoon)
A short time later, after Harvard and Harvard Law School, he “ended up living in his car.” Which he freely admits.
Yet again, another weird story emerges where he freely admits, “I was an ice cream vendor” at the Met Stadium in Philadelphia.
Ok, so let me get this straight…
- Went to Harvard
- Went to Harvard Law and graduated (Magna Cum Laude)
- Was never actually given a graduation diploma.
- Ended up living in a car. (after Harvard)
- Gets a job selling ice cream cones at The Met stadium in Philly.
- Then miraculously gets a job at Goldman Sachs (cannot verify with FINRA)
- Starts a hedge fund (again FINRA has no record)
- Retires a millionaire in 2000 and starts appearing on TV shows as a guest.
- Starts a TV show and investment service ‘Action Alerts Plus’
- Is proven to be a crappy stock picker. (verified)
- Wants me to give him $300 per year for “secret stock picks.”
Wrapping things up
Do you know what I think? Jim Cramer is a phony.
How is it even possible that you graduate from Harvard Law School (Magna Cum Laude) and then a short time later, you are homeless and living in a car? This doesn’t pass the sniff test.
Suddenly, he is now “a stockbroker at Goldman Sachs” and “made a bunch of people rich.”
Magically, he starts appearing on CNBC and claims that he is a “former hedge fund manager and multimillionaire.” And then CNBC gives him a nutty show where he tosses stock picks like a broken pinata and hits those annoying red buttons like whack-a-mole. Who’s dick did he have to suck at CNBC for this gig anyway?
And finally, an independent group of researchers audit the Action Alerts PLUS track record and discover that Jim Cramer is less predictive than a coin flip, and he cannot even beat the average of the SP500 tracking stock?
Couple this with oodles of online complaints, not issuing refunds, and a ‘boiler room’ sales staff making all manner of nutty performance claims…I think that Jim Cramer and Action Alerts Plus is a service you should avoid.
Thanks for reading.
I am wondering whether you have evidence that FINRA has no record of Cramer and that his hedge fund never existed. I have believed these statements to be true for many years, but I’d like evidence.
Below are excepts from your article:
Jim Cramer claims to be a former stock broker at Goldman Sachs and “made a bunch of people rich.” Yet, FINRA has no registrations of Jim Cramer as a stock broker, and the employment at Goldman Sachs appears to be yet another fantasy.
Jim Cramer claims magnificent success as a “Hedge Fund Manager.” Yet, no record of this supposed “Hedge Fund” exists. Yet again, FINRA has no record of Jim Cramer ever managing a public hedge fund, or being a financial advisor in any capacity.
According to FINRA, Jim Cramer is a “fictional TV character” that was “apparently created for entertainment purposes.”
Do you have evidence of these claims? Did FINRA send you an email? Whom did you speak with from FINRA? I am asking this because I contacted FINRA but was not able to obtain this information.
I have been backchecking what you mention here. Maybe you want to review this info: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2009/2009_02525.htm
Search for James Cramer. Maybe is another person?
How do you explain this? I’m not a fanboy or anything, just curious. https://today.law.harvard.edu/school-to-host-broadcast-of-mad-money-featuring-graduate-jim-cramer/
Finally, some evidence appears. I stand corrected.
Did you even check if Cramer was a graduate of Harvard by calling them similar to you checking out the other scammers’ fake wharton phd’s? That would have been the simplest and easiest way to find proof of Cramer’s alma matter statements. I know it’s just a minor misstep but maybe you were too quick to call Cramer’s whole past madeup, so I’m just disappointed in the mistake. People have can have screwups later in life after college reduced to selling ice cream. Or losing their med license like the Rightline guy for bad ethics and abuse of their profession. As for running a hedge fund, I mentioned before that I saw Cramer’s fund office addresss listed to an address in chicago’s financial streets, and also listed as a business in a directory next to a real trucking business “knight” of which I have seen actual trucks running around on the freeways. All that said, Cramer is still a bad influence on the retailers, costing probably far more retailer losses than actual improvement in investing or gains. And a stupid showcase for ceos to show up as a guest on the show in to make a case for their deflating or almost bankrupt companies. There also seems to be a fued between Cramer and Elon Musk of Tesla. Article: (https://m.benzinga.com/article/13409051)
“The following day, Cramer said Judge Nathan has three choices of how to handle Musk:
Appoint a “special master” to Tesla’s board to force Musk to comply with the terms of his fraud settlement.
Remove Musk as CEO of Tesla.
Charge Musk with a criminal violation of the settlement and sentence him to jail time.”
Pretty scummy too if you ask me. Maybe Musk stood up to Cramer, and refused to pay a fee or whatever to get praise from Cramer on the show. Maybe the “judge” should do a discovery injunction on Cramer’s actual credentials , hedge fund performance history, and how the show has ruined or damaged the savings of countless duped of the watching audience of cnbc.
That was an easy one to find, it was right on his wikipedia’s page sources.
Kramer does suck dick!
Totally agree Kramer sucks dick.
Word!
Used to watch the Business Channel but stopped watching around 1992 when picks were incorrect and real life started. Now that the children are out of the house and the last one in college, I started recording Bloomberg while looking for sources for training or advice. Tuned in to CNBC and now record its Power Lunch and Cramer also. Gonna put his picks on a spreadsheet over time.
Very grateful to find this informative website today regarding the many fake ads and real advice. Thank you for this service. Noticed that those ads are very similar to sports betting bs. If you experience those same spiels of fantastic gains, a WWW atmosphere, high pressure tactics, deep discounts, or countless calls or emails–just pass. This website has been most educational. Otherwise I would have never known the extent of this fraud.
My question is do you recommend a trading school, course, or books to learn options trading? Good fortune everyone. Thanks again Tradingschools.org.
Just watch Cramer and short his recommendations!
Let me just stipulate up front, Action Alerts Plus has considerably underperformed the S&P 500, particularly since 2011. I agree it is not worth the subscription fee.
Now having said that, the rest of this review is poorly researched character assassination. One does not need to register with FINRA to run a hedge fund. Cramer Berkowitz existed and there are plenty of contemporaneous media reports about it from the late 1990’s in nationally known publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, and others. Many of these were critical of Cramer’s performance, not puff pieces. There is even video of Cramer at work at the hedge fund.
Cramer was a writer at the Harvard Crimson as an undergraduate. His articles from the 1970’s are now available online. The story about not getting his diploma due to bad blood with his advisor referred to his undergrad degree. He was mailed the diploma with an apology a few weeks later. Whether or not he finished his law degree or passed the bar is not really relevant – by that time he decided he wanted to make a career out of money management.
Finally, he sold ice cream at VETERANS stadium (the Vet, not the Met) as a teenager, not after Harvard.
Criticism of the Action Alerts Plus product is perfectly valid, but unfortunately the incorrect assertions about easily researchable personal history diminish this review’s credibility.
Here too.
https://www.tradingschools.org/reviews/petra-picks/#comment-3049610
Ok, now I do ..weird; usually I do (or did, at least, previously) .. sometimes (longer ones?) I don’t; then like that one episode past .. Cramer I did, lol then not (but b/c of a follow-up) now shows again .. w/ it ..Bernstein follow-up showed up late (but initial did show) … but my Petra one never did show ..
corr; Bernstein has a follow-up Cramer not (was a new post; still it masked me)
The comment that got me kicked off The Street ;p how can the dollar, flagship of a country do worse than the stock mkt ..
But if you saw his office he actually spends a lot of time crunching the nmbrs ..as for due diligence, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cramer he has routinely taken home more than 20% ..
I don’t know what the purported / he is blabbing about 70% but 20 (more realistic) is more like it ..
And as to hedgies, dunno – not one, yet, but being on that route nowhere have i either been asked to disclose that to investors, etc. (Now there is a whole host of other variables such as if clients however get too concerned with the short-term ups and downs of their account, they can be a hindrance; for managers, the discipline to turn down additional investor assets when they believe it would impede their performance is an important element in longer-term success; maintenance of supportive relationships between investors and manager; and keep them on board whether the risks in question are acceptable to the investor (you can see, yes, i’m not a bullshitter) ..
And co.s like FXCM (“good” FX broker b/c of their no-D(ealing)D(esk)) are required to post results b/c as an IPO, a public traded co..have to. Pvtly -owned no.
This reminds me of charities, that field (in the UK) is certainly abused..read God in the Pits; an eye-opener ..
This next bit, I’m not speaking to the(ir) clients, I’m speaking in general; like Kevin D. says (“bs, it’s all bs..they just lap it up” speaking of a trading room where it’s a bunch of cheerleaders, really.)
You write a review but still would have been 😮 on stage to receive a diploma :p ? ..
Well, didn’t Mike Dell also live in his car…someone did..famous ppl, that’s no surprise, shit, Apple, Dell, they were started in garages..the diploma tho .. didn’t receive it on both counts?
Thing is, hedge funds don’t but CTA (fut.) do – have to be registered. I’m not that familiar what the procedure is w/ stocks, tho ..if this info is accurate, hedge funds are like mutual funds but they’ve been able to skirt around it , so ..
Follow up to this crazy Cramer fraud story. I went to Finra and could find no mention of Cramer & Berkowitz. However this site had a “timeline” summary. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/cramer-berkowitz-co-history/
So is this site another of those made up storytelling “review” sites similar to “trustpilot”? What I found also amazing is that most of the hosts and reporters on CNBC have had college degrees in English, Journalism, Media or political science. Very few of them actually had a business education or even some business background, but mostly “business reporting”. Even the tech reporter was an English major. The only real traders/investors could be some of the folks on the “Fast Money” & “Fast Money – halftime” roundtables. Anyways all this has soured my past estimation of CNBC, more of an entertainment news channel yapping about financial related events after the fact.
That website is pure nonsense…just like Trust Pilot. Cramer Berkowitz information is nestled between a dry cleaner, and a taco shop.
And Trust Pilot should be renamed Never Fly On This Plane. Trust Pilot allows any company that pays a monthly fee the ability to remove negative reviews. Scammers.
I don’t know, Emmett. The info looks strangely legit. “CR England” listed before CramerBerkowitz is an actual trucking company and there are thousands of company summaries on that site, http://www.fundinguniverse.com which may just be an archive of company funding summaries. There are references at the bottom referring to articles about Cramer before 2000 in Vanity Fair, GQ, Vanity Fair etc.
And the address listed is in a skyscraper with high property taxes. I tend to agree about Cramer’s bad stock picking. Maybe he had help or is some financial media puppet & CramerBerkowitz is an invention by CNBC that fooled other magazines. Maybe Finra doesn’t have that far back records working on their online search database portal. Agreed about trustpilot, just full of fake shilled comments and testimonials.
I put the Doron Pitbull trader review back up. He is back to lying.
It’s sad and crazy how CNBC can have this entertainer on for so many years possibly causing the average investor to lose even more in the years after and through the dot.com bust and the great recession. I read one of his books and it’s basic stock advice bits borrowed from anywhere. It’s possible he could be just Harvard grad, but then the postgrad story is sketchy. I think part of his job security is how he can appear chummy with all the guest CEO’s that come on for their hyped firm promoting segment always pushing that their firm is in positive recovery or has a bright future. You can see many of the staff treat him as a joke at times. “They know NOTHING!!”
crazy. How can CNBC back this guy and put him on TV? this is worse than all the idiots on the web making claims and taking peoples money. good ol MERICA. They will go after guys with the shitty websites with girls and boats but the idiot screaming on tv claiming to be a Harvard grad etc. ON TV the biggest stage of them all gets a pass? sad.
I know, its one thing to have a track record that underperforms the market. But the whole Harvard Law (Magna Cum Laude) and then shortly thereafter living in a car? And selling ice cream cones at the football stadium?
Didn’t anyone at NBC check this guy out — before they gave him a TV show? It’s just crazy.