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historic earnings nor projected earnings, so most IPO picks are pure speculation. Finding other information on forthcoming public companies can be a challenge in itself. Where do we look, Cramer?

Rules, rules, rules. We are handed twenty new rules on top of the twenty previously prescribed rules from his penultimate book. Several of these new rules are based on one isolated incident during the show's tenure; does one mistake justify generating a rule covering the entire market? Let's say you formally follow Cramer's method of research. You have spent days completing his worksheet and checking each rule for applicability to your candidate stock and oops, you just missed your trade window!

And then there's chapter ten: how Cramer picks his stocks. This is a popular point of discussion in internet forums. People wish they could stay one step ahead of Cramer thereby beating him to a stock recommendation. This would allow them to trade on the Cramer Effect: when a (usually small-cap) stock jumps 5-10% before the opening bell the day after his blessing. If we could figure this out, we would make more than Cramer ever made, and he has "already got more money than I feel comfortable having" (pg 3). However, he concludes this chapter by shrugging us all off and telling us he's too hot to keep up with, so don't frustrate yourself with futile attempts to read his mind.

Finally, there was no need to index his props and button board. Several of his buttons documented at the time the book was written have already been swapped out. Some of the new buttons are the 'ghost wail', 'electrocution', and the 'punching bag'. Gone are the days when he would spin off into a rant and simultaneously pound on the 'shotgun' and 'machine gun' buttons. The only buttons guaranteed to remain forever are the 'bull' and 'bear' animations, as I type with crossed fingers.

At the rate the show has been evolving since first airing in March 2005, I won't be surprised when the format, flow, and set will have completely changed by 2008. There are plenty of examples to list: I haven't seen Cramer debate with Herb Greenberg for months, the ferocious chair throwing was the highlight of the show, and his arsenal of weaponry (knifes, blades, axes, and power tools) continues to grow. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Cramer hater; he's got the most entertaining show since Spongebob. I'm saying with all of his warnings about remaining flexible in an ultra-dynamic market, his readers need to remain just as flexible and recognize when aspects of the book go defunct.

Learn more about this author, Marshall Gibson.
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