Jim Cramer: Stocks Are Not Causes (original) (raw)

They are pieces of paper tied, not to the short-sellers or the owners, but to the performance of the company.

Please don't say sell Tesla (TSLA) . Please say something good about it. I get an email like that about every two hours from people who fear that I will somehow hurt prized positions.

This is not unusual these days. In my mentions on Twitter I have gotten used to being harangued for not being positive enough about GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) , the cinema company, or UWM Holdings (UWMC) , a mortgage company, all of which have high short positions which seems to be the most important characteristic of a so-called meme stock. When I sold some bitcoin, which I bought as a currency but became an asset, I was filleted on Twitter for breaking ranks on the crypto team and therefore sinking an asset on my way out.

First, let me just say this is all crazy. If I, for one moment, agreed with the theory that I am so powerful as to be someone who could take down anything with an offhanded comment about Tesla, which I like, then my head would be too big to get inside the door. My wife, Lisa, would have a fit even entertaining the idea that I could "hurt" something with my comments.

But second, and more worrisome, this attitude, these constant rebukes for allegedly trashing some stock or some cryptocurrency or non-fungible token, shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what investing is about. If you did believe passionately about one particular stock and I deliver the most glancing of blows and it goes down, aren't you being given a great opportunity to buy more of it? If you think I am a buffoon or a traitor to the "cause" of the stock, isn't the best revenge buying it?

I think, though, that's what is really going on is if you own something because it is going up or because you read on some website that if everyone gangs up we can do a GameStop and crush those who are betting against it, then you better be plenty sure that you know and like the company, not the crowd you're in with. You have to be sure because it is entirely possible that the people betting against the stock, unlike with GameStop, know what they are doing and the crowd you are a part of doesn't.

I have come to resent this entire style of investing if you call it that, because stocks are not causes. They are not religious icons. They are not even sports teams. They are pieces of paper tied, not to the short-sellers or the owners, but to the performance of the company. When AMC seeks permission to sell 500 million shares, the CEO, Adam Aron is basically saying that he is willing to break with his co-religionists and hoist the company on their backs. It's not wrong; if he does offer the stock, then he will use it to buy back expensive debt thereby increasing the value of the equity portion of the balance sheet. But when he talked about it on my show, I was trashed again, because I brought it up. That's curious behavior. If you really think that a question by me to the CEO is something that is wrong to ask because it might knock the stock down, may I politely suggest that you sell AMC and go buy an index fund which I can't impact, not that I impacted it by doing my job and asking material questions anyway.

So, this weekend I want you to think about what you would do if I mention your stock negatively. Would you be scared? Would you be upset? Would you be concerned because you have borrowed a lot of money and now you might have a margin call? If you are that unsure of the company itself - not the crowd but the company - move on because you are simply too thin-skinned and too ignorant to be a shareholder in any company.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned.