Booyah is back in a very big way, and people can't seem to get enough.
Most shows involving financial analysis and stock market advice are enough to put everyone, except maybe the bright kids in Grainger, in a coma.
I crave knowledge of wise ways to invest, save and maintain financial security. But even thinking about it gets me bored.
Until Jim Cramer came into my life.
Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who successfully made a crap-load of money and now spends his days advising other people how to make money. This in itself does not make great television. What makes Cramer's show ""Mad Money"" so fabulous is that Cramer is perhaps the only hyper stock commentator with enough crazies to entice thousands of young adults and business professionals to watch his show religiously.
The concept of ""Mad Money""—and Cramer's motto—is to help investors do their homework—he gives them as much background knowledge on a stock as possible. Viewers call in with their questions about a particular stock. Cramer divulges the risks, asks the callers what their goals are for the stock and helps them make an investment decision.
The appeal is Cramer's incessant movement around his television set and his oddly present sound effects machine. Whatever Cramer believes is the merit of investment for a particular stock, he will hit a corresponding sound effect to relay his opinion through odd noises.
If Cramer believes a stock is amazing and worth all your money, he hits ""the bull."" A sound effect of snorting, raging bulls goes off, in addition to an animation of bulls charging the television screen.
As if the crazy sound effects weren't enough, Cramer basically screams all of his answers, uses props and flails his arms around like a little girl doing jumping jacks.
He once did a fast-food themed show, where he advised investors which fast-food chains were most deserving of their dollars. To enhance his point, Cramer had food from all the different food chains he discussed. If he thought the chain was worth investment, he would devour the burger and fries from that particular chain. If he thought the company was bogus, he would throw the food around the studio or mash it with his hands.
Cramer proves an ironic point about how to captivate a television audience. Cramer's advice is sound and his tactics hilarious. Television increasingly sinks to the lowest level to captivate and entertain audiences.
If Cramer sat at a desk with a group of stuffed shirts who commented on various stocks over quips about cricket and the Hamptons, no one would watch.
A certain shock value is necessary, even for financial analysis shows, to bring in the audience.
Although it may be stooping, I give CNBC and Jim Cramer props. If it were not for their inventive tactics, thousands of viewers would not be tuned in and reflecting on their financial portfolios.
So Jim Cramer—a big booyah from all the financial investment challenged. You're making the difference.
