Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

James J. Cramer (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Cramer offers specific advice on how to make the best moves to position yourself and your investments for an economic recovery. With twenty new rules for investing in the current economic climate, Jim Cramer’s Getting Back to Even includes advice on rebuilding your portfolio and putting your financial life back on track. According to Cramer, before we make money we need to get back to even, setting aside fear and panic and taking control of our money. Whether you’re twenty-five and investing to build wealth or sixty-five and hoping to restore your retirement savings, you’ll need Cramer’s proven wealth-building advice in Jim Cramer’s Getting Back to Even.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Television commentator (CNBC’s Mad Money, New York magazine columnist, Jim Cramer’s Real Money, and more) Cramer, whose name—and brand—is synonymous with stock-market advice, is perfect at taking the pulse of the public as we arise (phoenixlike) from the ashes of the worst economic recession since the 1930s. His latest book presents rules for trying to recover from losses; many of the rules feature stories about individual stocks to buy, such as Eli Lilly, Caterpillar, and five regional banks. Other rules center on strategies, ranging from the purchase of dividend-producing stocks and gold to such philosophical foundations as know your fellow shareholders and bull markets are all about leadership. All the rules are infused with Cramerisms and straight-shooting prose that, indeed, might evoke a few winces and grimaces from readers. On the other hand, remember that his brashness and opinions earn him multimillions a year. --Barbara Jacobs --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

James J. Cramer is host of CNBC's Mad Money; cofounder of TheStreet.com, where he is also an online columnist; and "Bottom Line" columnist for New York magazine.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Abridged edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743598415
• ISBN-13: 978-0743598415
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Books on CD > Business > Personal Finance
  • #22 in Books > Books on CD > Business > Investing
  • #61 in Books > Books on CD > Business > Management

More About the Author

James J. Cramer is co-founder of TheStreet.com, Markets Commentator for CNBC, and "Bottom Line" columnist for New York magazine. He is also the host of the nationally syndicated program Real Money with Jim Cramer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

336 of 352 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Financial First-Aid - Cramer Style, October 14, 2009

By 

javajunki "javajunki" - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even (Hardcover)

First a caveat, Jim Cramer seriously annoys me. I rarely ever watch his show (especially after the notorious "melt-down") and less frequently read his books. However, as a college instructor and business writer, I read a lot of business books and make a point of keeping up with what is in the popular press since it tends to come up in daily questions etc...admittedly, I was also curious how well a book claiming to help people "Get back to Even" was going to do in the ratings...it's certainly a modest proposal at best and a constant reminder of financial pain at worst. Much to my surprise, Cramer actually mentions this early in the text so score one for Cramer!

The book is easy to read with a purely conversational tone; those that enjoy Cramer will feel right at home while those such as myself will still manage to get through it without constant irritation like listening to him on television. There is an abundant use of examples to explain any all all technical terms no matter how simple or complex but they do not (usually) insult the readers intelligence but rather enhance the reading nicely. The author assumes the reader has minimal prior exposure and takes little for granted so even novice investors or those that have always had their portfolio managed by someone other than themselves will not need to read with references in hand.

Now, as to the core of the concepts covered in the book itself. Cramer begins by presenting 8 new rules which are more or less "common sense" but well worth repeating given the typical lack of financial savvy of most "investors". I suspect most people will enjoy the statistics and rationale more than the actual "rules" themselves but it effective presents a foundation from which the rest of the book is written while acting as the typical disclaimer for all financial related books (ie, get your basics covered first).

Like any investment related book, there are likely areas to agree and disagree with...but if one manages to pick up a few nuggets it is well worth the time and effort to read. This book is no exception. Cramer is Pro diversification, gold/precious metals, dividends, performing your own research and weekly updates for stocks that you select. He goes into more detail than usual in how to research these stocks, his rationale for selection criteria and examples from both sucessful and non-successful examples in his own past.

For those that are well versed in reading/understanding financial statements, most of this will be rudimentary but as a person that routinely deals with people in various stages of financial literacy - there is a strong need for user-friendly information that can be applied directly to one's own portfolio. Cramer earns an "A"...he keeps the information direct, relevant and easy to understand while covering the flaws and limitations of everything from valuation to growth rates and the impact of "big money".

After a fairly robust section on dividends (like a dividends 101 abbreviated course), Cramer goes on to name 12 stocks to watcch for the recovery including a few well placed plus for his show and newsletter. As a general rule, I despise books that are thinly veiled marketing materials but in this case, didn't dock a point from the review because he showed quite a bit of self restraint and kept it to a minimum. Each recommendation is supported by a full rational including areas serviced, history, future potential etc as would be expected. Whether you agree or not, each is well worth the time for consideration and/or to use as a foundation for your own selections.

Bottom line - worth the time and effort to read. Novice investors will appreciate the examples and conversational style, more experienced investors will appreciate the actual stock selections with rational behind each even if you disagree. I suspect one of the largest complaints will be on what is NOT included in this book as well as the typical (and expected) diagreement surrounding Cramer's general investment advice...of course, readers should not expect a radical departure and will get what is expected in terms of Cramer's general investment orientation, style etc...

96 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the short, angry critical reviews, October 29, 2009

By 

Vance Hanin "Sir Vancelot" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even (Hardcover)

For prospective purchasers, hopefully you read the reviews to items before you buy them. In the case of this book, Getting Back to Even, I want you all to know that you can safely ignore the vague, uninformative, and unhelpful reviews left by some members (who probably haven't even read the book). You should not be purchasing this book unless you know something about the author, Jim Cramer. He has a daily show here in the US, every week day at 6PM EST on CNBC where he discusses stocks and their companies. If you have aren't familiar with Mr. Cramer, don't buy this book. Buy his earlier books. Though they are not cataloged or described as a series, the different books focus on different aspects of investing. They all provide general investing information, but it loosely breaks down like this (I am not listing all of his books, just the ones I've read):

Real Money: One of his earlier books, it explains his methodology in an overview fashion. This is where I would recommend starting.

Mad Money: This book follows Real Money and goes into more detail on many aspects of Real Money, such as his prescribed homework for your stock picks.

Stay Mad for Life: This book focuses more on investing for retirement, so it's not as suited to younger folks such as myself (25/male). But it is still a great guide with a ton of great information on preparing yourself for retirement at almost any age.. except perhaps if you're already retired!

Getting Back to Even: Despite what some of the sensibility-impaired critics have implied or outright accused, Cramer never suggests that he is infallible, nor does he ever give you the illusion that if you do what he tells you that you will never lose money. He always makes it clear that investing in stocks, especially speculative stocks, has inherent risk attached to it and that no matter how good you are, you WILL lose money. The goal of his books is to help teach you how to minimize your losses and maximize your gains, with the only limit being the amount of effort you are willing or able to put into the process. Getting Back to Even is for helping those whose portfolios have been hit hard by the global recession. Again, this isn't the right book to purchase as a starting point; read his earlier books first.

And just for the record, if all you did was listen to Cramer recommend a stock on his show, Mad Money, and then went and bought the stock without doing the homework he RELIGIOUSLY instructs you to do, you deserved to lose your money because you ignored EVERYTHING he has told you to do to make money. Mad Money, the show, is not a stock-picking show. He doesn't just say the name of stocks he likes. He tells you WHY these stocks are good, in his professional opinion. He helps you with your research but he is NOT a substitute for it. Don't attack him because you were too lazy or impatient to do it properly. All he teaches you is to basically learn as much as humanly possible about the stocks you own or want to own-- how can that possibly be a "scam"?

101 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag of advice, October 14, 2009

By 

Swami B "Swami B" (Harlem, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim Cramer's Getting Back to Even (Hardcover)

I liked this book better than some of Cramer's past books on amateur investing and trading. The first few chapters provide a long-winded explanation of how economic recovery inevitably follows recessions, and Cramer explains how he learned lessons from past market declines. He also repeats his past message of 'buy and homework,' meaning that buying a stock requires a commitment of an hour a week of reading about the company, economic outlook and industry trends. He again cites the virtues of diversification.

This book may only have a shelf life of four or five months to take advantage of his recommendations, but he tells readers to put money into cyclical stocks that will snap back in the early stages of a recovery, such as Caterpillar, J.P. Morgan, Visa and Hewlett-Packard, among others. He provides a short list of regional banks that he says have strong balance sheets and will be well positioned to take over weaker financial firms. The chapters on options are somewhat oversimplified. He basically recommends buying deep-in-the-money calls on stocks you think will rise in the near future--of course, finding those stocks is the biggest challenge for any amateur investor.

Some of the best advice I ever got from any investment books is knowing when to sell, which often divides winning traders from losers. For that, I would recommend the book "What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars." It's an autobiographical account of a Chicago futures trader who discovered that he never was a real trader, only a buyer of long positions that happened to make money during a bull market.