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Friday, January 20, 2006

Tricks of the Trade

I'm asking my smart wife last night how is it that every single caller to the Mad Money show absolutely loves Cramer and always cooperatively starts their call with a near infinite number of twists on the worn out booyah? I say that on most call in shows the callers aren't so conveniently cooperative. From time to time I expect to hear someone sneak in a criticism. But that never happens on Mad Money. She says the calls are prerecorded. She used to work with someone whose now ex husband was a morning radio show host. Her coworker told her that she'd be amazed at how much stuff seems live that isn't.

Then it clicked. They take the calls, prompt the caller on what to say so that all the calls are all in the exact same format (ie booyah, then a question). The question is always so generic, such as "What do you think about Intel?" so that the question could be used on any day. Jim's on the line responding live. They record the caller and Jim on separate tracks. Next they pick the most agreeable calls and weed out the idiots. They script and teleprompt, refining the commentary. Then they play back the recorded booyahs and questions and Jim responds, I'd guess reading teleprompters as needed and suspect all those monitors facing away from the camera are actually prompters so that he can wander around and pretend to be looking at stock charts and information, as if he actually has time to do that. The result is that it appear as if he were talking to the caller for the first time. When they get to the lightning round he tells us, "Just to be clear I do not know the callers, or there questions ahead of time.", which would be only a stretch of the truth since he didn't know them the first time he took the calls.

Notice how they never get criticized, they never have any jumps in the tape, and they never have to hang up or bleep out anyone? The final taping always goes perfectly smooth and polished. How else would that be possible?

posted at 12:33 PM

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...: I've called Mad Monay before, it is prerecorded but only an hour in advance, not the day before, and the calls are screened, they ask you what your stock is and I guess they verify with Jim to see if he knows it. Its very possible that some critics get through the screeners but they get edited before the show airs.; 20/1/06 2:56 PM
dan said...: i've never called in before, so I could be dead wrong.

but my feeling is that most of the show is bonafide and legit -- except that they DO use that half hour before the show airs to edit, probably heavily.

They tape from 430 to 530, then from 530 to 6, edit.

you're right though: the show "goes down too smoothly."

That they ask Jim if he knows the stock beforehand is a travesty -- that goes against the whole lightning round concept. they sell you on this "lightening bolt of suprise," pitch but the show is intensely sripted.

It's interesting how you say that he has no time for a lot of things -- you're right. Jim has a staff working for him 24/7 probably scanning papers, picking stocks, and scripting stories. half the day the guy's being driven around from CNBC's offices in Jersey to the street.com offices in Manhattan.

about those monitors you say face away from the camera, I know one of them plays the bloomberg channel.

I would love to see what else he has up there to assist him.

you ever notice that BEFORE a call comes in, jim types something? I wonder what he's doing.

one more thing - 1/2 the stocks the guy picthes COME STRAIGHT OUT OF INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY -- it makes jimmy look lke a genius, but people forget that for $295 a year, they can find it all - every morning - on page 8 of IBD.

good, groundbreaking reporting, mark.; 21/1/06 1:01 PM
Anonymous said...: I was in the audience for the Main Event II last November and I can tell you that there was nothing edited from the show. It was recoreded and then it played. Here's an acryonym that has gone by the wayside: WYSIWYG, and it applies to the show.

I gotta tell ya, watching Jim do the lightning round was more impressive in person than it is on TV. Sure the questioners were all pre-screened with their stocks, but I'm pretty sure Jim didn't have the list of which ones would be asked. In fact, one of the stocks stumped him somewhat and he had to race back around the desk to type in the ticker symbol.

I think sometimes he types in the stock symbol (or someone types it in for him) and a one-sentence summary of the company comes up on his screen. So for example if someone asked about MVIS he'd get a summary that told what sector it is in (technology:displays) and a one-sentence blurb like "makes heads-up displays."

Of course the other thing is that the universe of stocks that are candidates for the lightning round are quite a bit smaller than the total universe of 9000 stocks. For instance, the trading volume has to be high enough, the price has to be above $2, and the market cap has to be high enough. Do a screen and see how many match those criteria.; 21/1/06 5:37 PM
danny said...: just b/c the main event looked "real" doesn't mean the taped, normal episodes are.

i think the main event is as real as this show gets.

i won't completely pan it, though b/c i do think its a good show to go for for ideas.

it's just funny how most of what he pitches us comes right out of IBD page 8.

the guy wakes at 4:30 am, reads 5-10 newpapers (FT.com, washington post, NYT, IBD, and WSJ) -- most of the show comes from there and whatever else transpires during the day. being jim cramer, Im sure he has his cronies calling in with research reports they want to fax in and see covered on the show.; 22/1/06 2:52 PM
Mark Mahorney said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.; 23/1/06 11:24 AM
Mark Mahorney said...: When I've watched the show, which is usually because the TV is still on in the background, I've never seen anyone say anything inappropriate or get booted and yet the show has no discontinuity, by that I mean that the tape rolls seamlessly. I can think of only two ways this is possible. 1) The callers are always perfectly well behaved. 2) They record the questions then Jim pretends to be responding live to the recordings when they tape the show so that they can pick and choose the calls that make the show.

I think the latter is more probable. I have difficulty believing that every caller is going to be so well behaved and conveniently cooperative. On radio shows when someone gets squirrelly they use the delay to beep out the naughty stuff then cut them loose and the host says something like, "Ok then, next caller. Robert, can't you screen those nut jobs better?" People can post any sort of whacko comment here on this blog. We could set it up so that comments have to be approved first, but we don't. We can and do occasionally delete comments. Actually I can't do that with my access to the blog, but my publisher can. They do slip through and you see some of them. That's normal and to be expected. Cramer's perfect little protégés are abnormal.

There are deadheads and parrotheads. Any suggestions on a moniker for Cramer's congregation? Cramerhead doesn't roll off the tongue except that it rhymes with 'not the sharpest tool in the shed'. What pops into my head is Cramer's Kool-Aid Clan or Crameraids because he could hand out cups of special Kool-Aid and his fans would drink it.; 23/1/06 11:26 AM
Anonymous said...: I've written to Mad Money but have not received a reply to this question: How does the price of a stock increase by $2-3 BEFORE Cramer is even done talking about it on this show? How is the information on the stock getting out there beforehand? Any ideas?; 5/2/06 7:19 PM


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Search This Blog We have touched on virtually every topic you could imagine. Friday, January 20, 2006 Tricks of the Trade I'm asking my smart wife last night how is it that every single caller to the Mad Money show absolutely loves Cramer and always cooperatively starts their call with a near infinite number of twists on the worn out booyah? I say that on most call in shows the callers aren't so conveniently cooperative. From time to time I expect to hear someone sneak in a criticism. But that never happens on Mad Money. She says the calls are prerecorded. She used to work with someone whose now ex husband was a morning radio show host. Her coworker told her that she'd be amazed at how much stuff seems live that isn't. Then it clicked. They take the calls, prompt the caller on what to say so that all the calls are all in the exact same format (ie booyah, then a question). The question is always so generic, such as "What do you think about Intel?" so that the question could be used on any day. Jim's on the line responding live. They record the caller and Jim on separate tracks. Next they pick the most agreeable calls and weed out the idiots. They script and teleprompt, refining the commentary. Then they play back the recorded booyahs and questions and Jim responds, I'd guess reading teleprompters as needed and suspect all those monitors facing away from the camera are actually prompters so that he can wander around and pretend to be looking at stock charts and information, as if he actually has time to do that. The result is that it appear as if he were talking to the caller for the first time. When they get to the lightning round he tells us, "Just to be clear I do not know the callers, or there questions ahead of time.", which would be only a stretch of the truth since he didn't know them the first time he took the calls. Notice how they never get criticized, they never have any jumps in the tape, and they never have to hang up or bleep out anyone? The final taping always goes perfectly smooth and polished. How else would that be possible? posted at 12:33 PM 7 Comments: Anonymous said... I've called Mad Monay before, it is prerecorded but only an hour in advance, not the day before, and the calls are screened, they ask you what your stock is and I guess they verify with Jim to see if he knows it. Its very possible that some critics get through the screeners but they get edited before the show airs. 20/1/06 2:56 PM dan said... i've never called in before, so I could be dead wrong. but my feeling is that most of the show is bonafide and legit -- except that they DO use that half hour before the show airs to edit, probably heavily. They tape from 430 to 530, then from 530 to 6, edit. you're right though: the show "goes down too smoothly." That they ask Jim if he knows the stock beforehand is a travesty -- that goes against the whole lightning round concept. they sell you on this "lightening bolt of suprise," pitch but the show is intensely sripted. It's interesting how you say that he has no time for a lot of things -- you're right. Jim has a staff working for him 24/7 probably scanning papers, picking stocks, and scripting stories. half the day the guy's being driven around from CNBC's offices in Jersey to the street.com offices in Manhattan. about those monitors you say face away from the camera, I know one of them plays the bloomberg channel. I would love to see what else he has up there to assist him. you ever notice that BEFORE a call comes in, jim types something? I wonder what he's doing. one more thing - 1/2 the stocks the guy picthes COME STRAIGHT OUT OF INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY -- it makes jimmy look lke a genius, but people forget that for $295 a year, they can find it all - every morning - on page 8 of IBD. good, groundbreaking reporting, mark. 21/1/06 1:01 PM Anonymous said... I was in the audience for the Main Event II last November and I can tell you that there was nothing edited from the show. It was recoreded and then it played. Here's an acryonym that has gone by the wayside: WYSIWYG, and it applies to the show. I gotta tell ya, watching Jim do the lightning round was more impressive in person than it is on TV. Sure the questioners were all pre-screened with their stocks, but I'm pretty sure Jim didn't have the list of which ones would be asked. In fact, one of the stocks stumped him somewhat and he had to race back around the desk to type in the ticker symbol. I think sometimes he types in the stock symbol (or someone types it in for him) and a one-sentence summary of the company comes up on his screen. So for example if someone asked about MVIS he'd get a summary that told what sector it is in (technology:displays) and a one-sentence blurb like "makes heads-up displays." Of course the other thing is that the universe of stocks that are candidates for the lightning round are quite a bit smaller than the total universe of 9000 stocks. For instance, the trading volume has to be high enough, the price has to be above $2, and the market cap has to be high enough. Do a screen and see how many match those criteria. 21/1/06 5:37 PM danny said... just b/c the main event looked "real" doesn't mean the taped, normal episodes are. i think the main event is as real as this show gets. i won't completely pan it, though b/c i do think its a good show to go for for ideas. it's just funny how most of what he pitches us comes right out of IBD page 8. the guy wakes at 4:30 am, reads 5-10 newpapers (FT.com, washington post, NYT, IBD, and WSJ) -- most of the show comes from there and whatever else transpires during the day. being jim cramer, Im sure he has his cronies calling in with research reports they want to fax in and see covered on the show. 22/1/06 2:52 PM Mark Mahorney said... This post has been removed by a blog administrator. 23/1/06 11:24 AM Mark Mahorney said... When I've watched the show, which is usually because the TV is still on in the background, I've never seen anyone say anything inappropriate or get booted and yet the show has no discontinuity, by that I mean that the tape rolls seamlessly. I can think of only two ways this is possible. 1) The callers are always perfectly well behaved. 2) They record the questions then Jim pretends to be responding live to the recordings when they tape the show so that they can pick and choose the calls that make the show. I think the latter is more probable. I have difficulty believing that every caller is going to be so well behaved and conveniently cooperative. On radio shows when someone gets squirrelly they use the delay to beep out the naughty stuff then cut them loose and the host says something like, "Ok then, next caller. Robert, can't you screen those nut jobs better?" People can post any sort of whacko comment here on this blog. We could set it up so that comments have to be approved first, but we don't. We can and do occasionally delete comments. Actually I can't do that with my access to the blog, but my publisher can. They do slip through and you see some of them. That's normal and to be expected. Cramer's perfect little protégés are abnormal. There are deadheads and parrotheads. Any suggestions on a moniker for Cramer's congregation? Cramerhead doesn't roll off the tongue except that it rhymes with 'not the sharpest tool in the shed'. What pops into my head is Cramer's Kool-Aid Clan or Crameraids because he could hand out cups of special Kool-Aid and his fans would drink it. 23/1/06 11:26 AM Anonymous said... I've written to Mad Money but have not received a reply to this question: How does the price of a stock increase by $2-3 BEFORE Cramer is even done talking about it on this show? How is the information on the stock getting out there beforehand? 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Friday, January 20, 2006

Tricks of the Trade

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