You might think that the world's billionaires would know it all when it comes to money, finance, and investing, but Jim Cramer thinks otherwise. The Mad Money host once criticized "bearish billionaires" on his show, saying that everyday investors should absolutely refrain from taking their stock market calls.
"You can’t take investment advice from oligarchs no matter how smart they sound because they have their own priorities and a very different agenda from you, and we need to stop pretending otherwise," he proclaimed.
Cramer added that the super-rich have been putting on a "ridiculous charade" for years, coming on air with a negative preset and talking all about how bad things are, even though other people have made much more money than they have in the last few years (and by staying positive, no less).
Unlike the everyday investors who tune into Mad Money, Cramer said that money moguls can afford to have "total contempt" for the stock market and take minimal risks. According to him, the one true threat to them is inflation because it decreases the value of their dollars, while in contrast, such has the opposite effect on hardworking hourly employees who end up seeing their wages increase.
“I think many of the wealthy, wittingly or unwittingly, are pulling up the ladder behind them by scaring you away from the stock market with horror stories about the dangers of inflation lurking everywhere,” Cramer added. "They’re also scaring you away from some of the best stocks in the market that really don’t have anything to do with inflation at all."
He went on to name Amazon, Netflix, and Tesla as examples of such, saying that rich and powerful people have spent years coming on air and trash-talking the three, even though they are among the most successful companies of all time.
“Do you think it’s a coincidence that so many hedge fund guys made giant bets against [Tesla, Amazon, and Netflix] and lost? I don’t think so. The people behind those companies wanted to create wealth for their [shareholders]. They were willing to take huge risks for you in order to help you get rich, 'long with themselves.
"If you held their stocks for long, that’s exactly what you did. That’s huge for the vast majority of people, but if you’ve already got a billion dollars, it’s meaningless, which is why they have no appreciation for these companies or their evangelical leaders.”
Source: CNBC
