HLS Hosts ‘Mad Money’

The Ames courtroom at Harvard Law School’s Austin Hall roared with the applause and “booyahs” of 250 students and faculty members during CNBC’s “Mad Money” taping with host James J. Cramer ’77.

In a whirlwind hour-and-a-half that mixed serious stock statistics with intense sound effects, projectile office chairs, and the kind of cheering usually found at a wrestling match, Cramer, who also graduated from Harvard Law School in 1984, made several nods to his alma mater during the show. He interviewed fellow alumnus of the Law School’s Class of 1984 and two-term New York State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer.

Cramer also asked the audience to recognize Dean of the Law School Elena Kagan, who was sitting in the audience, and he deemed the University “The People’s Republic of Cramerica.”

Producers had little trouble riling up the crowd after commercial breaks, particularly whenever Cramer hit his sound-effects board with a gavel or had three members of the Harvard football team throw and pulverize desk chairs.

During the show’s trademark “Lightning Round” segment, nearly 20 students chosen beforehand from Harvard and other local universities asked Cramer questions about particular stocks.

“People ask ‘Who’s your daddy?’ I say you’re my skidaddy,” one audience member said. “Is Halliburton a house of pleasure or a house of pain?”

Most attendees were law students, but undergraduates made up a significant proportion of the audience according to Law School spokesman Michael A. Armini. Tickets were distributed at both the Law School and the Holyoke Center approximately one month ago, and CNBC producers contacted some student ticket-holders about participating in the “lightning round” before the show.

Cramer paced around a desk covered with computer screens and hundreds of rubber bulls and bears with the show’s logo. He periodically threw these creatures at audience members to keep them enthusiastic as he discussed stock facts and figures.

Behind him was a portrait of himself in Renaissance formal wear painted by actor Gene Hackman, according to Cramer’s nephew and consultant on the show, Cliff B. Mason ’07. Cramer befriended Hackman when the now-TV host was an investment fund manager.

In speaking about specific companies worth investing in, Cramer sang the praises of Bookham, Inc., a fiberoptics company, and Blackboard, Inc., which offers online software that allows teachers and students to create and share lecture videos and other educational tools.

Cramer told the crowd that he figured Blackboard stock would be a big win with college students, who he suspected were too lazy to attend lectures. He also thought that “blackboarding” would become a verb just as “googling” is now.

During Cramer’s interview with Spitzer, his friend from Law School and frequent guest on the show, the two discussed corporate ethics. Cramer asked Spitzer whether the state attorney general’s investigations into companies were worth it—considering that the market has been stagnant.

“The market does well for companies who play by the rules,” Spitzer said, followed by significant applause from the audience. “People are benefiting from an honest market.”

Off the air, Cramer told the crowd that the two segments when he took questions from students were his favorite parts of the show.

Cramer recommended that students should not fear being speculative in their stock trades—within reason. “You have all your life,” he said, advising students to take chances.

He also assured students that “the liberal arts are in short supply on Wall Street.”

Cramer, who graduated magna cum laude from the College with a degree in government, was also president of The Crimson.

One audience member, while enjoying the show’s entertainment value, was skeptical of the show’s longevity. “I think it’s gonna die off in a couple months,” Philipp C. Saumweber, a second-year Business School student, said. “This type of show’s interesting. But who’s gonna buy a stock just after one show?”

This taping was the first in a series of shows that Cramer is filming on location at several universities.

Cramer will broadcast live from Notre Dame University, University of Michigan, the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University.

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.edu.