Business Publisher Recalls Controversial Book

HarperCollins Publishers said late Friday that it is recalling the book Trading With the Enemy. The publisher said in a letter that the book written by Nicholas Maier, which alleged improper trading activities at the hedge fund formerly run by James Cramer, the co-founder of TheStreet.com (TSCM), contained errors.

A letter from James A. Fox, senior vice president and general counsel for HarperCollins Publishers, said the publisher has stopped shipping the book from its warehouse and that remaining inventory from the initial printing will be destroyed.

The company also said it will be sending an error notice about a chapter in the book to retailers and media representatives who received copies of the book.

The error notice reads that "[O]n pages 177 through 180, there is a description of a transaction involving securities of Western Digital Corporation. Following publication of the book, it was determined that these pages contain erroneous information. Cramer & Company did not conduct any trading activity in Western Digital Corporation in reliance on inside information. The Securities and Exchange Commission never investigated any of Cramer & Company's trading activities in securities of Western Digital Corporation."

In a statement, Cramer said: "I am pleased that HarperCollins has decided to destroy all of its copies of a book concerning me that was published less than two weeks ago. I had previously stated that the book, which was written by a former, disgruntled employee of my former hedge fund, quoted me as saying outrageous things I never said (and would never say), meeting with people I never met and being the subject of investigations that never occurred. Today's action by HarperCollins vindicates my position that the book contained false and derogatory material that should never have been published."

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