The Essential Cramer

Heady times in the late '90s gave rise to sheer puffery, embodied by specious public offerings. Tired of watching slick hucksters get one over on Mom and Pop, Cramer pounded the table to remind readers that The IPO's Not the End of the Road.

Friday, April 3, frozen in amber The Cramer Diaries, Part I: Early Bird Gets Worm

Cramer wasn't the only one to benefit from his uncanny memory of market history: Cramer on the Parallels With 1990 via Iraq

1999: Y2K, the B2B League and Get Your Red Hots

A legendary metaphor was born for stocks that were moving so fast, they were going to be overcooked, in the Holland Tunnel Diner: Too Hot in the Kitchen?

Rotisserie leagues ain't just for football. Back in 2000, all the hedge fund kids -- including Cramer and his hedge fund trader Matt Jacobs -- were playing business-to-business stocks, and there was only one way to keep score:

• The B2B Draft Hits New Heights
• B2B, Round 2
• Cramer's B2B League: The Rosters
• Message to Matt: Eat My Dust!

Outed on TheStreet.com: the dirty little mutual-fund secret of must-own stocks, in a series of columns inspired by turret talk with hedge fund partner Jeff "Berko" Berkowitz. Meet the stocks that once could only be measured in points-per-hour:

• The Red Hots Are Candy, but Too Many Make You Sick
• Cramer's Rewrite of His 'Red Hots Are Candy' Piece
• Who's Who in the Red Hot Index

2000: Heady Days, Buzz & Batch and a Big Change

A gift for dialogue (and an instinct for self-preservation) made for two of Cramer's most memorable sparring partners, Buzz Gould and Batch Hammer. These fictional hedge fund traders embodied the go-go, smarter-than-thou opponents TheStreet.com's readers faced... or were... and reveled the ugly goings-on that really moved the market:

• The Trader Goes Truth-Seeking (and Meets 'Buzz' Gould)
• Batch Hammer at the Helm