The Essential Cramer

Read the still-controversial speech, The Winners of the New World, for yourself and see why this became a rallying point -- or rather, a pillory -- for critics once the tech bubble started showing signs of instability soon after.

Yep, he said it: Take Something Off the Table

After the New Economy dream ended, we needed the bucket of cold water that was Reality as Told by the Trader and the sharp goad of our folly, which Cramer was only too happy to flog us and himself with: 10 Internet Myths, Revisited while he was Peering Through the Gloom.

Bye, bye, Mr. American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee ... wafted through the air when we revealed JJC Will Retire From Cramer Berkowitz. Here's what convinced him it was finally time to call it quits, and how he came to terms with the decision in our pages:

• The Day Something Snapped
• A New Year, A New Role for JJC
• The End of a Trading Career

2001: The Net Bust, Enron and Sept. 11

Cramer took to his new role like a fish to water (Smarter Money: After Two Weeks at TSC, JJC Is Loving It) and started evangelizing for his new spiritual home, The Church of What's Happening in Four Months.

But he didn't forget his colleagues in the foxholes up and down Wall Street when they needed A Bible for Bad Days, had a hard time dealing with decimals -- or failed in their fiduciary duties and needed a spanking. And Buzz and Batch were back to Take the Stand and Reveal the Street's Secrets. He even spilled some of his own: Breaking Into the Biz: How to Start Running Money.

That's not to say everything was peachy-keen on the Web. He had to explain the business model of a sharply less ebullient Old Economy world order in which a company actually had to make money and There's No Such Thing as a Free Site -- lessons not appreciated soon enough by Industry Standard.