The Essential Cramer

An extremely opportune sale of ImClone turned out to be remarkably ill-timed after all for the Domestic Doyenne. As another go-go 1990s icon was toppled. Cramer helped readers make sense of the pieces as they fell:

• More Than Stewart's Sale Could Be Off
• Whatever the Truth, Martha Knew Better
• Playing Make-Believe With Martha Stewart

2003: The Exquisite Moment, Good Governance and Mutual Fund Shame

War. Wrenching, horrifying and a reality, for U.S. and its markets. It took all Cramer's experience and heat-of-the-hedge-fund trading acumen to cut through the emotion and keep readers focused on the business at hand, for those whose business it was to make money, no matter what was happening offscreen. A near-photographic memory of the trading opportunities that emerged in 1990 after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait helped Cramer tell readers to pull the trigger: The Exquisite Moment Is Upon Us. That kind of guidance left him and them Happily Long on Saddam Capture News, too.

You mean, we weren't done with the scandals?

• Not Marking to Market Will Hurt Fannie, Freddie
• Convenience Dictates Quattrone's Suspension
• In Martha's Case, It's About Lies
• These Three Defendants Should Be Found Guilty
• Casinos Look Cleaner Than Mutual Funds
• Mutual Funds Must Ban Personal Trading

Somehow Cramer still had invective to spare for the larger issues that turned out to be in play:

• Nobody Gets Sued for Being Too Downbeat
• Time to Treat the Fund Scandal as the Crime It Is
• 'Caveat Emptor' Doesn't Work for SEC Anymore

He even had the energy to illuminate the less salacious aspects of the market, like Running Option Plays and playing cyclicals.

2004: Vioxx, BERQY and Google

Linguistic fireworks have always been a Cramer specialty, and in 2004 he added two memorable entries to the annals of Cramerisms with BERQY and its later iteration, GERQY.

Google got off to a rocky start but soon captured a title in the market's prizefight: Google: New Winner of the New World. And a love affair between the market and its new darling blossomed.