Cramer Takes a Trip Through the $10 Store

And they say this game is easy.

I keep hearing from readers that this $10 Store is a great feature. And I keep seeing the performance that these stocks are racking up. Heck, this thing reminds me of the old Heard on the Street columns under WSJ Editor Norm Pearlstine a decade ago. I used to make a ton of money following that column, until it became one of those hedged "on the one hand, on the other" wishy-washes that couldn't gap a stock down if the reporter's life depended on it.

But may my $10 Store luck never visit your house. I do not see TheStreet.com until you do. I eagerly await Fridays to see what stocks the staff picks. (I am over at 100 Wall Street while TSC is at 2 Rector and my T-1 line doesn't get me to the $10 Store any earlier than you.) When I read something I can sink my teeth in, I want to buy. Just my nature.

That's the problem. When Suzanne Kapner wrote up Brookstone I jumped on the stock that Monday, in part because I like Kapner's stuff so much. But the following weekend, I went to the Brookstone down the block at the Short Hills Mall and found very little I liked. I immediately sold the stock at a loss.

Then I bought Koo Koo Roo, a couple days after ex-TSC staffer Louise Kramer wrote it up. That sounded like a great idea, a well-run Boston Chicken. Until I went to the one in Westfield, N.J., and had a terrible meal, one that even my kids didn't like. The place was dirty and the service awful. Boom: another quick loss.

Finally I decided to capitalize on this Year 2000 stuff. Tired of having Soros et al make all the money in this group, I jumped on Topro, when in-house Y2K expert Cory Johnson penned his piece. It immediately fell $1. My rule is to abandon ship when a stock has that big a decline, and that's exactly what I did. Jeff had a fit that I did this one. He told me that I deserved the loss, playing someone else's game, and not doing any research beyond a cursory phone call.

Now I look back and I realize that Brookstone would have been fabulous! The two others still look like losers. But literally if I had thrown darts at the rest of the $10 Store I would have done great.

I don't pen this piece to carp about the $10 Store. Its record -- as opposed to my poor performance in the $10 Store -- speaks for itself. I write it because the three times I bought stuff at the Store, I violated the cardinal rule of buying before doing my own homework. Let's say I had liked the Koo Koo article and noted to do a little field research. I would have discovered a flaw in the piece, the execution of the stores is not perfect. I would have passed on this one. Had I examined Topro for a few days, I would have discovered that this stock had been hyped ad nauseam in Motley Fool. It had already jumped as that rabid crowd had gotten in much earlier. Brookstone? A little homework would have revealed an expansion plan beyond the big malls that is now paying dividends.

My point? Use www.thestreet.com as your Home Depot, a place to go and learn so you can do-it-yourself better. We don't tout, because that's a loser's game. We are a forum for an exchange of ideas, a place to get started, to learn. If you simply pull the trigger, you'll end up like my experience with the $10 Store, taking back merchandise and never getting all of your money back.

For instance, if you like this week's feature on Grey Wolf, don't fly blind. I am calling brokers about it. I am speaking to the company. I am sorting through the company's new offering of stock, announced Monday morning. I am being patient. And if everything pans out, maybe I will bite. And then Jeff will get off my back.

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