Someone accused me of pumping and dumping the other night. You know, that's where you get long something and then you push it real hard and then you sell it to the public.

He wanted to know how I could write favorably about stocks I love and then sell them. He wanted to know what my small-cap philosophy toward pump and dump was and how I avoided it. He wanted to know because the people at other magazines wanted to know, he said. I wanted to know what planet this guy was from. He concluded this nonsensical line of questions by saying he didn't really think it was possible to write about stocks without getting in trouble. That philosophy would save a lot of trees.

It's funny how often these accusatory questions creep into conversation.

TheStreet.com

has worked diligently to make sure that my columns don't even approach the appearance of problematic. The editor has killed columns that he doesn't like, the disclosure is the most rigorous in the business, outright recommendations are banned, writing about tiny stocks is verboten and the list goes on and on.

Dave Kansas

,

TSC's

editor, has even penned a how-to-read-cramer

column, all in an effort to make sure that my column is what it can be. An enlightening, intense diary about what is happening in the mind of a trader. It's the inside-the-game view that can't be presented unless you're inside the game.

But still people wonder if I am using my role as a columnist for darker purposes. The entire concept that I am some Manchurian Candidate using the Internet in some nefarious manner seems especially surreal to me because, as painful as it is for me to say, I was only up 2% in 1998.

The frustration behind a charge such as the one above is that I already suffered through an inquiry from the government after I wrote about four small-cap stocks four years ago for

SmartMoney

. The magazine unfortunately left off the disclosure -- despite contractual obligations to include it -- and immediately I got charged with pump and dump by some fellows over at

Kiplinger's

. The accusations got into the

Washington Post

on my 40th birthday, and an other wise exciting day was turned into a nightmare -- as were the next six months.

No matter that I didn't sell the stocks. The press found me guilty of dumping. No matter that I didn't think the stocks would jump when I wrote it, I was accused of pumping.

But truth is, nothing ever came of the investigation.

The Wall Street Journal

looked at 129 instances where I mentioned stocks in my column, some just in passing, some saying I thought they were great stocks, and what could they find? No pattern at all.

When I started writing this column, we decided on three important things, as I mentioned above. First is the total avoidance of naming small-cap stocks. I would always use the example of

National Gift Wrap and Box Company

, my father's private company. I couldn't pump and dump that operation if I tried!

Second, I disclose everything. Even in passing. Everything.

Finally, unlike in

SmartMoney

, I never say "here are my five favorite stocks." Or "these are stocks you should own." Or "I recommend these stocks." I get asked 100 times a day for a list of stock recommendations, but I don't provide them.

Another bizarre aspect to all the intense focus is that a number of money managers, stock owners and others write about the market. But nobody follows these same tough rules. And they should follow these tough rules. Too much strangeness goes on out there to the detriment of everyone.

I am giving you an online diary of what I do. I can only report truthfully about what I am doing, giving you a sense of the market, the mood and the mayhem. I was appalled recently when I read in

Money

about a money manager who exists to pump and dump and then says that it is legal. Heck, maybe it is legal. That's not the &^$%*&$&87 point. It is dishonest. It is wrong. That's the reason not to do it.

Often I will say I like the oil drillers, telcos or tech, but you have to figure out which ones. I err on the side of being purposely vague, because I don't even want the appearance of pump and dump.

That's why when I heard the charge again -- and I know I will hear it dozens more times from other journalists -- all I could do is ask, "Do you even read my stuff?"

You will read pieces in the next few weeks about me by professional journalists that will vilify me in a manner not dissimilar to the torrent I felt in 1995. I will be mortified and shamed for my family because my family can't understand why I bother to take this abuse.

But I will not be mortified or shamed for myself, because I know that I have taken every precaution possible, that I work my butt off to try to help you learn about this business without telling you what to do or what to buy.

Scrutiny will only intensify: It's the price of success. All I can do is do my best to avoid even the appearance of pump and dump. The appearance of taking advantage of you the reader. And hope that some of these critics bother to read me.

Is that too much to ask?

James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at

letters@thestreet.com.