This is a rebroadcast of a show that originally aired on August 11. In Tuesday's special "RealMoney" radio show dedicated to answering his listeners' questions, Jim Cramer said by first looking at the question-and-answer section in the transcript he can tell the difference between a genuine conference call and one in which management is snowing him. Taking the Sprint Nextel ( S) quarterly conference call as an example, Cramer said that if people read the body of the call's transcript, they would believe the company is doing great. But then the Q&A started, and it was a nightmare, he said. The second thing he looks for is the guidance, he said. Little to no guidance makes him skeptical, while a lot of guidance is a good thing and provides visibility, he said. Cramer said he also looks for management confidence and company buybacks, including the price the company paid for the buyback. Another thing to look for is if the buyback has retriggered the company's earnings. Energizer ( ENR) has systematically bought back stock and managed to raise its bar, Cramer said
"That shows false growth, so be careful," he warned. "I also like to hear about what pace of acceleration or deceleration the revenues are at," he said. "Accelerated growth is fantastic."

Answering his next question, Cramer said the changes in technology have not changed the market significantly, other than allowing people to buy and sell much more cheaply and read a lot more about companies. TheStreet.com, which Cramer founded, allows you to read this information, he said. When a mailer asked what the most satisfying part of market is, he said the market is not a game of culture or helping people, but of making money. "It's not satisfying when you lose a lot, and it is when you make a lot," he said. "It's a bad day when you lose money and a good day when you make some." When he was a hedge fund manger, he said he liked the ones that went up over time, like iRobot ( IRBT). Cramer said he tends to like a company when it "gingerly" becomes public, adding that a lot of banks are like this.
IPO Odyssey
Initial public offerings can be good or bad, Cramer told a caller. The best IPOs tend to be companies that are early on in a new business cycle, he said, adding that the dogs come in by the time every one has come public. Cramer said he was intrigued when MasterCard ( MA) became public. Nobody thought much of this company, but it has become a big winner, he said. "I look for out-of-the-way stuff that could work," he said. "When I look at an IPO, I don't necessarily want the hottest one." In addition to banks, he looks for good IPOs in the aerospace sector, but two places he said he doesn't like are the biotech or tech areas.