Jim Cramer: stocks are still the best game in town

published 8 April 2016

Donald Trump may be worried about a "fat, juicy bubble" in the stockmarket, but Jim Cramer isn't fazed: "Don't let the bubble heads scare you away from making money with your money", said the notoriously loud-mouthed, red-faced host of CNBC's TV programme Mad Money this week.

Cramer, a former hedge-fund manager who also founded the financial news website TheStreet.com, said this week that one of the best lessons he learned while at Goldman Sachs is that you only need to become wealthy once, and those who have made their money are probably better off in lower-risk assets to ensure they don't lose their fortune.

But "if you aren't already rich, the market is still the best way to try to make yourself wealthy". Even though "there will always be bubbles", he doesn't feel the risks are great enough to warrant steering clear of stocks.

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Cramer is known as a permabull. Like most of the establishment, he didn't see the crash coming; a few days before Bear Stearns went bust, he insisted it was "fine". His ongoing presence at CNBC seems symptomatic of the financial sector's determination to carry on as if the crisis never happened. So it's no surprise he reckons stocks are still "the best game in town".

Over the long term, stocks are a good way to get rich and equities look more appealing than bonds or cash in this zero-interest rate era. But this may not be the best entry point for US equities, as stretched valuations imply lacklustre long-term returns.