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Forget Jon's Rage: Analyze the Market

Stewart's attack on Cramer aside, stocks can give good returns

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 14, 2009 3:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – Hammering Jim Cramer on TV the other night, Jon Stewart bemoaned the fate of his 75-year-old mother: “She bought into the idea that long-term investing is the way to go. And guess what?” Cramer replied, “It didn’t work.” And for many Americans, that was the takeaway: The stock market is for chumps. But let’s not allow rage to blind us from rationally assessing the market, writes Tom Petruno in the Los Angeles Times.

In the last 16 months, we’ve wiped out 12 years of stock gains, and 12 years “qualifies as ‘long term’ for most people,” writes Petruno. But if you need a 7% annual return to retire comfortably, you have little choice but to bet on stocks. With a long time horizon, it’s still a good bet. Still, remember that it is a bet, “a game of chance that offers probabilities, but absolutely no assurances.”

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Jim Cramer talks with Jon Stewart during an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

In this March 2, 2009 file photo, a specialist works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Jon Stewart hosts a taping of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Thursday, March 12, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Jim Cramer, left, host of "Mad Money" on CNBC, talks with Jon Stewart on Thursday, March 12, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show, speaks to reporters at the awards ceremony for the 11th Annual Mark Twain Prize on November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

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What Jon Stewart's assault on Jim Cramer demonstrated is that the desire for vengeance trumps any interest in a rational analysis of the stock market's prospects. - Tom Petruno

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Forget Jon's Rage: Analyze the Market