Hedge Fund Manager to Exit Stock Trading

Jim Cramer, the flamboyant hedge fund manager and stock commentator, is getting out of the trading business to spend more time on his writing and with his family.

Cramer said Monday he had burned out on trading stocks, which he has been doing professionally for 19 years. He will leave the hedge fund he started in 1987 to be managed by his partner, Jeff Berkowitz.

In addition to working at the hedge fund, Cramer also has become one of the most visible stock market commentators, with regular TV appearances, a magazine column and frequent contributions to TheStreet.com, a financial news Web site he co-founded with Martin Peretz, the publisher of The New Republic.

Cramer said the rough ride in the stock market this year raised his stress level to a point that was no longer tolerable. Referring to his portrayal in a new book as a fiery, tempestuous trader, Cramer said it was time to step back from the stock market to achieve more balance in his personal life.

“I haven’t had a lot of fun this year,” Cramer said in an interview. “It’s unbelievable that I’ve become as maniacal and as miserable as I have.”

Cramer has had several dust-ups with the media outlets he appears on. He recently settled a lawsuit with Fox News, which claimed he reneged on a deal to produce a show for them. The spat started when Fox complained that he promoted his own stock on the air.

Cramer did not specify his future writing plans, but he did say he wanted to reach a broader audience than he was getting with TheStreet.com, where irreverent analyses are intended for a more-sophisticated class of investors.

“I’ve been pigeon-holed as a writer for traders, but I want to broaden myself beyond that.”

TheStreet.com shares rose 6 cents to $2.50 on Nasdaq.