Investment Advice from Hell

For a few years now (the few years of gainful employment), I have played the stock market with a small E-trade account. I've done fairly well - an initial investment of $2800 is now worth close to $7000 in a period of time where the S&P 500 more or less treaded water. That said, I lost money on three stock trades in the past year, and decided that I needed to reevaluate my strategy.

Then I discovered this guy. Jim Cramer - a brilliant hedge fund investor who not only enjoys teaching people how to invest, but does so while rating a solid 90 on the Unintentional Comedy Scale on his can't-look-away-but-cover-your-ears entertaining show - Mad Money. Here is a clip where he makes the case that we should invest in Wal-Mart because they don't want to give their employees health care...

I bought his book, Real Money, which is the first book I've ever read that explains the nonsensical movement of stocks in a way that, well, makes sense. Cramer's philosophy - diligently do your research, don't tie the price of a stock too closely to the company associated with it, diversify your portfolio, and buy and sell the best stocks without prejudice.

So in the process of doing some research on Yahoo Finance tonight, I looked into buying some oil-drilling stock (it might be a good time). I come across an article from TheStreet.com with something to say on two stocks I'm looking at closely, with what looks to be good technical analysis, when I peek at the name at the writer...

John Bradshaw Layfield. Or to put it another way, WWE's John Bradshaw Layfield. In my mid-20's wrestling phase, JBL was known as Bradshaw, had long hair and a beard, and finished off opponents with his trademark "Clothesline from Hell." Apparently, Bradshaw cut his hair, made some money, and now writes for a serious financial website when he isn't guarding the American border. This is the man I'm taking investment advice from...

(And I'm thinking about taking it...)