Key Takeaways
- • CNBC host Jim Cramer told a caller on Mad Money that he prefers gold bullion, or SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) if bullion is out of reach, over Bitcoin as portfolio insurance.
- • Cramer did not call Bitcoin a poor hedge; he stated only a preference, and he framed Ethereum and Bitcoin as the cryptos that pass his quality test.
- • Cramer advised a caller who had spent his investment money on a home down payment to split new money evenly between index funds and five stocks the caller likes, then hedge that mix with gold.
- • The article cites a Bloomberg ETF analyst's report of record five-day inflows of $7 billion into gold and Bitcoin ETFs in August, showing investors buying both assets at once.
Summary
CNBC host Jim Cramer told a caller named Jacob on Mad Money that he prefers gold bullion to Bitcoin for insuring a portfolio. If bullion is out of reach, Cramer said he would accept SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), a gold exchange-traded fund. The caller had spent much of his investment money on a home down payment and asked how to rebuild. Cramer advised splitting new money evenly between index funds and five stocks the caller likes, with Bitcoin or gold insuring that mix. He did not dismiss Bitcoin, however, and the article notes he only stated a preference rather than calling Bitcoin a poor hedge.
The segment was part of a broader set of investing rules Cramer laid out in the episode. He warned against low-quality tokens and tied the crypto remark to quality, saying investors lured by perceived bargains, from penny stocks to junk tokens, risk losses. Instead, he said, buyers could simply choose Ethereum or Bitcoin. The article notes that when Cramer reached for a hedge, he listed Bitcoin beside gold and then chose gold. Cramer has also linked his recent Mad Money picks to rising interest rates.
The gold-first view is shared by Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who wrote in August that he would avoid Bitcoin and does not see it as a safe haven. Market behavior ran the other way. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported record five-day inflows of $7 billion into gold and Bitcoin ETFs in August. The flows fed a 60/40 portfolio debate, in which Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan argued that stocks and bonds are both priced in dollars.
The article characterizes the comments as Cramer's opinion, not investment advice, and notes that the question of which asset better insures a portfolio remains open among traditional-finance voices.
The segment was part of a broader set of investing rules Cramer laid out in the episode. He warned against low-quality tokens and tied the crypto remark to quality, saying investors lured by perceived bargains, from penny stocks to junk tokens, risk losses. Instead, he said, buyers could simply choose Ethereum or Bitcoin. The article notes that when Cramer reached for a hedge, he listed Bitcoin beside gold and then chose gold. Cramer has also linked his recent Mad Money picks to rising interest rates.
The gold-first view is shared by Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who wrote in August that he would avoid Bitcoin and does not see it as a safe haven. Market behavior ran the other way. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported record five-day inflows of $7 billion into gold and Bitcoin ETFs in August. The flows fed a 60/40 portfolio debate, in which Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan argued that stocks and bonds are both priced in dollars.
The article characterizes the comments as Cramer's opinion, not investment advice, and notes that the question of which asset better insures a portfolio remains open among traditional-finance voices.
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