MAD MONEY

Of all of the schools that wanted Jim Cramer to visit on his “Back to School Tour,” Cramer said IU was not only an important one, but one with star power.\nCramer, who was on campus Tuesday to tape a segment for the CNBC show “Stop Trading” and will do a live taping of his show “Mad Money” today, will host special guest IU alumnus and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban. Cramer wanted to bring Cuban to campus to add what he called, “star power” to his show.\n“Cuban is one of those guys who is honest in a society where we claim we like honesty, but in truth, we are scared by it,” Cramer said. “Because it is during the season, very close to the playoffs and his team is on a roll, I thought he would say, ‘Jim, catch me in the off-season,’ but it was just the opposite – ‘you’re going here, well you can count on me, where and when?’”\nCramer’s show combines investment tips with guest interviews, viewer calls, loud sound effects and Cramer screaming out his opinions on what stocks to buy, sell or hold. He gears his show for anyone interested in investing, including college students. Cramer said he likes to think of himself as being similar to Stephen Colbert of the “Colbert Report” or Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show,” only college students come to him for business instead of politics.\nThe “Stop Trading” segment was filmed in front of a crowd of business school students on the west side of Assembly Hall. After filming, Cramer talked with his fans and thanked basketball coach Kelvin Sampson for letting him use Assembly Hall to film “Mad Money” in front of a live audience featuring IU students.\n“There is a lot more history to the hall than any other place we’ve gone to,” Cramer said. “I feel like I’m borrowing a tradition and hopefully I live up to it.”\nTickets for the filming of “Mad Money” are still available to IU students with a student ID. They are free, and check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. in the south lobby entrance of Assembly Hall.\nCramer is at IU as a part of his “Back to School Tour.” IU will be among a short list of prestigious schools that Cramer has visited on his tour, such as Harvard, Columbia and Georgetown.\n“My message to college students is a couple-fold one,” Cramer said. “One, that you too can be like me and make a lot of money. The second part is that there is a greatness to business that you may not realize or recognize.”\nCramer also feels that college students can use his advice on what stocks to move. He feels that students can still be investing even if they don’t have a lot of money.\n“A lot of people spend their money, like I did, on beer,” Cramer said. “Maybe they should spend that money on one share of ‘Bud’ instead. I remember thinking, ‘I just made 25 bucks – I’m calling a woman.’ Now I am buying a share of ‘Yahoo!.’”\nThe show from Assembly Hall will air at 6 p.m. tonight and then again at 11 p.m., both on CNBC.