McCombs goes 'Mad'

With a big Texas "booyah," the McCombs School of Business crowd welcomed CNBC's "Mad Money" host James Cramer, as he advised on future stock investments and addressed students' questions at the Hogg Memorial Auditorium Tuesday.

Dressed in burnt orange, students lined up outside the auditorium to check in and find seats before the show's taping at 3 p.m.

"The students at business school work hard," said business school director David Wenger. "This is just one of the things that we can do where students can just kick back, put on their T-shirts and spend some time enjoying something. It is educational and entertaining at the same time."

The show included a lightning round, in which Cramer gave his buy, sell and hold opinions on stocks and a sudden death Q-and-A session in which students named their stocks and received feedback. During commercial breaks, stand-up comedian Pete Dominick entertained students and led them in the "Texas Fiight" chant.

"I think this was a lot of fun," said finance senior Christopher Dorsey. "It is good to hear from someone with a ton of experience. I have my assumptions about stock markets, and it's good to check with someone as experienced as he is."

The taping and preparation of the show lasted from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and a reception was held at the Littlefield Home at 6 p.m. More than 800 students, 50 faculty members and VIPs filled the auditorium, Wenger said.

The event's planning began late last year when finance sophomore Marshall Cowden, wrote to the producers of "Mad Money" requesting that they film a show in Austin.

"I sent a bunch of e-mails saying that Texas has a great atmosphere - we like stocks, we like business," Cowden said. "I didn't think anything would come of it, but a month or two later, I got a call, out of the blue, from the executive producer saying that they wanted to come down to Texas. It was a little bit of effort on my part, but I definitely think it paid off 10 times."

"Mad Money" was taped in Austin as part of their back to school tour and aired at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday.

"I think one thing that is great about Cramer is that he takes a subject that is complex and a lot of people don't find it approachable, and he really puts it into words that are entertaining and accessible to your everyday person," Cowden said. "So he really opens a really tough subject to the masses, and it empowers them and gives them the ability to take their own financial future in their own hands."

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