CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday shared with investors how the sausage really gets made.
Cramer shared the more unsavory aspects of the craft, the inevitable mistakes he said most money managers won't admit to making.
"Money management is an art, not a science," Cramer emphasized. "There are all sorts of conflicting disciplines and difficult reactions to the unforeseen."
During Wednesday's CNBC Investing Club meeting, Cramer pointed to recent mistakes he's made with CNBC's Charitable Trust, one of which was not buying more shares of household hardware and industrial tool manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker before it shot up to $99.
"I showed the genuine disappointment today that occurred when I refused to violate my basis, an important discipline for me, and pay up for more stock," Cramer said. "I showed what it was like to kick myself. For me, it's torture and I showed that to Investing Club members today, because I'm tired of hearing about how everybody I listen to gets everything right and you get so many things wrong."
Cramer also highlighted his experience with Bausch Health Company, where he "got bagged," listening to a management team "much more bullish than it had any right to be." He asserted that owning your mistakes and accepting them are just part of the game when it comes to managing money, even if you feel like you were the one misled.
"I want you to have confidence in picking stocks. The only way I can do that, though, is to admit that mistakes are routinely made by everyone, including the professionals — in some cases, especially the professionals — but that they can't keep you from continuing to try," Cramer said. "Mistakes are part of the business for everybody."
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