Aaron Task Talks About Infamous Jim Cramer Market Manipulation Video

Aaron Task, of Yahoo Tech Ticker, recently

about the infamous Jim Cramer video, which went viral in March of 2009. If you have not seen the YouTube video yet, you can see it

. It is a fascinating look into the world of hedge funds and some of the tricks of the trade. Cramer discusses the use of manipulative tactics among the hedge fund industry. Some have argued that the legality of the methods he describes in the video are questionable, although Cramer never says that he himself used them. At one point, he talks about "creating a level of activity" in the futures market prior to the open of stock trading to bolster a position, whether it was long or short. One tactic that Cramer describes is bidding up the futures when he was short. Counterintuitively, this could work in his favor, because when the "real sellers" came in and knocked the market it down, it created "a very negative feel," which could catalyze further declines. Understandably, this video created quite an uproar when it was released. Possibly the most interesting person in this entire situation is Aaron Task, who conducted the now infamous interview with Cramer. Task elaborates on what he was thinking during the interview in his exclusive interview with Zing Talk, and offers his opinion on the controversy that followed when the segment hit YouTube. Task said that when the video was first taped, he was working at theStreet.com

where Cramer is the largest shareholder, Chairman, and "pretty much runs things." Essentially, Cramer was Task's boss, which he said was "a little bit intimidating." He also noted that there was no set direction for where that conversation was going to lead. It was more or less spontaneous. Task said, "I had no idea that the conversation was going to head in that direction. When it did, I was a little shocked, a little taken aback. I didn't think he would perjure himself, and I still don't think that he did." Task noted that Cramer is, after all, a Harvard educated lawyer. He said that to this day he believes Cramer was talking in hypotheticals, saying that this is something that you could do if you were a hedge fund manager. According to Task, one of his greatest regrets as a journalist is that he did not ask Cramer directly "Are you saying that this is what you did, or are you saying that this is what someone in theory could do?" He said that "it was a mistake on my part." Task told Benzinga that he thinks that when Jim Cramer ran money at his hedge fund, "He pushed the envelope with everything that was legal to get an advantage. Whether he did the things that he said in that video, I do not know, and don't want to speculate about." Be sure to check out Task's terrific work on Yahoo Finance's Tech Ticker where he talks daily with a wide variety of market movers and Wall Street heavy hitters.