Booyah! Jim Cramer's Mad Money storms campus

Jim Cramer brought his popular television show Mad Money to Tech Square on Thursday, Oct. 18, as the latest stop on his Back to School Tour.

The taping was originally scheduled in April, but was postponed after the shooting at Virginia Tech.

Cramer said one of the main reasons he chose to visit Tech was the "groundswell" of enthusiasm and support that he observed.

"I like to go where I'm wanted... My experience with [universities] that are open-armed is that everything goes much more smoothly. When I have administration, donors and students that all want me, then it all coalesces into a better opportunity for me to spend a lot more time with people and for my staff to put on a better show," Cramer said.

The program, which airs weekdays at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on CNBC, was taped during the afternoon in the College of Management courtyard. A limited number of tickets were issued, primarily to Management majors.

He began the day by lecturing a management class and meeting with the GT Investment Club.

"The school itself is one of the places that seems to have an affinity for the market and I will emphasize-that's rare... You clearly have something going here," Cramer said.

By 4 p.m. taping of the show was underway and drops of rain threatened to disrupt the proceedings, but the rain cleared up after a few minutes and didn't return for the rest of the afternoon.

He spent the first segment of his show recommending the stock Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), an Atlanta-based company which operates commodity marketplaces. He described it as the "best way to play the volatility in oil," since ICE makes money anytime there is an oil trade. He also featured another, more well-known Atlanta company, Coca-Cola, which he likes for its strong growth and the exposure it will get at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing. This was a pre-taped segment in which he interviewed Coke CFO Gary Fayard at the company headquarters.

Next was the Lightning Round, where Cramer displays his uncanny ability to take a stock suggestion from the audience, no matter how obscure, and instantly, with no reheasal, deliver an analysis. Unfortunately, Jim didn't like most of the companies the students came up with.

"[Participating in the Lightning Round] was very awesome, other than being on national TV and having Jim tell me I was an idiot," said Andrew Burch, a fourth-year Management major.

He then spoke with members of the GT Investment Committee, who pitched suggestions to Jim that were generally better received. That is, until the final student suggested the fashion accessory company Fossil.

Cramer was so bored by that company and its prospects for growth, as described by the student, that he brought out the official Mad Money pillow and blanket and pretended to fall asleep.

In the final segment of the show students were invited to ask Jim about anything, finance-related or not. Jenna Schmidt, an Industrial Design masters student, drew laughs with her question: "In terms of investing in my future, would it be best for me to date a guy with a Roth IRA or a 401(k)?"

Having the show taped at the College of Management brought exposure of the program to the show's many devoted viewers and portrayed Tech as more than simply an engineering school.

"You can't buy this kind of publicity...our business school is on the rise and this just [confirms that],'" said Institute President Wayne Clough.