Totally agree. Ass in hand...

I would no more listen to Kramer and CNBC for advice than my beagle, Daisy.

Those who place value on Kramer's opinion--those who see him as anything but an entertainer, a showman; you should be ashamed. We should focus our attention on Wall St, DC, and the cabal who brought us here and intend to take us from the abyss. Be not bedazzled by the circus before you.

I don't like Jon Stewart in the slightest.

Colbert is about 100x funnier.

Agreed that Colbert is amazingly funny - comes from being smart, sharp and quick.

To the interview, wow - Stewart really did take it to Cramer. Cramer sounded like a meek fool the entire time. Nothing like the "master of the universe" persona he plays on his show, and nothing like the "insider hedge trader" from the video clips. I've never been a fan of the Stewart interview, but this was his best.

Slackjaw - of course you're entitled to your opinion, but if you call a popular entertainer "retarded" - especially one who so obviously possesses a pretty keen intellect - you leave yourself open for criticism.

Stewart's point in this interview was that both him and Cramer are selling snake oil, but the Daily Show is packaged as snake oil; in other words, the Daily Show doesn't pretend to be anything but entertainment. It is a satire of the folly of our cable news media (and Colbert takes it a step further, to be an ironic satire of a cable news pundit, in character); what Jon considers strange is that he often finds himself in the unlikely position of being the ONLY "news outlet" willing to devote time and effort to unveiling the absurdities of the men behind the curtain. Jon was attacking Cramer for playing along, for being complicit in, the wool that was pulled over America's eyes. And I think he's right.

I wrote briefly about the role that Stewart/Colbert are playing as de facto media watchdogs in my book "Our Orwell, Right or Left"; it's worth checking out, if this topic piques your interest (shameless plug).

it should be on reruns on comedy central.


but any ways can you say BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN !:eek:

I TOTALLY disagree with you, and that is what I can't stand about the show.

Take for example his characterization of Rick Santelli in his original outcry against CNBC. He says something to the effect of, "this guy didn't disagree with any of this until the average joe was going to get a buck."

What % of his audience do you think believes that to be an fair, honest, accurate representation, 90 - 95%?

The truth is Rick has been against each bailout to date. But why be held accountable for telling the truth it is just a comedy show, and some snake oil right. Not when 90% of the audience believes it to be an accurate representation.

The follow up interview proves Stewart had an agenda and an opinion he originally wanted to express. He just pushes it under the mask of a weird look at the camera and a punch line.

CNBC is a good way to keep on top of breaking news and monitor the consensus view, if you have no other way. It is also entertainment and background noise. It is not a credible source of investigative reporting, analysis, or predictions. Why people consider CNBC more than a video newsfeed is beyond me. I watch maybe 10 minutes of CNBC a week, always when I'm in a hotel.

Also, I speculate the vast majority of CNBC's audience are not well-informed or sophisticated investors. I have no proof of this, but CNBC and its advertisers knows what the audience is, and look at the advertisements that run on the channel - aside from the get rich quick trading software, its low-brow stuff with a lot of snake-oil. I usually think you can gauge a channel's audience from the advertisements.

I have seen Stewart, on DOZENS of occasions, tell his audience not to get their news from the Daily Show, because it isn't a news show. I've seen him say it on the air, to interviewers in magazines and on other peoples' talk shows. As a matter of fact, during this Cramer interview, he repeated the sentiment, saying "we here are selling snake oil, but we don't pretend it's anything but snake oil... this is just entertainment." To me, his message is loud and clear. Since it is clear to anyone watching Colbert that he is playing a character (I hope), Stewart feels the obligation to come out and tell his audience that they are watching an entertainment program, not a news program. How much more transparent do you want him to be? Do you want a disclaimer at the opening of every episode?

Here is one of the clips from the Daily Show.

<style type='text/css'>.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}</style><div class='cc_box' style='position:relative'><a href='http://www.comedycentral.com' target='_blank' style='display:inline; float:left; width:60px; height:31px;'><div class='cc_home' style='float:left; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-width:1px 0px 0px 1px; width:60px; height:31px; background:url("http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-out.png");'></div></a><div style='font:bold 10px Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; float:left; width:299px; height:31px; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-width:1px 1px 0px 0px; overflow:hidden; color:#707070; position:relative;'><div class='cc_show' style='position:relative; background-color:#e5e5e5;padding-left:3px; height:14px; padding-top:2px; overflow:hidden;'><a href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/' target='_blank'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a><span style='position:absolute; top:2px; right:3px;'>M - Th 11p / 10c</span></div><div class='cc_title' style='font-size:11px; color:#868686; background-color:#f5f5f5; padding:3px; padding-top:1px; line-height:14px; height:21px; overflow:hidden;'><a href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220510&title=basic-cable-personality-clash' target='_blank'>Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09</a></div></div><embed style='float:left; clear:left;' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:220510' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed><div class='cc_links' style='float:left; clear:left; width:358px; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-top:0px; font:10px Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; color:#b9b9b9; background-color:#f5f5f5;'><div style='width:177px; float:left; padding-left:3px;'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a><br /><a target='_blank' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/important_things/index.jhtml'>Important Things w/ Demetri Martin</a></div><div style='width:177px; float:left;'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a><br /><a target='_blank' href='http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/'>Jim Cramer</a></div><div style='clear:both'></div></div><div style='clear:both'></div></div>

^ Oh yeah, I can see how people might think that Jon Stewart is trying to sell his show as an unbiased, serious news program :rolleyes: He is practically shouting to the audience: "LOOK! I'm only an entertainer! I have a very obvious bias, and I'm completely willing to not only admit it, but make fun of it!"

Therein lies the problem. Only one is supposed to be an entertainer. The other is supposed to know business, investing, and finance.

"Stewart's a comedian and Cramer is a showman," said Robert Howell, professor at Dartmouth University's Tuck School of Business. "If anybody takes seriously anything that (Cramer) says, they're stupid."

CNBC sells themselves as the go-to place for the financial news you need. They sell Cramer as someone you should trust. :rolleyes: Beyond any entertainment value they might have, their shows are essentially crap.

Who thinks that?

As I said in the other post, no one who is actually in the investment business takes Cramer seriously.

If the retail investor/speculator who actually watches CNBC makes that mistake, that's their fault - if Cramer weren't around, they'd find other ways to lose their money, like tip sheets and stock forums.

I'm not saying Cramer knows nothing. I think he actually knows a lot, I gather he was a capable hedge fund manager back when, and you can tell he still thinks like a hedgie. But the premise of his show - that one guy can "call" every aspect of the market, from macroeconomics to policy to sectors to whatever stock viewers call him about - is impossible. No one could do it, even if they were backed by a big team of the best analysts with all the resources. Only very, very naive people could think otherwise.

Here is the clip of Cramer and Stewart.........

<style type='text/css'>.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}</style><div class='cc_box' style='position:relative'><a href='http://www.comedycentral.com' target='_blank' style='display:inline; float:left; width:60px; height:31px;'><div class='cc_home' style='float:left; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-width:1px 0px 0px 1px; width:60px; height:31px; background:url("http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-out.png");'></div></a><div style='font:bold 10px Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; float:left; width:299px; height:31px; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-width:1px 1px 0px 0px; overflow:hidden; color:#707070; position:relative;'><div class='cc_show' style='position:relative; background-color:#e5e5e5;padding-left:3px; height:14px; padding-top:2px; overflow:hidden;'><a href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/' target='_blank'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a><span style='position:absolute; top:2px; right:3px;'>M - Th 11p / 10c</span></div><div class='cc_title' style='font-size:11px; color:#868686; background-color:#f5f5f5; padding:3px; padding-top:1px; line-height:14px; height:21px; overflow:hidden;'><a href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=221516&title=jim-cramer-unedited-interview' target='_blank'>Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1</a></div></div><embed style='float:left; clear:left;' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:221516' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed><div class='cc_links' style='float:left; clear:left; width:358px; border:solid 1px #cfcfcf; border-top:0px; font:10px Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; color:#b9b9b9; background-color:#f5f5f5;'><div style='width:177px; float:left; padding-left:3px;'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a><br /><a target='_blank' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/important_things/index.jhtml'>Important Things w/ Demetri Martin</a></div><div style='width:177px; float:left;'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a><br /><a target='_blank' href='http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/'>Jim Cramer</a></div><div style='clear:both'></div></div><div style='clear:both'></div></div>

yeah, pretty much. Mr Stewart does not seem to be a bad guy, but he is always so obviously pleased with himself, which is off-putting to me.

When Mr Stewart takes the position of the injured American, like he did with Mr Cramer, he is being critical in a joking manner, and the average person would assume that Mr Stewart is being sincere and truthful with both his information and outrage.

I would characterize the Daily Show as infotainment, not unlike Mr O'Reilly's program. Mr O will come right out and tell you he has an agenda to push, Mr Stewart is "just being funny." Like it or not, many people get their news from these programs

Mom & Pop investors. The people that don't know any better, but are sucked in by the authoritative pretenses made by CNBC when they're advertising their shows. The people that are most likely harmed by the advice given on CNBC shows.

Why would Cramer willingly go on Stewart's show to get hammered like that? He probably had no choice - either take it and appear apologetic or kiss your show goodbye. O's got friends everywhere.

Oprah?

The other O