I didn’t see it on TV when it occurred, but apparently Jim Cramer made an appearance on “The Daily Show with John Stewart” and didn’t fare so well, to put it mildly. There’s a lot of buzz about this on the Internet and after watching the un-edited video, I can see why.
Jim Cramer really comes off like a schmuck and an apologist. Clearly John is on his game, is firing on all cylinders and controls the conversation expertly. It reminds me of his appearance Crossfire and well worth the watch. On Crossfire, John took CNN to task and in this interview he takes CNBC to the same task. To quote Stewart, the issue is about “… what CNBC advertisers itself as and what it actually is.”
The impression that I’m left with after watching the videos is that the credibility of CNBC and more specifically Cramer’s show “Mad Money” has been flushed. It was after Stewart’s appearance on “Crossfire” that the show was cancelled. I can’t help but think that we could be seeing a repeat.
Lastly, there’s one thing that Cramer says towards the end that really sticks out and will be my take away sound bite.
“I’m a guy doing an entertainment show about business.”
While I enjoy watching Cramer every night, one must remember the show is primarily entertainment. The financial networks exist to promote their advertisers financial and investment products. Who would expect them to warn about the credit bubble or coming Washington national debt collapse which will destroy much of the remaining private wealth in America today or what this will do to the dollar, the stock market, bonds, gold or the real estate market?
China is now worried about their dangerous over investment in US Treasury obligations. Washington ’s long-term choice is either repudiation or monetization. For monetization to be effective, the depreciation in the dollar would have to be substantial and this in turn would dramatically raise prices of imports for American consumers which would mean a tremendous drop in foreign imports. Debt monetization would cause more disruption to exporting nations than selective repudiation of Treasury debt.
The Campaign to Cancel the Washington National Debt By 12/22/2013 Constitutional Amendment is starting now in the U.S. See: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67594690498&ref=ts
Thanks,
Ron with 30 plus years in the investment business and banking industry.
@Ron – Thank you for your comment.
I agree that Jim’s show and the financial “news” networks are mostly entertainment. However, I don’t think that the average person necessarily knows that.
If anything, there’s we could really stand a re-education on exactly what news is in general. The bulk of what is broadcast today on television is entertainment but it’s being presented as news and the public is none the wiser