Thursday, March 12, 2009

Jim Cramer vs Jon Stewart: The Smackdown

*
I have to admit the news recently has been fun to behold.
We had Octomom, Limbaugh, and Bill Maher vs Ann Coulter at Radio City Music Hall.
But the Jon Stewart vs Jim Cramer feud is completely engaging, I can’t stop watching (and laughing).

It boils down to this: The Bull Vs the Bear.
Cramer’s the Bull of course and Stewart’s the Bear.
If you picture a leathery Jim Kramer with a ring through his nose and smoke coming out of his flared nostrils next to Stewart’s big cow eyes in a fuzzy koala suit right here: then you’ve successfully channelled my sad, sorry little mind. Congrats!
*

Background as I see it: It’s easy in a stock market bubble to recommend buying stocks especially strong stock. Cramer’s show is in the “business” of “stock market entertainment” whether he sees it that way or not. However CNBC gives it’s stamp of approval on it with the slogan “In Cramer we trust.” Why they do I don’t know. I don’t trust anyone trying to sell me on parting with any of my money, especially on tv shows with gongs, horns, music and exceptionally angry wild people telling me what to do while looking like they should be taking xanax or valium by the barrel full. If I wanted “crazed” advice I can go down to the street corner in almost any city and find that format. I still wouldn’t listen, but I could find it.

As anyone that recently follows the stock market knows, it’s even easier to predict the rise or fall of stocks when you have insider information. Of course that’s illegal, just ask Cupcake Stewart and while she makes you a wreath made from old socks and walnuts she’ll tell you all about it. No one in the field will admit to inside info but they sure do have miraculously strong gut instincts based on extensive research and years of stock market experience (wink, wink) that they pass on with the devotion attributed to any good evangelical minister.
*

Jon Stewart on the other hand is a comedian. He’s also a news junkie with a rather sarcastic viewpoint that shows clearly through in the social commentary of what he finds in the news stories. I completely sympathize with the sarcasm and enjoy it. Jon likes to show videos of what people say or do and take them to task for it using humor. Often these clips speak for themselves even without Jon’s commentary and visual effects. I understand Cramer himself is going to be on the show tonight. It will be interesting to see how that goes- if it happens. (Same Bat time, same Bat channel)

This is the last clip on Cramer from Jon’s Comedy Central show:



Enter Cramer who clearly over time has made mistakes… especially the past year in particular, so it’s not surprising at all that Stewart took him to task for his very visual and repeated recommendations of Bear Sterns. It was almost too easy and he was fair game. Cramer’s righteous indignation is almost as amusing as Stewart’s skits. He should have tried to quietly take his lumps, admitted a “mistake” while hoping the story would fade away and be forgotten. Better men than Cramer have taken Stewart’s jabs with either anger, humor, or they didn’t care at all. But for the most part they didn’t go on a celebrity tv tour bleating about the unfairness of it all. At some point mad seems like whining when, um, how to say this nicely Jim… you were wrong. How dare Jon Stewart pick on you? Seriously Jim, let it go, pack up your tent, go back to your show and maybe toot a few less horns for a while. A long while.
*

Mix into this brewing stew of video clips and words NBC’s Scarbourough, Vieira, and anyone who else will listen and put Cramer on the tv and you realize that it’s all entertainment and boy does celebrity rule!

Any normal Stock Broker has backpedalled away from this market mess, minced their words and taken losses along with their clientelle (unless of course they’re running huge ponzi schemes). But they did it quietly not with a tv show that’s glitzy, revved up hype that runs on hopefully just caffeination and the personality of a crazed stock man.

Cramer's Book

I rest my case.
*

Stewart keep up the good work.
It’s sometimes a dirty job but someone has to do it.
By the way, anyone that can talk directly to Dora the Explorer is a God in my mind.
Jon, I’d buy you lunch any day of the week in a New York minute, it’d be a really cheap lunch but hey…
I bought Bear Sterns stock.

G'night

Laura
*

No comments: