I2,
Re: " However, more and more people are calling the show to find out how their funds are performing. This is obviously something that they can look up in the newspaper. They must be quite clueless (as far as stock market investing) if they don't know how to find this information."
This is something that I have never been able to figure out either. My best guess on why these people do this is not that they are clueless. I think these people want to hear Bob tell them, "Yes, you are in a GREAT mutual fund..." I am not a psychology expert, but I am sure there is a term for this behavior. Kind of like when you were in school, there were always the moronic brown-nosers who knew they had the right answer, yet always felt compelled to ask the teacher, "Isn't this right? Did I get the right answer?" They are looking for praise from an authority figure (in this case, BB). It then cascades--listeners hear Bob's opinion on one caller's fund, so they feel compelled to call in, thinking, "Oooh, I'm gonna see what Bob thinks about MY fund..." The funny thing about this is that 90% of the callers get publicly slammed by Bob, when he whips out the Morningstar or whatever he uses, and says, "Ok Mr. Caller, your fund is up 75% over the past three years. The Total Stock Index fund is up 108% for that same period. So the answer is 'no,' you're not in a good fund."
Personally, I like hearing his comments on various funds--there are so many funds out there that it is nice to pick up a tidbit of info on a few you've never heard of from time to time. However, you are right in that there are WAAAYYY too many of these calls. And this phenominon isn't just a problem on BB's show, several other financial talk shows have the same legion of callers who want to know what the host thinks about THEIR fund.
This is where the screeners have to be more selective in which calls they accept. Maybe one call like that per hour. Just as annoying, at least to me, are the insecure idiots who buy a fund off of BB's recommendation, then call in smugly saying, "Hey Bob, eight years ago I invested my IRA into XYZ Fund that you recommended. I'm now up to $100,000. What do you think?" Bob must be thinking, "And the purpose of your call is????" Its like, "Great, you took my advice and your IRA is worth $100,000 now--don't break your arm patting yourself on the back on my show, because none of my other listeners cares about what your IRA is up to now!" I mean, the show would get really boring in a hurry if we all called in to tell Bob about our biggest investment success story.
Oh yeah, how about the callers who know just enough about the market to be dangerous, but they call in trying to play "Stump the Host." You know, the guys who have some poorly-thought-out strategy that they feel is the undiscovered way to beat the market. They bow up on Bob, acting like they're the Einstein of Wall Street, only to have Bob completely dismantle and illustrate what is wrong with their newfound strategy to beat the market. Those calls are actually entertaining--its fun to see Bob undress them on air.
My suggestion would be for the screeners to keep the show content diverse. Maybe one or two mutual fund calls per hour, a couple of general market questions, an individual stock question, and a shark attack story each hour. You are right, when the show becomes bogged down with nonstop "Rate My Fund, Bob" callers, it makes you reach for the tuner on your radio.
Gary |
