As I've said numerous times, there is a solution to this...thanks to Bill Meehan for the idea, for he was the first one to propose it on TheStreet.com:
Any goofball analyst or fund manager that was on 6 months ago doing the hyping, before they come on again, CNBC ought to go back and replay the video of them hyping. Not their picks, CNBC needs to show the actual video of them spewing bullsh*t before they come on again.
I know CNBC will respond by saying, "well, if we did that, these guys wouldn't come back on, out of embarassment." Well, if that's the case, then who needs 'em? If some blowhard analyst isn't prepared to back up what he said 6 months ago, then why in the world would CNBC want or invite them back on? There are literally thousands of analysts and fund managers with great ideas and keen insights who've never been on CNBC...primarily because they don't have PR agents with stroke at CNBC.
One "financial planner" frequently aired as an expert on CNBC has a family member/business partner who is currently in Federal prison for defrauding his clients...yet CNBC still parades this guy on TV, proclaiming him as "an expert." And yet they wonder why people refer to the channel as "CNBS." Maybe if they booked guests on track records (vs. who had the friendliest/most persuasive booking agent) the on-air content would get cleaned up.
I agree 100% with Jim S. on viewers taking personal responsibility for their actions. But sometimes a faulty (or even fraudulent) on-air guest can cause collateral damage, whether you're watching or not. I came damn close last September to getting stopped out of my AMZN short when CNBC had their 30-day "Jeff Bezos Admiration Celebration." It was quite obvious there was an orchestrated short squeeze going on with certain members of the analyst community and CNBC was an active participant...yet here we are, 4 months and 30 points (down) on AMZN, and no one says a peep...yet I've seen some of the same schmucks who were on-air driving the squeeze since then, and no one at CNBC has the balls or common sense to even call them on the carpet for it.
Faye Landis called the AMZN deterioration like a pro...and went on CNBC and said so, on-air. CNBC ought to be beating her door down, begging and pleading for her to come on-air everytime she makes a new call...she was dead-on right, and made a lot of people (myself included) a lot of money. Anthony Noto came on a few weeks later and pumped the stock when it was at $48 (with Maria dressed in cheerleader garb priming the pump). Does anyone at CNBC have the balls to blast Noto for making such a horrendous call now? Nope, of course not, and if Noto wanted to get on air and promote his latest POS, CNBC would gladly have him on.
And yet, they look puzzled when 60 Minutes runs a piece like last night's...UFB. |
