03-16-2009, 04:31 PM
Quote:I don't think that is true. Any serious investor would do their homework and not rely on some TV entertainer to make your decisions on serious life matters. If you do blindly follow TV advice, then you deserve to get burned. Even the TV professionals get burned (Cramer on Bear Stearns), Geraldo (weekly), or dead (Steve Irwin vs Sting Ray) on occasion. I think Jon Stewart is doing the comedians version of the WWF. All showmanship, good entertainment, with everyone walking away richer and good friends.If "any serious investor" wasn't following the herd along with the rest of the nodding heads, then the world is experiencing a dire shortage of serious investors. The market got burned every bit as badly as any TV pundit. The argument that they deserved it probably has merit; the argument that they were too smart to buy in to the bunk they were selling on TV (and not just TV) surely does not, looking at the state of things.
Quote:This is in fact the same case I would make about Coulter, Franken, or any other "pundit". They are there to make some money, promote a book, and keep themselves in the spotlight. Sometimes they do that by being friendly and provide interesting color commentary, and sometimes they do that by play fighting with each other. In the end, they laugh, and go back and count their money. My experience has been that the TV is not a very good window on the world.Al Franken is no longer in the pundit class, having advanced up the ranks to US Senator.
-Jester