my 2 cents: I think it comes down to predicting the future. If you can do it then target your money to individual stocks, sectors, asset classes, etc. If you cannot, then buy all of capitalism in accordance with your risk tolerances (US and international index funds, bonds, REITS, Cash, etc) and hope we continue to try and create value as humans. I have personally not been able to find anyone who is right more times then they are wrong over the long term, when it comes to stocks. Today marks the 6th straight week of general market gains, who could have predicted? not me.

“What’s say you?”

Cramer is a liar and a jackass with a very selective memory. If you followed his advice all the way down, you would have been bankrupt by the time the market hit 666 and turned back up.

As a matter of fact, I have no respect for that entire crew of interviewers. What a stupid concept. Why do they need four people to conduct a simple interview?

@ Ryan,

It’s certainly getting harder to find those who were right more times than they were wrong, but I think Cramer’s big issue is that he tries to make individual stocks sound more appetizing than they really are when he should be bearish.

But that’s really not “Good TV” now is it?

It might conflict with the CNBC mantra of eternal optimism. Fake it til’ ya make it I suppose.

That’s the Power Lunch crew. Their 2 hour block isn’t what I would call CNBC’s strongest lineup for sure.

I can’t believe the uploaded video from CNBC’s site had cut out Solin’s setup argument. To start the video at the point when Cramer rips into him is not a gentlemanly thing to do, so I’m glad someone caught it and uploaded the whole piece to YouTube.

Does anyone watch CNBC’s advertisers? Maybe that should provide some insight into who they are serving?

The entire network exists to feed the likes of Scottrade, eTrade and the other companies that exist to stoke the fantasies of day traders and therefore, take their money. Jim Cramer is the ringmaster getting his audience all riled and ready to fork over their money to CNBC’s advertisers.

More than 90 percent of day traders lose money.

To even fantasize they are journalists and should be doing public service through journalism as John Stewart suggests gives them more respect and credence than they ever deserved.

@ Chris

Yeah that seems to be the general consensus in terms of active trading. But funny you mention advertisers b/c they (CNBC & GE Corporate) must not investigate, or even watch, the ads on their network.

Couple months ago, I tipped off The Consumerist about CNBC running ads for FedMod.com — an obvious foreclosure scam. Those commercials stopped running about 2 to 3 weeks later. Guess it took a few weeks for the BBB’s ultra negative reports to trickle down.

I still find value in some parts of CNBC, but their is a lot of shake ups going on as of late. I’d like to know the real story behind Dylan Ratigan’s release.

General Thoughts on CNBC: As someone who worked in a few places in finance supporting traders, I can say that CNBC is rarely watched in the industry. Most of the traders/PMs who I have worked w/ have it on all day as just merely as background noise. And the executives at CNBC know this. So they try to grab the attention of the home investor w/ bull/bear debates and investment ideas on a certain sectors. It’s these shouting matches that turn me off, and I’m sure alot of other viewers. Sometimes I wonder if I’m watching Fox News w/ all the barking.

If you watch CNBC World, you will notice such a stark difference in the manner of the hosts. It is a very professional channel that is not dry like Blommberg TV. Its very informative programming that is palatable, which is what any news program should strive for. I hope the USA counetrparts take note, b/c CNBC needs some shaking up. Especially after Jon Stewart’s shakedown.

@ Tom,

Good stuff. Most of the time, I just use it as a breaking news medium. They’ve reduced the number of Jerry Springer like yelling matches (Kudlow excluded) which is a welcome change. Those debates between Gasparino and Liesman were too much and sent me straight to Bloomberg.