Tuesday, March 31, 2009

CNBC

This station is best watched on mute. I agree with Jon Stewart that 17 hours of live business television is too much. It would be more beneficial to replay content-rich programs than listen to their reporters and traders make speculations by the minute. Yes, the business world moves fast but if there was that much to gain, with low risk, on an ultra micro level we'd all be day traders. (Maybe I'm missing something and day traders are cashing in in the long run. No one ever gets wiped out playing that game...or you never hear about it.)

In a perfect world, CNBC could educate viewers on macroeconomics and the relationship the "bigger picture" has to their daily (micro) reporting. We live an a world of instant gratification and quick fixes, so, at a time like this, patience is a true virtue. By calling attention to the fundamentals (a CNBC favorite word) of business cycles, this network could have a more calming "voice" and boost consumer confidence. Instead, CNBC can keep the day traders from getting wiped out like the rest of us and continue aggravating the long-term investors who have just lost 50% of their net worth. So, CNBC, how are you going to incentivize reinvestment in this hyper volatile stock market and global economy? I pose the question because in the past the media played a larger role than the balance sheets - and that's everyone's fault. TV is more fun than homework and we all had a lot of fun for awhile there. Hopefully, I'll want to turn the sound back on soon.

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