访谈录 2009-05-01&05-03 金融危机中新闻媒体的角色

I think the way you do that is to show... OK. That's, I, the regulators watch the tape, they realize the shenanigans goes on. They can go after this. Now, they didn't catch Madoff, that's a shame.

But why, when you talk about the regulators, why not the financial news network? That's the whole point of this.

OK.

CNBC could be an incredibly powerful tool of illumination, for people that believe that there are two markets. One, that has been sold to us as long-term: put your money in 401K’s, put your money in pensions, and just leave it there, don't worry about it, it's all doing fine. Then, there’s this other market, this real market that’s occurring in the back room, where giant piles of money are going in and out and people are trading them. It's transactional and it's fast. But it's dangerous, it's ethically 1 dubious 2, and it hurts that long-term market. So what it feels like to us, and I am speaking purely 3 as a layman 4, it feels like we are capitalizing your adventure by our pension and our hard earned. And that it is a game that you know, that you know is going on, but that you go on television as a financial network and pretend isn't happening.

Ok, first, my first reaction is absolutely we can do better, absolutely. There are shenanigans and we should call them out. Everyone should, I should do a better job about it. But my second thing is I talk about the shorts every single night. I've got people in congress who I've been working with to try to get the uptick rule. That's a technical thing but it would cut down a lot of the games that you're talking about. I'm trying, I'm trying. Am I succeeding? I am trying.

But the gentleman in that video is a sober rational individual. And the gentleman on Mad Money is throwing plastic cows through his legs and shouting "Sell, Sell, Sell", and then coming on two days later and going "I was wrong, you should've bought." Like, I can't reconcile the brilliance 5 and knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy (bullshit) I see you do every night. That's English. That's treating people like, like adults.

How about if I try it? How about if I try?

Try what?

Try doing that, I'll do that.

Anything I can...

That would be great. But it's not just you. It's larger forces at work. It is this idea that the financial news industry is not just guilty of a sin of omission 6 but a sin of commission that they are actually in bed with this idea.

NO, we are not in bed with them. Come on, I don't think that's fair. Honestly, I think that we try to report the news and I think that some people… (A couple of guys do. This guy Faber…) He is fabulous 7, Faber. (and there’s… maybe two other guy.) He is fabulous. (Right.) And he did… He has done some things that have really blown the cover off a lot of stuff.

But this thing was ten years in the making. (Right.) And it's not gonna be fixed 8 tomorrow. But the idea that you could have on the guys from Bear Sterns and Merrily Lynch, and guys that had leverage 9, 35 to 1. (I know.) And then blame Mortgage holders 10. I mean that's insane.

I never did that. Well, but no… (The network is…)I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. I always wish the people would come on and swear themselves in before they come on the show. I've had a lot of CEOs lie to me on the show. It's very painful. I don't have subpoena 11 power.

But don’t… but you're pretending that you are a dewy-eyed innocent. Watch, Roll… I mean if I may. (It’s your show for Heaven’s sake.) Just Roll 2:12.

No, not 2:12.

You know you can't foment 12. That's a violation 13 of ... (Ferment?) Yeah, you can't foment. (Foment) You can't create yourself, an impression that stock’s down. But you do it anyway coz the ICC doesn’t understand it. So, you, that mean it would, that's the only sense that I would say this is illegal.

Now (It’s what…) 2:16

Another stock that I’d love you for a focus on right now seems to be Apple.

Yeah, Apple is very important to spread the rumor 14 that both Verizon and AT&T have decided 15 they don't like the phone. That's very easy one to do because it's also you want to spread the rumor that it’s not gonna be ready for MacWorld. And this is very easy coz the people who write about Apple want that story and you can claim that it's credible 16 because you spoke 17 to someone at Apple coz Apple’s… doesn't recognize that.