Showing posts with label CNBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CNBC. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

DONNY DEUTSCH DOESN'T GET IT

On "The Ed Show", Donny Deutsch made the statement that Michael Jackson was simply a dancer and singer and he didn't understand why Michael Jackson was being treated like royalty.
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Well Donny, ... you just don't get it, and you are dead wrong. Michael Jackson was much more than a singer and dancer. Michael brought average people, world leaders, and people from all walks of life together in love, and he enhanced our lives.

No matter what age group you are in, you loved Michael Jackson and his musical messages of joy, hope, love and peace; Michael's music lifted you up, put a smile on your face, and put a spring in your step. That was Michael's essence.

Michael never uttered a negative word about anyone; and there are so many things that are positive about Michael; however, many of us didn't know how enormously generous, sweet and wonderful Michael was until this past week and today.

Music makes the heart beat with joy; and great music [like Michael's] will embrace your spirit and vanquish your sorrows and tears. Sometimes the same music will bring tears … but tears of joy.

Doctors are able to work long hours in the operating room by having their favorite music playing in the background. I would bet that some of them even listen to Michael Jackson's music. Many of our hard working nurses and public servants listen to Michael's music and it helps them get thru a day that would otherwise be burdensome; or when they get home from a hard days work, they kick off their shoes, and lay back and relax with some of Michael's songs playing in the background.

Hospital patients listen to Michael Jackson's music and they feel better. Music often heals the soul and heart and body, and will nourish you through difficult times.

Music plays a significant role in most cultures.

Great music exemplifies the best in us, and is a great unifier and communicator.

When you watched Michael dance and you heard him sing, you wanted to jump out of your seat and dance and sing along with him. If you were in a crowd and Michael’s music came on, everyone in the crowd was dancing and singing together. People gravitate towards joy, and there's no mistaking, people gravitated to Michael and his music.

You can be in a room with someone who doesn't speak the same language, but the moment someone turns on some great music [like Michael Jackson's music], everyone is tapping their feet, and they are humming along with the music, and there's a smile on their face.

Michael Jackson, the exceptional and gifted musician, entertainer, dancer, visual artist and humanitarian did all the above for us and more.
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Loved these comments from Uchenna Oguekwe on Huff:
"Ed looked like he really wanted to tell Donnie off. Donnie Deutsch needs to ask himself how much has he done to help people? MJ gave and gave millions to more charities than anyone, 39 in all. He visited our troops here at home and over seas and visited sick children at hospitals all around the world and gave them gifts. People like Donnie and Peter King don't understand all the attention MJ has been getting because they are the types of people who think MJ was strange or bizarre, as Donnie had stated the other day on Morning Schmoe, and only want to focus on the negative. That is why they think MJ was just a good singer and dancer. But can any of them say that in their lives they have even come close to captivating the hearts of millions worldwide through their talents and kind contributions to the global society? I think not."
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

CNBC HASN'T LEARNED A THING

I was pissed before, now I’m … just can’t find the words for how disgusted I am. CNBC Erin Burnett is interviewing Gerald Lipkin, CEO of Valley National Bank, and John Koelmel, CEO of [big ole] First Niagara Bank, who received TARP money but said they didn’t need it. They said they just took it to help the government unfreeze the credit market and lend money to the folks on main street. If you’re a healthy bank, then you can give out loans w/o TARP money. Right?

Next, Lipkin and Koelmel are upset because they don’t want their compensation and bonuses messed with. Erin Burnett shows a great deal of sympathy for these “poor little ole banks” [which aren’t poor by any stretch of the imagination].

Well, let’s examine this. For the sake of clarity, I’m going to call TARP money taxpayer money.

These banks are doing just great, yet they take tax payer money which supposedly will allow them to extend more loans than they would have w/o it. These banks also got bigger by acquiring other banks [do we really want bigger banks?].
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Erin Burnett failed to ask some very pertinent questions. CNBC business as usual.
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Since they didn't ask, we have to; and, we’ve got to take a peek at all these banks' books and whatever else might be lurking out of regulator range.

Let’s see who wins here:
These healthy banks are potentially going to make a lot of money with the tax-payers money. Is the tax-payer going to get a share in the real profits in proportion to the amount of money these banks received; or will the banks be hiding something so we don’t get our fair share?

Now they say they’re going to give (perhaps tax-payer funded) bonuses to employees (on top of their regular salaries) because they did such a fine job with tax payers’ money (even though they didn’t need the money). I don’t even like that scenario, but let’s see what happens if we find out down the line that these loan officers and underwriters (and other high paid employees) did a really lousy job and the loans went bad.

Even more horrifying: What if First Niagara is involved in a mini AIG-type scandal? FNB owns an insurance brokerage and Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Commodities Futures Modernization Act still have not been repealed, ... right? They’ve already got the bonus, and perhaps we’ve also been scammed. How screwed are we?
Is this whole thing starting to stink a little, … a lot?


More on Wall Street:
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Let’s take a closer look at Wall Street and AIG:
The Big Takeover
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/print
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Elizabeth Warren – [Nowhere to go but down]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Warren

Friday, March 13, 2009

JAMIE DIMON GET OVER YOURSELF

Of all the “MOTHER LOVING” gall. Jamie Dimon, “Let them Eat Cake” CEO of JPMorgan Chase (one of the first to make his investment bank a bank holding company who could partake of bailout money) – and now the largest of the bank holding companies – is crying “crocodile tears”, saying we’re picking on “poor little” corporations.
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HEY MR. BAILOUT RECIPIENT, weren’t you guys involved in Enron lawsuits?
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Weren’t you also the protégé of Sandy Weill, former CEO of Citigroup; and wasn’t Citigroup also involved in the Enron scandal?
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Is it a wonder why we don’t trust you or your buddies?
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The arrogance of these guys is mindboggling!
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FRONTLINE: meltdown - financial crisis timeline | PBS
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Says Financial Crisis Will End When We All Stop Picking on Corporations | The Washington Independent by Mary Kane, March 11, 2009
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Dimon in the Rough | The Magazine | Vanity Fair April 2011, Graydon Carter

Thursday, March 12, 2009

RIGHT ON JON STEWART! SHAME ON YOU CNBC, JOE SCARBOROUGH, AND JIM CRAMER!

We love this. We email the President, email MSNBC's "Morning Joe" with Joe Scarborough (see previous post-"CAN YOU REALLY TRUST CABLE NEWS"), then everybody gets involved with CNBC and Jim Cramer and Joe Scarborough.

Hey, you need to understand this NBC ... the people are not going to stand for your sheinanigans anymore. Your night-time MSNBC slots and a few others like Andrea Mitchell are the only decent things you do. Get your crap together losers!
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Please turn off/pause music player to the right of this page before starting video.











http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/10/jon-stewart-slams-jim-cra_n_173738.html


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Monday, March 9, 2009

CAN YOU REALLY TRUST CABLE NEWS AND COMMENTARY?

I was getting sick of cable "so-called" news channels and other "cable chatter" crap that seemed to be aimed at "putting down" the President and his policies. I was also incensed by their reckless and irresponsible commentary on the economy.
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I truly felt their comments helped to create an atmosphere of pessimism and thus affected Wall Street's performance. In effect manipulating the market. Anyway, I emailed the SEC and FINRA last Friday (slightly after midnight). Here is what I said:
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"I'm extremely upset by what I'm hearing on CNBC and from the people who appear on CNBC and other cable channels.

The DOW, NASDAQ, etc. are driven by confidence in the market. If you have irresponsible people calling the President of the US a Communist, telling people that the President is destroying the wealth in this country and directing people to buy certain stocks, and/or where to buy these stocks, isn't that manipulating the market? Do these people have a license to do what they're doing? Isn't what they're doing against the law? If not, why not?

Look, if a securities rep wants to sell me something, he has to meet me face to face, ask about my assets and liabilities, short and long range goals, and find out what kind of risk (market, inflation, etc.) I'm willing to take. This person is bound by securities laws. Those laws are in place to protect the consumer.

Well, right now, I'm not being protected ... you're allowing Jim Cramer and others and media conglomerates to control/manipulate the markets. They are not meeting face to face with anyone, asking pertinent financial questions and ascertaining risk ... they are causing uncertainty and panic. This is irresponsible and criminal.

Right now, in this moment ... the American people need you to set boundaries with these people, etc. "

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I also emailed MSNBC "Morning Joe" around 8am that Friday morning letting them know I had emailed the SEC. I'm shocked, but right after that, their tone changed and Jim Cramer did a complete about face that evening. Good for them.
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Today, however, Joe Scarborough decided to strike out at Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and then made some stupid remark about Congress spending a trillion dollars a day. Following the "Morning Joe" program they said some people didn't like Michelle Obama's sleeveless dresses. Oh please ... give me a break. Then they bring on Warren Buffet who says the President needs to be clearer about his message and focus just on the economy. MSNBC then talks about how the markets were concerned because they didn't know if the President was going to nationalize the banks.
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First, we know that media had a lot to do with pessimism on Wall Street. Second, what this is about is a bunch of rich folks who own large blocks of shares in various large banks who are concerned about the price of their shares.
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Let's see ... could those people be stakeholders and the management of cable channels and perhaps Warren Buffet (he loves insurance companies - bet he wasn't crazy about AIG) and his cronies. Clearly Mr. Buffet is not perfect given some of the wrong moves and decisions he's made with his own company. Does Buffet care about the rest of us or just his company; and does he want Obama to take the blame for this economy and Berkshire's recent performance rather than assign it [where it belongs] to Wall Street/big banks/investment firms and himself?
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[From: "I Blame Warren Buffet" By Rick Aristotle Munarriz
"However, he's also not perfect. As an investor, Buffett is coming off his worst performance -- in absolute terms -- during his 44 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway. Sure, he beat the market, but only because he bled less.
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He owns up to his mistakes. In discussing his unfortunate decision to buy into ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) when he did, Buffett concedes that "the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars" in his latest annual shareholder letter.
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It's more than that, though. Berkshire Hathaway's book value fell by 9.6% in 2008. There are 14 stocks in which Berkshire Hathaway has stakes worth at least $500 million, but positions that make up less than 20% of the respective companies. Half of those closed out the year worth less than the amount of money that Buffett has put in."]
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People can we see what's happening here ... cable is striking back because finally someone is calling for them to be accountable for what they say and how they need to be more responsible in their reporting? Warren Buffet has now become cable's "mouth-piece"; and they are playing his words over and over again.
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I think you will see in the weeks ahead that cable media will try to pit Republicans against Democrats and vice versa; and will try to destroy the Democrats plans to make this a Nation that cares about the Middle Class. We've now achieved "class warfare".
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They'll also be trotting out more mouth-pieces to lay blame at President Obama's feet, never realizing (or perhaps not caring) that they are manipulating the market.
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People let your Democratic leaders know you support them; and don't allow a bunch of rich media conglomerates deflect attention away from them by trying to create "congressional warfare", as well as "class warfare".
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We voted for Democrats because we knew they defended the working class and the poor (the majority of Americans). Focus people!
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Let's face it ... ratings drive these huge conglomerates and ugly news reporting is a ratings booster. Beware of all deliverers of news and shy away from right-wing commentary ... please.
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Kudos to "Morning Joe" for having William Cohan on to talk about his book "House of Cards A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street"
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Friday, February 27, 2009

JIM CRAMER DRAWS A LINE IN THE SAND BETWEEN US AND WALL STREET

I like Jim Cramer, but his latest stunt is shameful. We now know where Jim Cramer stands ... well I guess we always knew where Cramer stood. He is after all, Mr. Wall Street.
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I did think he was going to stand up to CNBC and not politicize his show; guess I was very very wrong. Ok, I'll stop whining and get down to business. Jim Cramer has sold out to corporate. The minute his show became Cramer versus Obama, it was over.
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September 2008 wasn't on Obama's watch, it was on your watch Jim, and on Wall Street's watch. Fess up!
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Let's go back to the 90's when everything was rosy and wonderful ... uh uh. Tech stocks, Internet stocks, Real Estate stocks ... everything just about came up winners. Microsoft split 16,000 times (just joking people) and hit record highs. A whole bunch of people who were in the stock market made a boat load of money.
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What goes up, must come down. Making a boat load of money, I guess wasn't enough. A bunch of banks/mortgage companies/mortgage brokers/etc. decided to create all kinds of really bad mortgages. Sub prime (pay option, interest only, hybrid) loans, fee ridden loans, let the borrower purchase w both a 1st and 2nd mortgage, and when folks who had run out of money a long time ago, hit their credit card limits, the banks decided to create even more horrendous stuff and almost everyone was allowed to take out mortgages with 100% LTV (esp. Citibank/Citicorp Trust/Citifinancial).
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Greed was everywhere! Create whatever kind of financial instrument crap was everywhere! Wall Street was giddy and ponzi schemes flourished.
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Eventually the bubble burst, greed and corruption were exposed and the world reeled and plunged. Well Jim Cramer, you were a part of all this mess; but now it's politics and kiss your CNBC media conglomerate's "be..." Ya'll get my drift.
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Monday, December 8, 2008

FROM CNBC -DUBAI: CITY OF MONEY AND MYSTERY

CNBC recently aired Erin Burnett's special report about Dubai, called "City of Money and Mystery". Fascinating to say the least.

"CNBC’s Erin Burnett reports on her time with Dubai's ruling Sheikh and his top lieutenants. She follows the money trail in and out of the Middle East's financial capital. Business deals are happening at a frenetic pace and more than 80% of America's Fortune 500 companies have a presence in the Emirate. Find out why they're betting billions. Burnett also introduces viewers to the people who live in Dubai. 80% of the city's residents are expatriates. Burnett speaks with American ex-pat Dean Ferris, an attorney who moved his family 8,000 miles from their Texas home.You'll also visit the world's only indoor ski resort...its biggest gold market...and spectacular camel races when you watch "City of Money & Mystery: A CNBC Special"."

WATCH Video Clips of the 1 hour special