Not sure if you've been following the Cramer vs. Stewart debacle this week, but it's fascinating...
For some background on how truly fucked we are, market-wise, I highly suggest delving into the credit default swap (video that explains it all)/phantom shares (audio) market manipulation that occurred without regulation or oversight for the last several years. We are now in a position where our economy is in tatters and all the money that was "lost" is now in the pockets of hedge funds that benefit from market meltdowns.
Throwing money down the toilet (aka, bailout funds) is not going to fix the problem. We need reform on a wide scale and, not knowing anything about how the market works, it seems like Wall Street should be shut down until there is some stabilization. We shut it down for a few days after 9/11 and somehow our economy didn't collapse.
Anyway, I wanted to post the unedited clips of Jim Cramer's appearance last night on the Daily Show in case you didn't see it. Jon plays clips from a video circulating the Internet where Cramer blatantly and shamelessly explains how you make money from manipulating the market. He describes how "it's easy" to drive the value of a stock down by making up lies about a company and then making sure the rumor makes its way to CNBC and other outlets to help drive down the value. This was illegal for most of the 20th century but was legalized again in 2000.
It's absolutely disgusting that these motherfuckers, who benefit from dropping stock values, have the ability to run companies into the ground and they do so without any guilt or remorse. Somehow it's "legal" even though it is immoral and unethical. See the video I posted earlier about how companies like Overstock and others fell victim to these greedy vultures.
Intro:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3 - Must watch... Jon Stewart doesn't hold back... awesome:
2 comments:
Thanks for posting that! I don't get cable, so I hadn't been in on the whole fiasco between the two of them. Major props to Jon Stewart - he didn't back down.
My favorite line of his was (paraphrasing) "there's a big difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law - maybe we should start focusing on enforcing the INTENT." So right on. That whole, "hey, it's legal" thing is starting to drive me crazy. The longer I'm in law school the more I come to grips with the fact that just because something is "the law" doesn't mean it's right or ethical or just or fair.
Jon Stewart did an awesome job on this interview. He's a good investigative reporter.
I loved the "Defending Your Life"-style tapes that he sprung on Cramer. Why hasn't this "snake oil salesman" been sued by some of the companies whose stock he talked down for his own personal gain?
Like many people, I'm tired of hearing the blame get placed on people with unaffordable mortgages....it's the new "weapons of mass destruction" mantra. We've been gamed for a long time by people like Cramer and his cronies. It's about time people started asking some hard questions. Bravo to Stewart.
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