Cramer vs. Stewart

Written on 10:05 AM by Robert

I have been a fan of the Daily Show for over a year. It is a surprisingly entertaining source of financial and political news for me. This week, Jon Stewart began his crusade against financial media giant CNBC, and specifically Jim Cramer of Mad Money for his presentation of misinformation on several matters, including the financial health of several companies like Bear Sterns.

All week there has been a "war of words" between these two. Cramer has been on half a dozen talk shows this week trying to present his side of the story while Stewart ripped into him with video clips from Mad Money showing Cramer making faulty financial predictions. These predictions, according to Stewart, played a part in making the general public lose money in the stock market.

Last night, Cramer appeared on the Daily Show to face the ever-ready Stewart in a debate about the state of the financial world and CNBC's role in it. Stewart's argument was that Cramer's entertaining show (and CNBC as a whole) should do more in protecting the finances of the average stock holder and less in protecting the interests of the corporations. Cramer seemed to agree with every point Steward made and explained that the information given to the people was based on facts presented by corporate CEOs, which was almost laughable in itself.

My opinion is that Cramer should not be offended by Stewart's criticisms. Stewart is a comedian with a comedic show about politics and finances. Cramer's job is supposed to be predict the future of the stock market based on the information he gets. So who's at fault? Whoever is in charge of checking the validity of corporate claims before making predictions.

What do you think about this whole mess? Oh, and before you give me your answer, here is but ONE of the dozens of clips on Youtube showing off Stewart's handling of Cramer during this past week. Enjoy!