After Barron’s on the weekend opined the bottom had been seen, and CNBC “Personalities” and Talking Heads added to the hype this week, Deutsche Bank (DB) says that the present banking environment is very challenging and that it is ready to announce further write-downs against the value of its holdings of syndicated debt. Moreover, Goldman Sachs analyst Andrew Tilton says that financial institutions have written off just $120 billion of approximately $460 billion in credit losses associated with the bursting of the credit bubble.
Now who do we listen to, the mainstream media or Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs?
Financial media need to be more responsible. People’s savings are at stake. This is not a matter of entertainment or sport. More analysis and less synthesis (ie, story-telling) is required. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him?
For the past two days I have forced myself to sit in for about five minutes every hour to get a sample of CNBC presentations. It was tough to get through. In fact, as I see it, the General Electric (GE) management has to review the situation. CNBC has been reduced to little more than an infomercial.
What concerns me as well is that Bloomberg and BNN seem too eager to be copy-cats, and as for the Fox business network, I won’t even comment.
I think there is an opportunity for a new media operator to come onto the scene and bring legitimacy to financial reporting.
By the way, you know that I often refer to the gnomes who control our lives (as in how came McCain from down and out to being the Republican Party nominee over the course of a weekend). Well, read this quote from Cronkite:
I'm afraid there is [a ruling class in America]. I don't think it serves democracy well... The ruling class is the rich who really command our industry, our commerce, our finance. And those people are able to so manipulate our democracy that they really control our democracy, I feel.– Walter Cronkite, from The American Ruling Class (2005)
There is a truth you know – if you want to hear it.
