CNBC: Sue Herrera Tells It Like It Is

CNBC's Sue Herrera, speaking of class clown Dennis Kneale* a few minutes ago:

And by the way, thanks for that oil-can't-move-to-$150 call yesterday, Dennis. And we had it set a new record high. So, he's a contrary indicator, folks, that's all we can tell ya.

Indeed.

And while we're on the subject, we'll add a new item to our list of Things We Don't Like About CNBC.

New Item

• Bob Pisani's crutch-like reliance on the word "here." If you haven't noticed this before, and get annoyed by verbal tics like this, we apologize for bringing it to your attention. If you have noticed it, we feel your pain.

Old Items

• The little clock in the upper-right corner of the network's charts rushing past in hundredths of seconds. As if the general tone of the whole production weren't short-term jumpy enough.
• Those Pat Boone gold ads. The leathery face is bad enough, but the overweening hucksterism has earned these spots a place in this particular hall of shame.
• Cramer's Fed-Begging. Part schtick, part sincere, entirely over the top.
• Rick Santelli not getting enough love. Chicago's own is a rare (if not "lone") voice of reason in the wilderness.
• Erin Burnett insisting that her guests say something positive. We like positive stuff ourselves--where it's justified. But scraping around for a "silver lining" for its own sake strikes us as something other than disinterested.
• Dennis Kneale. We don't understand Kneale's relentless, damn-the-evidence optimism on the economy and the markets. But the real problem with Kneale is that no one on CNBC's air gets more immediate corrections, curious looks, and dismissive headshakes. It's the willful cluelessness, not the opinions themselves, that make Kneale CNBC's most mutable voice. We simply do not understand why the network has made him such a fixture. Perhaps it's because no one with a fuller sense of reality could muster Kneale's spin--a kind of spin CNBC's decision-makers think they need to sustain their audience.
• "It's four o'clock on Wall Street. Do you know where your money is?" What in the world is that supposed to mean? Why do Maria Bartiromo and her understudies insist on saying it every day? This is a daily must-mute moment.
• The sound effects used to transition between images during Bartiromo's 4:00 summary schtick. Too loud. Too grating. Utterly unnecessary. Sort of like most of the fake noise made in NBA arenas these days: sound and fury signifying nothing.
• Inane questions about why the market is doing what it's doing at a given moment. Bill Griffeth on February 27th, when the S&P 500 was 0.73 points above the previous day's close: "Why are we higher today?" Good grief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Who, in disucssing the "recession myth," just called Wal-Mart's sales the "single best indicator of the economy in the U.S." No. We are not making this up.

Comments

[drmalaka]

I can't watch CNBC anymore. Denis Kneale is at best a fool and he is featured more than anyone else. I am not sure he even has economics training. He though he made a great point the other day when he mentioned that housing sales are not that bad because there are more people in the country every year so sales demand should increase. What a moron, like those numbers are not built into things already.

The other day he was rejoicing in market bears getting hurt. Is this a news network that tells us what the market does or a cheering section for the market to go up?

Rick Santelli is the only true reporter at that channel and it might be a better network if he appeared for more than five minutes a day. How about a quick suggestion, lets swap one fewer hour of Kneale time for one more minute of Santelli time.

[Philly Jim]

Anyone see the fighting between Dennis and Bill? Bill was treating Michelle and Dennis like crap; making fun of Dennis's voice and suggesting that he wants to have sex with Michelle. LOL - Poor Sue, she had to put up with that. The media was really strange today, Erin Burnett was making weird noises/chirps that was throwing people off, Hank Paulson's mic wasn't working and the fighting between anchors on CNBC. Dennis is on his way out, has been an odd character for the show from the beginning.

[R Burns]

I must congratulate CNBC as serving as a live time audition for the next Pee Wee Herman. Dennis gets the job and he cant start somewhere else soon enough.

[Jaun]

Have you seen the new Fox Business Channel? What a disaster.

[jswede]

these days CNBC is run like something in between a tame weekday morning shock-jock radio program and the View...

We keep Bloomberg on these days.

[archman82011]

Like most people who get hired by CNBC, they are asked to leave their professionalism at the door the day they start. They are obviously thrown alot of money and told just hype the market and spin the news, no matter how bad, into good news.
Look at Erin Burnett, and Dylan Rattigan. I can remember watching these two when they were on Bloomberg. They were what I would call "hard hitting" journalists who reported the news and asked the right questions. Now, they are nothing more than carnival barkers who's sole job is to take investing and turn it into a three ring circus, where gambling, hope and hype, have replaced real investing.

It is obvious that Dennie Kneale must have said to the exec's at CNBC when they hired him :
"Look GE, I will say anything you want. I will outright lie to the public and tell everyone what they want to hear, regardless if it is true or not.
I will hype the market more than anyone else ever has, and spin all bad news as good news, for I know I have zero accountability for anything I say. If I am wrong, and the entire world hates me and thinks I am an idiot, it wont matter. 'Cause you are gonna pay me so much money to lie and embarrass myself, that it is not going to matter"

And that my friends is exactly why Dennis Kneale acts and says what he does.

[JREwing]

One always has to ask: Why would anyone who knows what's goin' on work at CNBC, or any other financial network? If those guys were any good, they would be players and not talking heads.

[bonanza60]

"It's 2 AM and I just bought 200 shares of Shangdow Energy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong! That's in China!"

"What a tool!"

Anyways, Kneal is no worse that the idiot on Kudlows program..forget his name. They all practically shout down Joe Battapaglia.

[Malkiel]

Kneale was originally introduced as the "technology editor" but he didn't know anything worth saying about that, so now they just keep him on for color. He's clearly an acolyte of Kudlow, one of those "talk up the market in order to protect capitalism" free-market conservatives who ought to be on Kudlow and nowhere else, except that Kudlow at least has real economists mixed in with his junior reaganomics trainees...

[brooklyn91941]

Dennis Kneale used to work for Forbes and listening to him there was the same. How he even is employed in this industry is amazing with the economy in recession and so many smart people that are financially astute un employed. CNBC hires people that are willing to compromise their integrity and are willing to be bullish and push the failed economic policies of this administration like Larry Kudlow, Chief idiot. With the world in such turmoil and the need for good reporting so important the premier Financial News Network employs clowns.

For shame.

[zenalgorithm]

Dennis is the biggest whining bitc# on news television. Instead of using logic and facts, he argues how something makes him feel. Nobody cares.

Dylan Ratigan is stuck on LOUD stutter. I can't stand him any longer. I turn down the volume whenever he comes on. At least he fixed his hair implants last week - he was getting a David Letterman hair-puff on his forehead. His questions during interviews are so long and interrupting, he eventually answers his own question. He needs to only be on Fast Money, and nothing else.

[fatcat]

i use the cnbc banter as a contrarian view,many times I'd wait 2 days and watch Cramers picks tank.But lately that hasn't worked,mainly because all he picks is nat gas. Can you believe they think it will double?How in the hell will people stay warm? Guess I'll have to hedge my heating bill!

[tomyris]

Erin Burnett is a Godess and Denis is great .

[lobsterboy]

I would agree with all sentiments about Dennis Kneale found on this board. When I have seen him I can just tell he has absolutely no trading experience. What the guy needs a little skin in the game. Like maybe a trade on his life, only then would we hear something intelligent come from his pie hole. What is his backround anyways? He doesn't even have a bio on CNBC. At least I can't find one and I would put money that he's related to someone at GE who got him the job.

On a side note, I would like to comment on another Dennis: Dennis Gartman. Now, I don't get his news letter but most of the calls that he makes on FAST MONEY are so inccorrect or obvious. "I wouldn't be long of gold here," you'll here that one night and then the next night he's like "I am glad I have a large gold position" What a joke..

[fatcat]

tomyris..you're right,Erin is beyond ultimate..

[papita]

I agree with almost every comment here. Remember the day when the men on TV used to shave and comb their hair? Kneale does neither. And Cardigan, I mean Radigan, that stuttering fool makes me sick. But the biggest fool is Maria Bartiidiot. her whole act is a put on. Talk about a cheerleader. I like when the Dow was up 45, she comes on and says the Dow is up 27. She's a moron. And, I'll do all of you people here one better. I am emailing this page to one of the execs at CNBC. I want thim to see what the people really think of his network.

[sigh]

Erin is becoming increasingly marginalized and losing air time to mostly inane comments from Mark Haynes about diet Snapple and other diet drinks. And what is with all the infighting on air between Santelli, Leisman (sp?) and the other hosts and guestss? Are the producers trying to create more drama here and inject some balance (Santelli) into the hucksterism? Too much noise, too little time on analysis. And please, no more Warren Buffett for a long time. On the plus side, Michelle doing the news in that orange sweater. Hoo Hah!!!!

[UpNAmpd]

My cohorts and I played a drinking game and swigged each time that Erin embarassed a guest or colleague with an insult... needless to say, we were too drunk to trade. The sound effects and flip charts on the left of screen on days when CNBC shows live feed of Ben Bernanke at one hearing or another are even more annoying than Erin herself.

[adan]

couldn't think of anything to say really, 'cept i really enjoyed your post

oh, agreed, rick santelli's a good (if rare) one :-)

thanks

[User 191481]

Has anyone else noticed that Maria never anchors 'Closing Bell' from the floor of the exchange anymore? It's always from their headquarters. Does she not want to drive into the city?

[sigh]

Did anyone see Erin's coverage from India? Embarrassing to say the least and incredibly inept. In a long, long speil on how fast food in India differs from that in the U.S., not once did she mention the investment angle ie that big fast food franchises like McDonald's are only beginning to scratch the surface of the Indian market. It reminded me a bit of Becky Quick's "discovery" of China last year. It was like she had landed on Mars.