Pimp Your Finances

Tonight is the night we’ve all been waiting for!

Instead of back-and-forth cheap shots, we got too see a live debate between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer.

To help you prepare for their showdown, I put together a summary of their fight so far.

Round 1 – The Daily Show takes on CNBC

On Wednesday, March 4th, Jon Stewart launched a scathing attack on CNBC. Blistering though it was, it was fairly level-headed, mostly using clips from CNBC itself (although some of these were taken out of context).

(view clip here)

The commentary was especially harsh on Cramer. Among other things, Stewart singled out his advice on Bear Stearns, Bank of America, his advice to accept and buy things that are overvalued.

Round 2 – Cramer responds in an online article

On Monday, March 9th, Carmer responded in a post on Mainstreet.com.

He defended himself on four points:

• His video clip was taken out of context
• His advice was actually right, because it referred to the safety of deposits, not the value of Bear Stearns
• He never recommended to buy Bearn Stearns
• He told viewer that Bear Stearns stock was worthless in a timely fashion

While I agree that the clip was taken out of context, I can’t say that I agree with the rest of his points. For more details, check out my post on Cramer’s response. It contains the full text of his rebuttal, as well as a critical analysis of his arguments.

Round 3 – Stewart responds to Cramer’s rebuttal

The staff at the Daily Show was on top of things, and Monday night, they did another segment – this time specifically on Cramer’s rebuttal

(view clip here)

After lambasting some of the shows and commentators on CNBC, Stewart addressed Cramer’s points from earlier in the day.

The bottom line is that even though Stewart acknowledged the Bear Stearns clip was taken out of context, he stood by everything he had said Monday night.

To prove his point, he showed clips of Cramer recommending to buy Bear Stearns on March 6th, 2008, and again on January 24th, 2008.

To make sure he was perfectly clear, he ended the segment the same way he ended the first one:

F*ck You!!! 

Round 4  – Cramer starts the rounds on the NBC networks

On Tuesday, Cramer started trumping up his defensive campaign. In the morning, he appeared on the Today show.

(view clip here)

When the host brought up the Daily Show, Cramer appeared uncomfortable and even agitated.

Rather than replying to Stewart’s criticism directly, he chose to belittle his critic:

Oh, a comedian! A comedian is attacking me. WOW! He runs a variety show!

After that, he tried to change the topic, and pointed out how he told everybody to sell stocks on October 6th, 2008, or as he likes to call it, “35% ago”. He tried to further deflect criticism by saying that the whole market is down, and he could find clips that would make Warren Buffet look like a fool.

He did not say anything else about Stewart’s criticism, except in his closing remark:

When Stewart makes that call [telling everyone to sell] I’m all over him, but he won’t do that – because he’s a comedian.

Round 5 – The NBC tour continues

Cramer also appeared on Morning Joe (with host Joe Scarborough) on MSNBC.

Oddly enough, Cramer didn’t do much talking.

(view clip here)

He was introduced as a man under attack by the White House – and also by Jon Stewart. Which is puzzling. Earlier in the day, Stewart was “just a comedian.” But now, he’s worth of an equal mention with the President?

Scarborough did all the talking, and started by trying to say that Stewart was attacking Cramer because there wasn’t a Bush in the White House to pick on.

Cramer responded by trying to turn away from the rhetoric, and instead offering a plea:

If Jon Stewart wants to debate the merits of tier-1 captial vs. common equity, I’ll do it. But the guys a comedian, and he’s decided to focus on some calls I made during a bull market.

It’s entirely possible he could run tape from Warren Buffet saying GE’s a good buy at $22, and the stock’s at $7. But no one’s going to make fun of Buffet because he’s a rich, big powerful guy.

I have a few problems with this.

While I appreciate Cramer’s statement that he wanted to get away from rhetoric, I can’t help but notice he was laughing while he said it. And if Cramer is going to continue to dismiss Stewart’s opinion as a comedian, he should stop appearing on national TV to respond to his criticism.

Also, call me crazy – but sound investment advice applies during bull or bear markets, right? If not, it’s just a strategy to time the market.

After that, Joe Scarborough took center stage, and basically used the entire segment to bash Stewart, the Daily Show, and late night comedy in general.

Cramer did admit to making mistakes, but again banged his chest and pointed to October 6th when he said that you should take you money out if you need it in the next six months.

Scarborough continued to talk about the angry leftist media, and implied that they responded to Sanetlli’s “Chicago Tea Party” rant with a conspiracy.

And suddenly everything went viral, so it was only a matter of time before they started digging through transcripts, and they came up with these attacks…

Maybe Jon Stewart can tell now us what the markets are going to do over the next five to ten years? Maybe he can tell us what’s going to happen next in Iraq?

Which again, is interesting that they want a  simple comedian to predict the complexities of the stock market and international combat.

There’s really not much to see from the rest of the appearance…Cramer really didn’t talk much, and Scarborough used it to bash the nature of comedy and late night talk shows, rather than responding to any of the points that Stewart has made.

Round 6 – Stewart responds to the NBC tour

Tuesday night on the Daily Show, Stewart took off all the gloves.

(view clip here)

To be honest, last night’s segment didn’t add anything intellectual to the ongoing debate. But it was hilarious. Probably one of the funniest intros on the Daily Show that I’ve seen in a long time.

Stewart knocked Cramer for making the media rounds on the NBC networks, and then reminded viewers that Stewart also works for a powerful media conglomerate. Comedy Central’s owners also own companies like Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, etc….

To make fun of Cramer, Stewart appeared in a segment with Dora the Explorer talking about the ongoing feud, and then did something similar with the cast of MTV’s The Hills.

Again, funny, but it added little to the debate.

Round 7 – Stewart promotes the Cramer interview

The Daily Show took on Cramer again last night.

(view the clip here)

This time it was just to promote the upcoming debate and interview. Again, little substance, but plenty of comedy. This time, most of it was directed at the media’s coverage of the feud, rather than anything having to do with Cramer.

What to do during the debate…I propose a drinking game

Keeping in line with the presidential debates, I’d like to propose a Cramer vs. Stewart drinking game. After all, he is just a comedian.

I think that if you hear any of the following phrases, you should take a good long drink:

• Tier 1
• Chicago Tea Party
• October 6th, 2008
• 35% down
• Just a comedian
• Just an analyst
• Bear Stearns
• In Cramer we trust
• Warren Buffet
• Ideological
• Leftist
• F*ck you!
• Daily Show
• Comedy Central
• CNBC
• (any reference to a show on CNBC that doesn’t exist)
• Bear market
• Bull market
• (any sound effect that is played)
• (any happy visuals put up behind Cramer)
• (any time Cramer hits his hand on a desk or table)
• (any time Stewart hits his hand on his desk, presumably to mock Cramer)

I hope you enjoy the debate… regardless of which side you’re on, it’ll be fun to watch.

PS – I have more than just Stewart and Cramer posts. Look for my regular material to return soon!

Related posts:

1. Jim Cramer Responds to Jon Stewart
2. Jon Stewart Lays Smackdown on CNBC
3. Jim Cramer’s Latest Feud
4. Fear and Loathing on Main Street
5. Carnival Roundup, March 21st