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More Gasparino Pushback on Bear Stearns...

icn2 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:17:46 +0000

The Business & Media Institute's Jeff Poor writes about Charles Gasparino appearing on CNBC to rebut (again) the Vanity Fair Bear Stearns article. (via Talking Biz News)

After JPMorgan Chase’s CEO concurred with an August 2008 Vanity Fair article alleging that CNBC reporting could have been part of Bear Stearns’ downfall, the cable channel’s on-air editor rose up to defend CNBC.

“Well, you know, he [Dimon] said one thing that I’m just – listen, I didn’t watch it,” CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino said, “I’m just going by what appears to be a transcript here: ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ Oh really? Sometimes where there’s smoke, there’s no fire, Jamie. I’ve got news for you.”

Gasparino’s July 8 “Power Lunch” rebuttal slammed comments from JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon who complained about CNBC’s reporting in an interview aired on PBS’s July 7 “The Charlie Rose Show.” Vanity Fair also issued a story in its August 2008 issue blaming Bear Stearns’ situation on CNBC and three other companies.

But according to Gasparino, assertions that rumors were responsible for Bear Stearns’ collapse are the product of “ill-informed writers and reporters” and that the company had several fundamental flaws – including its leadership – which caused the investment bank’s failure.

Rumor Mongering...

icn2 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:13:07 +0000

The New York Post's Peter Lauria empties his bag of NBC Rumors today...

"Zucker's made it pretty clear that he's looking to do deals and remake NBC's overall approach," said one source, who will be at the conference and plans on talking with Zucker.

Sources have said that General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt is being coy when he says that NBC isn't for sale. While Immelt might be opposed to an outright sale of NBC because of the large tax hit GE would take, sources said they think he's interested in exploring a merger or spin-off - with Time Warner and Liberty Media mentioned most often as the likely suitors.

However, Zucker himself threw cold water on that notion earlier this week when on CNBC he said he doesn't see either a sale or spin-off in NBC's future.

Nevertheless, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Liberty Media's John Malone are expected to be in Sun Valley this week, and the betting is they'll be talking with Zucker.

Bankers, meanwhile, are also interested in getting face time with Zucker in order to position themselves for a piece of the action should NBC be forced into an initial public offering. French conglomerate Vivendi owns a stake in NBC, and can begin exercising its $4 billion transferable put right in November and force GE to either buy Vivendi's stake or float it to the public.

FBN and Dow Jones...

icn2 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:50:08 +0000

The New York Times' Brian Stelter writes about FBN and Dow Jones as a result of the Walt Mossberg hire...

Since the channel’s inception, a Dow Jones Newswire employee has worked in the Fox Business newsroom to help coordinate coverage. And some Dow Jones employees —notably Gerald F. Seib, the executive editor in Washington for The Journal, and Bob O’Brien, the online stocks editor for Barron’s — appear on the channel as guests. Barron’s is also a Dow Jones publication.

Mr. Mossberg’s appearances, which will regularly occur on Thursday mornings after a first one on Wednesday, are the first weekly segments by a Journal staff member.

A CNBC spokesman had no comment about the contract. Mr. Mossberg had been a regular contributor to CNBC for about a decade. Since late last year David Pogue, a technology columnist for The New York Times, has contributed regularly to the channel, which is a subsidiary of NBC Universal.

India's Modern and Contemporary Art Fair (August 2008)

indiaartsummit2008 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:49:50 +0000

INDIA ART SUMMIT 2008

India is hosting its first art fair of modern and contemporary art called "India Art Summit". It will be held on 22nd -24th of August 2008, at Pragati Maidan (ITPO) New Delhi. Along the lines of international art fairs like FIAC, Art Basel and Freeze, this is India's step into the asian art fairs circuit.

The fair will host a range of artworks by some of India's best upcoming and veteran artists who are being shown by 34 Indian and international art galleries. The exhibitors include Nature Morte, Palette Art, Sanskriti, Rob Dean Art, Gallery Espace, Cymroza, Delhi Art Gallery, Apparao, Emami Chisel Art, Tao, Tasveer, Vadehra Gallery Bookstore among others. A range of paintings, sculptures, prints, installations, drawing and photography will be on offer.

There will also be a day long interactive seminar with internationally renowned speakers like Dr. Robert Storr, Dr. Hugo Weihe, Mr. Philip Hoffman, Ms. Geeta Kapur, Prof. Rajeev Lochan, Ms. Anjolie Ela Menon, Mr. Arun Vadehra, Mr. Dinesh Vazirani. You can register as a delegate on the Summit website.

Check out www.indiaartsummit.com for the latest developments. Do register to attend the fair, sign up as a delegate for the seminar or request an invite for the collectors preview and dinner.

22nd August 2008 (Friday)

11:00am - 2: 00pm (Collectors Preview by invitation only)

2:00pm -8:00pm (Fair open)

23rd August 2008 (Saturday)

11:00am - 8:00pm (Fair Open)

10:30am - 6:30 pm (Day long seminar)

7:30 pm onwards (Cocktails and Dinner at Intercontinental The Grand - by invitation only)

24th August (Sunday)

11:00am - 6:00pm (Fair Open)

7:30 pm (Cocktails at Gallery Espace)

India Art Summit is produced by Hanmer MS&L . This is an annual event and is supported by Ministry of Culture (Government of India), NGMA, HT Mint, Art India, Asian Art News, CNBC and other corporate & media houses.

Posted by: Neha Kirpal, Associate Summit Director, India Art Summit 2008

Mossberg, FBN, and CNBC...

icn2 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:06:33 +0000

Silicon Alley Insider's Michael Learmonth blogs about FBN poaching Walt Mossberg from CNBC...

In January, Fox Business EVP Kevin Magee said that that according to his interpretation of the WSJ-CNBC deal, it only covers business news and regularly-scheduled, branded segments. FBN isn't buiding a show around Mossberg, but he'll be talking about his "Personal Technology" column and other technology-related news of the day, which sounds like it at least ought to be covered by the CNBC deal.

Mossberg's last appearance on CNBC was Saturday, when he talking about Mozilla's Firefox with CNBC anchor BIll Griffeth. He's joining Fox just in time for his review of the 3G iPhone, perhaps as soon as Thursday.

Even though CNBC made a lot of noise about its "exclusive" content deal with the WSJ last fall when Rupert Murdoch was busy buying Dow Jones, they probably saw this one coming. In December, CNBC signed New York Times gadget reviewer David Pogue as a contributor.

The Big Idea: Donny Deutsch

Coach Ron — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:29:32 +0000

The Big Idea: Donny Deutsch
CNBC

After watching a bit of The Big Idea with Donny Deustch I became increasingly intrigued by what his shows have been about recently. Todays episode dealt with over achievement and whether the skill of being an S.O.B. (Son of a b____) is needed to be successful. Big names like Mel Robbins (Make It Happen with Mel Robbins), Tom Colicchio (Tom Colicchio - Founder & Co-Owner, Craft Restaurants, Top Chef), Doctor Roger Schank (Founder, GrandparentGames.com), Wes Moss (Speaker, CFP & Radio Host - The Apprentice), and even Eric Trump (VP Development & Aquisitions, The Trump Organization)

Mel Robbins - Self Help With A New Attitude

Mel Robbins wrote an article for CNBC's Big Idea called, The New Way To Play The Game Of Achievement

A highlight I really enjoyed in this article was this little gem she wrote, "If you want to be play the game of achievement - definitely try your hand at not being nice - that is - not being nice to YOURSELF...
try pushing yourself as far as you can possibly go? That's what a true pressure-ridden, unapologetic S.O.B. would do. They'd unleash it on themselves."

I'll have to check out her radio show tomorrow. I'm liking The Big Idea!!!

Another CNBC/Bear Stearns Article...

icn2 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:45:13 +0000

The Deal.com's Yvette Kantrow writes about Bear Stearns and CNBC... (via Talking Biz News)

The charges against CNBC (and the hedge funds and Goldman) give the piece something that The Wall Street Journal's earlier three-parter on Bear lacked. But they also raise questions about how the media is covering and perhaps even fanning the current banking crisis.

Indeed, no sooner had the ink on Burrough's piece dried than another Wall Street firm, Lehman Brothers Inc., saw its stock fall 8% on June 30. The next morning, Lehman was topic A on CNBC, with The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin playing guest host. Sorkin quickly debunked the previous day's rumor that Lehman would be taken over by Barclays plc but added that the firm is not in the clear yet: "Every time we talk about this story, the headline issue, if you will, puts them in a more precarious place," he said.

Clearly, Sorkin had read Burrough's piece and didn't want to be tarred as a malevolent Chatty Kathy if Lehman succumbed. But he and the CNBC gang kept gabbing anyway; it's what they're there for. Soon enough, Sorkin is happily sparring with Charlie Gasparino, who came in for some drubbing in Burrough's story for stating that he didn't see how Bear could survive independently because "they don't have enough horses out there." Now, he was making a similar prediction for Lehman.

Kim Babjak: from McDonald's to a millionaire

mauthor — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:27:07 +0000

more on kim babjak's success: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_8_33/ai_n15681426/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1

NBC Universal e sócios vão comprar Weather Channel

Revista Online ;-) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:34:12 +0000

FILADÉLFIA (Reuters) - Um grupo formado pela NBC Universal e as empresas de private equity Bain Capital e Blackstone Group anunciou, no domingo, ter entrado em acordo para comprar o Weather Channel, pertencente à Landmark Communications.

Os termos do negócio não foram revelados, mas fontes familiarizadas com a transação disseram que o preço de venda estava pouco abaixo de 3,5 bilhões de dólares.

A Landmark, que está vendendo a emissora e outros negócios, pedia originalmente 5 bilhões de dólares, segundo disseram algumas fontes anteriormente.

NBC Universal e as duas empresas de private equity anunciaram no mês passado que haviam iniciado negociações exclusivas para comprar as propriedades do Weather Channel.

A transação inclui a rede de TV a cabo Weather Channel Networks e o website do mesmo nome.

A NBC Universal, que é parte da General Electric Co . vai adicionar o canal a seus outros empreendimentos no setor de notícias e informações, que incluem as TVs NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC e seus respectivos sites.

O Weather Channel é a terceira rede a cabo mais distribuída e é vista por mais de 97 por cento das residências dos Estados Unidos que possuem televisão a cabo. Seu website, www.weather.com, tem quase 40 milhões de visitantes individuais por mês.

(Reportagem de Jui Chakravorty e Phil Wahba em Nova York, e Jessica Hall em Filadélfia)

Socially Conscious Real Estate

djmedia1000 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:31:19 +0000

http://socially-conscious-real-estate.com - Finally, here's your chance to buy into your fellow man, risk nothing and make $2,000 per sale! This is socially conscious real estate. Watch the videos!

I Love CNBC

longwaves — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:52:08 +0000

I cannot say enough about how much I respect CNBC. I don't watch television much--well except for the Food Network and CNBC. Specifically, I wake up to Squawk Box. Ever since Mark Haines, Joe Kernan, and David Faber began their witty banter, insightful analysis, and jovial reporting on all things business and economy, I have been a loyal and enthusiastic viewer. I do not think there is a better produced show with a better prepared, more intelligent, compassionate, and truly caring set of charismatic hosts anywhere on television ever. Sure, there are the giants of TV news: Cronkite, Brinkley, Brokaw, and yes, Tim Russert. But the show put on by Squawk Box is the best. The current lineup is no exception. Kernan, Quintanilla, and Becky Quick have taken the show and only made it better. And their cadre of industry leaders, guest hosts, assignment reporters, and special commentators, heaps on the value to an already valuable in-depth discussion of the state of the economy.

Despite my saccharin opinion and my gushing about the show, I do believe they, like virtually all business writers--and (even worse) business managers--suffer from a myopia that has become endemic to our view of business and economy.

All of the commentary and analysis neglects historical context. Sure every once in a while you'll have segment with some tidbit of historical fact. But none of the hosts, none of the analysis, and none of their commentators approaches a problem or a situation with an historian's eye. It's not surprising. History is seen as a collection of facts or dry obtuse writing about subjects only academicians care about. In fact History can be an essential lens into the past that illuminates the behaviors, market forces, political decisions, and social actions that have created situations we face today. If applied to topics such as those covered by a news organization like CNBC, we can learn so much more than simply how stocks perform, what economists think the tea leaves say, and what executives have to say about their company's performance. Instead, we can place these statements in a context. For example, if we understood that the U.S. economy has been through panics, recesssions, and economic depression before, and we analyze the factors that led to those previous episodes, we will be more aware of how our behaviors and decisions as individuals and institutions lead us both to prosperity and financial despair. Looking at the long waves of capitalism can help cut through the morass of conflicting information, and make us aware that we have been here before.

As I continue to post commentary on my blog, I will highlight how the historian's craft and the perspective of long wave theory can shed light on what's really happening with the state of the economy. Using the segments of CNBC as my canvas, I think we'll get a fairly complete picture of the state of things.

7/3/08...update on the Bears game

traderbill — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:13:31 +0000

...our team, following that exciting Hail Mary pass, ended up with three incompletes and a muffed field goal attempt. The Bears took over on the 35 yard line but our defense held them until the punted. The returner was dropped the ball at the 5 yard line and while he recovered it, it was in the endzone for a safety! So we are now down another 2 points and the fans are booing broadly...not a pretty picture and just as we had gotten our hopes up too!

You have no idea how depressed TB was after an attempt to be optimistic yesterday...all in vain. The reason for his optimism, muted as it was, involved the reversal in both volatility indices Tuesday...well guess what: they reversed again yesterday with the VIX closing above 25 and VXN above 30! This resulted in the Dow and Nasdaq settling in official bear territory. Also, all the hot sectors and stocks tanked badly too...including oils and other energy related stocks despite a record high in crude prices. Note that oil was up even with the NYNEX raising margin requirements effective at yesterday's close.

As TB waits for the payrolls report this morning, the ECB just raised rates by 1/4 point to 4.25%, the UK suffered the worst decline in the service sector since Q3 2001, and the Nikkei has outperformed China and India for the first time in two decades.

Here is some more cheerful news: arson rates are soaring as property is being torched to collect the insurance...and that sector is already being hit hard...witness Berkshire having the worst quarter since 1990 due to its insurance investments...BRK was down over 1% yesterday. Meanwhile our regulators sit on their collective butts allowing 'investors' to buy unlimited amounts of commodities contracts and the weaker stocks get the more they buy! Also, the SEC refuses to see the stupidity of their decision to eliminate the uptick rule...by the way the effective date on that rescission was July 3, 2007...do you see how close that was to a market peak??? God help us from ourselves!

We just got the payrolls data for June and it was much worse than expected. Payrolls declined by 62k but the worst news was in the revisions: May was revised to -67k from -28k while April was revised to -62k from -49k...a combined loss of 52k more jobs! The unemployment rate rose out to the third decimal place to a legitimate 5.5%. The private sector lost 91k jobs while government added 29k jobs. June was also hurt by the bad weather. To make matters worse due to tomorrow's holiday, payrolls came out at the same time as

weekly jobless claims which rose 16k to 404k...remember not that long ago when we were toying with 300k!

Until the governments, central bankers, and regulators of the world get their act together and start thinking about what really went wrong we will not get out of this mess and will flail in the wind at the mercy of speculators while real investors suffer...and even those investors are trying to make money by driving commodities prices higher to offset their puny equity gains...and the bond market is not providing relief.

Sorry but TB has nothing further to add as we turn investing into speculation that makes Vegas look sane.

TB listened to Jim Cramer last night...and he was telling you how to make money in this selloff...just like CNBC trotting out all those "eggspurts" who don't get the "yolk" and tell you to buy something they already own...and have the audacity to say "we are here to show you how to make money in this market". Well the scoreboard tells a different story...a week ago they were still touting oil and other energy related stocks...look folks, they know no more than you do...nor does TB...and the logic they give is less than reassuring. Cramer continues to tout Hudson City Bank (HCBK), yet it is selling at 19x forecast earnings (27x trailing)...off the charts for a bank...has just a 2.6% dividend and is +37% over the past year...does he, or you, honestly believe that HCBK will be your salvation? Think! They aren't!

The best part is Cramer said after a selloff like yesterday that stocks will go down for at least a week so you should sell some of your stock into it...do you see what he is saying? Add fuel to the fire! Sick! Because his listeners are not institutional investors and if they sell, you can make book that they will not buy back in after the selloff he predicts comes....they will wait for a rally and get hit again!

The sooner you can get away today and relax for three days the better. Unfortunately, TB left to play golf for the first time in a year or more...it looked as if things were going well...only to return to see that the stock market had succumbed to the bear...these are the times that try men's (and women's) souls!

Until Monday...

Bear with me here

bellepoq — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:05:15 +0000

PUAH!! Fun pun time!!

"FTSE 100 dips into bear market territory" - FT
"Dow Jones becomes a bear market" - BBC
"Cute polar bear solves energy crisis" - Gawker (not all bears are bad)
"Bear mauls teen during 24-hour bike race in Alaska" - AP (ok some are really bad)
Maria Bartiromo brings down Bear Stearns - Vanity Fair

(Just an another excuse to use the world's most unbearably cute bear picture.)

Private Equity: The Sine Qua Non Of Capitalism

longwaves — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:35:59 +0000

The lead article in Mass High Tech this week brings to light the precipitious drop in private equity deals, IPOs, and venture backed Merger/Acquisition activity in New England. I read about this on the same day I saw a segment on CNBC which provided essentially the same thesis: that since they've been keeping records at places like the National Venture Capital Association, there hasn't been this little dealmaking, new IPO activity, or liquidation events for the private equity community. In other words, in the last 40 years we've never seen such a slowdown for private equity. Well, it turns out CNBC has had a slew of segments over the past few days that have addressed the topic.

The one I saw is here

This is a second one

Wow. What does that say about the state of our economy? When some of the brightest business people on the planet, whose mandate in their limited partnerships is to put the money to work so they can generate double digit IRRs decide it's better to be in the business of operating the companies in which they've already invested, or decide it's better to sit on the huge pools of capital they've raised in their LP funds and risk having to return the money to their partners than it is to place bets on new ventures, new technology and new products...then all I can say is WOW! That is not a good sign.

In fact it's a terrible sign. It's a terrible sign because the engine of capitalism is a process known as "creative destruction." First used by Joseph Schumpeter to describe what he saw as the fundamental way that capitalism creates surplus value, the concept of creative destruction is what drives entrepreneurs to enter markets, innovate new technologies, and drive costs out of existing business. It is the essential process by which capital flows in to fund new ventures and products. It's how you get companies like Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, and thousands of others. Frankly, it's how the innovative companies of 100 years ago came to be; Gulf Oil, US Steel, Standard Oil, Westinghouse, and Sun Oil Company (Sunoco) to name just a handful.

So when I see that private equity activity has basically fallen off the table at a time when PE funds are flush with cash and credit markets are reeling from their foolhardy embrace of convoluted and contrived securitization deals coupled with unimaginably lax lending poIicies, I blanch at the thought of what that means for our economy 10, 20, or 30 years from now. Without private equity flowing into the hands of the creative minds who see opportunity where others do not, capitalism cannot flourish. It is the Sine Qua Non of the capitalist economy.

Gasparino on Vanity Fair Bear Stearns Article...

icn2 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:45:09 +0000

Dealbreaker.com's Bess Levin has CNBC's Charles Gasparino responding to the Vanity Fair Bear Stearms article...

We haven't yet talked to Faber about the five finger act that dare not speak its name, but we spoke briefly with Gasparino earlier and there are a few things he'd like you to know.

1. He never called Sam Molinaro, Sam Molinaro called him, after hearing on CNBC that Bear's PR department wasn't doing anything to dispel the rumors (being promulgated by CNBC).

2. Molinaro told Gasparino "Charlie, you and I have always had a relationship and you can call me whenever you want," to which Gasparino said "Thank you." Molinaro also told him, "I always found you to be a straight shooter."

3. Gasparino never tried to get an interview with Schwartz, and he doesn't even have a producer, thereby precluding him from taking part in the aforementioned cat fight.

4. Burrough never called him about the story.

5. Burrough "failed Journalism 101."

6. Bear went down because of its "failure to communicate with the markets."

7. If Gasparino ever meets Burrough face to face, this is a preview of what he's going to do to him:

Business idea: Hot picks guitar picks

mauthor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:11:29 +0000

Defending CNBC re: Bear Stearns...

icn2 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:06:25 +0000

CJR Daily's Ryan Chittum fisks the Vanity Fair piece on Bear Stearns...

While it doesn’t make for nearly as good story-telling, it shouldn’t be so hard to believe that a firm—especially one with its reputation as a gunslinger and with a CEO who was a combination of Nero and Michael “Brownie” Brown—could suffer a crisis of confidence that would wipe out its billions of dollars in cash in a week?

After all, it reports that JPMorgan Chase itself, which ended up buying the firm for $10 a share, determined that the amount of Bear’s securities that might go bad was $220 billion—approaching twice the $120 billion Bear had estimated. In fact. JPMorgan had to be dragged into a deal by the Federal Reserve and a pledge from Uncle Sam that it would backstop $30 billion in Bear debt. That means JPMorgan could see $30 billion of losses in its purchase before its $1 billion or so of equity is affected.

But Charlie Gasparino and David Faber of CNBC are somehow responsible for Bear going down? We’re not exactly fans of the droning stock chit-chat at CNBC here, but these guys were reporting information that according to VF’s quotes doesn’t strike us as problematic (though the piece does raise interesting points about CNBC reporters’ treatment of firms that give exclusive interviews to others at the network. We just wish they were fleshed out and better-sourced) or much different than what they do there every day. A major financial institution that can’t survive these kinds of comments probably doesn’t deserve to survive.

CNBC and the Downfall of Bear Stearns?

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:56:32 +0000

Bryan Burrough writes about Bear Stearns in Vanity Fair. What's interesting about this article are the connections Burrough draws to CNBC's coverage of Bear Stearns and its ultimate demise. Provacative stuff. (via Talking Biz News)

At a little after one CNBC correspondent Charlie Gasparino, an especially aggressive reporter who for months had been suggesting Bear’s possible indictment on criminal charges in the hedge-fund collapse, joined an on-air roundtable to discuss the rumor. Gasparino was the bane of Bear Stearns; more than once he had predicted that the firm would go under. “I don’t believe there is a liquidity problem at Bear Stearns,” Gasparino said on-air. “Bear Stearns has a problem with whether they should exist or not in the future in this sense.… What do they have left? A clearing business, a second-rate investment bank?” If the credit crisis continued, Gasparino said a few moments later, “I don’t see how they could survive independently. They don’t have enough horses out there.” Sitting on a stool beside him, Bill Griffeth appeared startled at the strength of the statement.

“You’re on record, then,” he remarked.

Gasparino laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong,” he said.

At Bear Stearns, no one was laughing. Publicly speculating on a firm’s liquidity is akin to shouting “Fire!!!” in a crowded theater; in catastrophic cases it can trigger panic selling. It risks, in other words, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For the next hour the Bear Stearns rumor became a topic of conversation between CNBC correspondents and various market traders and analysts. At 1:50, Matthew Cheslock remarked, “The sentiment [on Bear] is pretty negative. The general consensus is ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ ”

A few minutes later, Griffeth, perhaps sensing the network might have gone a bit too far, asked Dennis Kneale, “What about the jittery nature of this market right now? Are we starting to believe some rumors that may or may not be true?” Kneale agreed. “Someone,” he observed, “is always making money on the other side of that bad news or that rumor.”

Yet CNBC’s coverage remained anything but skeptical of the rumor. At two the network’s new “money honey,” Erin Burnett, headlined the hour by announcing “credit issues at Bear,” never mind that there was no such thing. She turned to correspondent David Faber, who observed, “Of course, no firm’s ever going to say that they are having trouble with liquidity, and, in fact, you’ve either got liquidity or you don’t. So if you don’t have it, you’re done. Those are the kinds of concerns in this market, concerns of confidence You can have crises of confidence, causing meltdowns.”

Donny Deutsch Profile

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:45:55 +0000

Haute Living's Kamal Hotchandani profiles CNBC's Donny Deutsch...

Donny Deutsch was born to lead. He’s an unstoppable force in whatever world he happens to be in at the moment, whether it be advertising or television, real estate or politics. He may call himself a “member of the lucky sperm club,” but I think he is not giving himself enough credit-everything he touches seems to turn to gold. He has a knack for success with a larger-than-life personality to match, and an unassuming jean-clad nonchalance that belies his ingenuity.

His non-stop personality is almost hard to keep up with. I met up with Deutsch at 8 a.m. at Deutsch Inc., the advertising headquarters that encompasses an entire city block in Manhattan and houses more than 800 employees. He attended to some office business while our photographer set up for the photo shoot, but gave me his undivided attention for the first stages of our interview. From there, we were off to the New Jersey studios of CNBC for another photo shoot followed by a mid-day filming of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, a show dedicated to showcasing the know-how of some of the nation’s most successful businessmen as well as that of budding entrepreneurs. It is a show based on the American dream, which Deutsch himself is certainly living. He has taken his own big ideas and parlayed them into an unstoppable empire that is on point to take control of New York City.

Amanda Drury on Street Signs This Week...

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:21:01 +0000

Erin Burnett is on vacation this week and filling in this week will be CNBC Asia's Amanda Drury. For those who don't get CNBC Asia, Drury anchors CNBC Asia Pacific's "Squawk Box" and "Cash Flow".

CNBC Booms?

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:05:01 +0000

Variety's John Dempsey writes about CNBC's growth during economic down times. And do check out Andrew Tyndall's eye-popping quote that guarantees his removal from the FBN Christmas card list...

The network is successfully fighting the conventional wisdom that when the economy is tanking all over the place -- from skyrocketing oil and food prices to a credit crunch that's causing mass layoffs at major investment banks -- people turn away from business news, not wanting to be reminded that their stocks and bonds are shedding value with alarming speed.

The advent of Jonathan Wald as CNBC's senior VP of business news two years ago, responsible for riding herd on what the network calls its primetime (5 a.m. to 7 p.m.), was quickly followed by a Nielsen turnaround. CNBC's overall numbers and viewership among its target 25-54 audience grew by double-digit percentages in both 2006 and 2007.

Wald, high-powered and energetic, says, "People seem hungrier than ever to watch us to find out what's going on in the economy."

He's clearly pumped at being in charge of programming the key time periods on the second most profitable network (behind USA) in the NBC Universal portfolio.

Final Fortnight

Liju Philip — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:37:39 +0000

Just 15 days to go and the mind has started playing its games. Its actually a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. The final days of my bachelorhood are here. It feels strange that my status will finally change after 32 years. Am sure its going to be an interesting 2nd half of my life. Honestly, am itching to get started.

Met up with a couple of friends over dinner on Friday. As we lazed at the beach watching the waves and the ships in the background, my friends mercilessly kept ribbing me over my soon to be ex-single life. It was good fun. Both of them are married and it was good to hear their experiences. We went for dinner at a Kerala restaurant. It was a funny bachelor's party as hardly any booze flowed. All of us had just one glass of beer each keeping in mind the tradition. As one was working the next morning and the other was driving, none wanted to increase the intake of alcohol. And i love such a scenario. Cost effective too, u see ;)

My colleagues and friends are so surprised that my wedding is close by and iam so cool with no visible stress signs. They dont realise that all the tension of arranging stuff for my wedding has been outsourced to my parents and brother back home. All i need is to do is to just laze my way into the wedding. Will shop for my clothes in Hyderabad. Clothes are damn costly in Singapore and also there is not much choice unlike in India. Unless i want to shop for brands, which i dont. Anyway the stuff you buy for the wedding just rots away in the cupboard once the D day is over. That's why i love the whole concept in Europe and America where people like to rent their suits, tuxedo, wedding gown etc for the day. That's very cost-effective.

Meanwhile, an interaction with Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys on CNBC's "Young Turks Tutorial". I cant seem to be able embed the video. Click on the links here and here to watch it. Quite a nice watch.

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