Maria Bartiromo

'Today' Spins Bear CEO's Billion-Dollar Loss As 'Payday'
By Mark Finkelstein | March 28, 2008 | 11:36 AM EDT

When is a billion-dollar loss a bonanza? When the person suffering it is one of those greedy Wall Street types the MSM loves to hate. Check out how, in opening this morning's show, Today cast the situation of Bear Stearns Chairman James Cayne:
MATT LAUER: Payday! His company imploded and thousands of stockholders went bust, but the Chairman of Bear Stearns cashes in and gets $61 million dollars. Will there be a backlash?

Watching the intro, I assumed the Chairman, despite Bears' fall, had received some kind of bonus or golden handshake. It wasn't until Maria Bartiromo came on later that we learned that Bear Chairman James Cayne, far from receiving a bonus or bonanza, had incurred one of the worst personal financial losses in the history of the street.

Bartiromo Defends Bernanke; Ties Current Woes to Events During Greenspan’s Tenure
By Jeff Poor | March 24, 2008 | 5:02 PM EDT

It's not Ben Bernanke's fault, according to CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.

Bartiromo appeared on NBC's March 23 "Meet the Press" with CNBC's "Street Signs" host Erin Burnett as the program's featured guests.

"Meet the Press" host Tim Russert asked Bartiromo and CNBC's Erin Burnett if Bernanke was "up to the task" to take on problems with the U.S. economy. Bartiromo didn't blame the Fed chief for the current economic environment, but defended Bernanke and said the foundation of the housing problems was in place prior to his tenure.

"I really don't think you can blame Ben Bernanke for this, Tim," Bartiromo said. "You know, I think that he is, as Erin said, throwing the kitchen sink, doing a lot at this point. And remember, he's a new chairman. You know, so what was put in place before he was actually in this role has set us up for this."

'GMA' Warns Recession Fears Are Causing Arsons
By Jeff Poor | February 11, 2008 | 2:50 PM EST

Just when you thought the economic doom and gloom couldn't get any worse in the news, "Good Morning America" has determined recession is now causing arson.

"We have news this morning on the home foreclosure front, word that cash-strapped homeowners are taking desperate measures," ABC co-host Diane Sawyer said.

The February 11 "GMA" has determined "cash-strapped homeowners" are taking "desperate measures," that is they are burning down their homes to avoid foreclosure. That notion ABC's Bianna Golodryga based upon two isolated cases of anecdotal evidence.

One home supposedly burned because Sheryl Christman, a 38-year-old Michigan woman, was three days short of foreclosure. She pleaded no contest after the Sept. 1, 2007 arson. The other case was a Colorado arson where a man "may have" committed arson before an "imminent foreclosure."

Bartiromo Warns Bad Economy Talk 'Begets More Weakness'
By Jeff Poor | February 6, 2008 | 4:02 PM EST

You reap what you sow.

Nothing could be truer when it comes to the American economy. According to CNBC "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo, if the media continue to push doom-and-gloom economy stories, they will make the economy worse.

"[T]he truth is, ["Today" co-anchor] Meredith [Vieira], it doesn't matter if we're in a recession," Bartiromo said on NBC's February 6 "Today." "We can talk ourselves into a recession, and that seems to be what we're doing right now and that certainly begets more weakness."

The media coverage has apparently affected voters. According to the February 6 Washington Times, an exit survey from the "Super Tuesday" primaries showed 47 percent of Democratic voters and 40 percent of Republican voters said the economy was the most important issue in making their choice at the polls.

Jon Stewart Mocks Financial Networks: 'Hot Ladies Talk Money with Bald Dudes'
By Jeff Poor | January 24, 2008 | 8:33 PM EST

It's really frightening to imagine that people who get the bulk of their news from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will be making what they probably think are educated decisions at the ballot box come Election Day.

Stewart, who is now a self-proclaimed economist, said on his January 23 show, "Our economy is tanking." And now you can add financial media critic to Stewart's list of titles.

"For insight, I turned to the two major financial networks to find out what is going on, or as they're known around here, ‘hot ladies talk economy with bald dudes,'" Stewart said.

Soros Calls for Government Control of Markets, Even If It Means ‘Wiping Out the Shareholders’
By Nathan Burchfiel | January 23, 2008 | 5:11 PM EST

Billionaire investor George Soros called for more government monitoring and involvement in markets in an interview on CNBC January 23.

"Now we really have to reconsider the whole policy, which has been in my opinion misplaced, of relying on the markets to police themselves," Soros told Maria Bartiromo in Davos, Switzerland, "to recognize the risks. And there are risks which it is the job of the authorities to control, and the authorities have abdicated their responsibilities. So did the rating agencies."

Soros slammed the government for "not taking the right steps in dealing with" what he called upset financial markets. "[T]he authorities ought to move into the market makers, look at the books and make sure that the bad risks are recognized and reassure the markets that the main actors, the banks that are too big to fail, will not fail, that they will in fact be bailed out the same way as Northern Rock was bailed out even if that means wiping out the shareholders or greatly reducing their benefits."

Media Coverage Gives Recession 4:1 Odds
By Nathan Burchfiel | January 16, 2008 | 3:43 PM EST

In spite of recent polls of economists by leading financial publications predicting a less than 50-percent chance the U.S. economy will enter a recession in 2008, the media's coverage of "recession" since the beginning of the year makes it seem inevitable.

ABC, CBS and NBC reported "more signs of a looming recession," "deepening troubles," "new fuel for recession fears," "rattled consumers," "an economy on edge" and "bracing for recession," or some scary variation a total of 32 times just in the first two weeks of 2008.

The segments predicted a recession or reported fears of a looming recession four times as often as they reported optimism about the New Year, even though recent surveys of economists put the chance of recession at 40 percent to 42 percent.

 "And the major concern heading into 2008 is that big ‘R' word, recession," David Muir ominously reported on January 1. "When does the mortgage mess, the housing market, lead to that?" he asked, assuming that a mortgage "mess" inevitably leads to recession.

ABC reported "growing concerns the economy may be heading toward recession." CBS mentioned that "when companies stop hiring, it's often a sign we're slipping into a recession." NBC noticed that in a speech about the economy, President Bush

Hillary's Babbling with Bartiromo Ignored by All Except Rush
By Tom Blumer | December 12, 2007 | 12:48 PM EST

Hillary Clinton's performance in her interview with Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo of CNBC last week was so bad that she must have sent a double (stop shivering at the thought, will ya?).

After all, the genuine Smartest Woman in the World couldn't possibly have said the things she said, as noted at Rush Limbaugh's site last Thursday. It got so bad that Bartiromo, who seemingly has barely cracked a smile since George Bush became president, felt compelled to challenge her.

Here is one of the choice offerings Mrs. Clinton served up:

(There are ) lots of people who come on your show who, you know, are gung-ho, protect the tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans, that will not work if the economy slows down. You need to get money in the pockets of tens of hundreds of millions of Americans, and that's what I intend to do.

CNBC Expert Warns of $150-200 Barrel Oil
By Jeff Poor | November 20, 2007 | 5:32 PM EST

Imagine seeing this prediction on your television screen: "Oil will hit $150 or $200 during this commodity bull market."

Makes you want to stockpile oil while it is priced at $98 a barrel, but such was the case on CNBC today.

Credit Billionaire Jim Rogers, described as a commodities guru and a founding partner with the infamous George Soros of the Quantum Fund in 1970. He told Maria Bartiromo on the November 20 "Closing Bell" on CNBC he see's no slowdown in the rising price of oil, regardless of what OPEC does.

"OPEC had a big meeting this week," Rogers said. "If they had a lot more oil to produce, they would be producing it. They don't have it."

Bartiromo Ignores Doom and Gloom Playbook and Says No Recession
By Jeff Poor | November 12, 2007 | 1:36 PM EST

It’s a little odd when a reporter contradicts herself and discloses she doesn’t necessarily agree with what she’s reporting.

But that’s what happened this morning when CNBC’s Maria Bartimoro appeared on the November 12 “Today” to report the chances of a recession. “Today” host Meredith Vieira asked Bartiromo if she thought the economy was heading into a recession after Bartiromo delivered a report about economic fears.

“You know Meredith, I do not,” Bartiromo said. “My gut feeling tells me that we have strength around the world. Economies like China and India and Europe continue to grow and that certainly helps American companies that have operations there. I think that that growth will probably offset the weakness that we’re seeing in housing and of course this pressure from oil.”

See YouTube video below.

NBC, CBS Fail to Highlight Strong Economy News
By Jeff Poor | November 1, 2007 | 4:45 PM EDT

Housing, oil and inflation were all common themes during the broadcasts of last night’s “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News.” But, unless you watched last night’s ABC “World News with Charles Gibson” instead of the other two, you would not have known about the positive GDP growth the U.S. Commerce Department reported yesterday. “On the broadcast tonight, the economy is our big story,” “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams said to begin the October 31 broadcast.

CNN Business Reporter: Feelings Trump Economic Reality
By Jeff Poor | October 18, 2007 | 7:10 PM EDT

Even though we’re not in a recession, people “feel” like we’re in a recession and that’s what counts. Sounds like liberal hogwash, doesn’t it? Well, that’s how CNN Senior Business Correspondent Ali Velshi reacted to a CNN-Opinion Research poll. “Get this: 46 percent of Americans think the economy is in a recession – 46 percent.