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Sunday Fun: CNBC – Fun or Fraud?

August 2, 2009 12:35 pm

Have you noticed lately that CNBC is doing some funny things when it comes to their earnings charts? If you have paid close attention to what they show it is really spooky.

Here is what I mean. Usually, when I read a chart, I look from left to right and expect that I am seeing the date/data from earliest (left) to most recent (right). Old-Left, New-Right.

But something was bugging me when I peered up every so often at CNBC and saw that earnings and revenues for companies being reported on where looking as if they were handily beating previous periods – for the the quarter and/or the year.

I could not find a video that represents this even though I looked through several. I wonder if they may not want this to become historical record? But, below is how it looks like on CNBC.

First is the chart of how I would envision and earnings comparison to appear:

abc2

Now, this is how it appears on CNBC (sans the glitz and sound effects):

abc1

Is it me?

Perhaps this is why we are seeing a crash in CNBC’s ratings when they really should be rising. The economy is front and center, right?

The fact is that they have no real competition except if you include podcasts like The Disciplined Investor (iTunes click HERE) and blogs that tell the story as it really is.

Click HERE for a great story on CNBC’s dwindling viewership and their Nielson Ratings…

Thoughts???????

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Written by Andrew Horowitz · Category(s) MarketMash, Markets    |  Tags: •   

11 Responses to “Sunday Fun: CNBC – Fun or Fraud?”

  1. Nick on August 2nd, 2009 8:59 pm

    This is more like propaganda and manipulation rather than fraud. CNBC isn't stupid enough to open itself up to charges of lying and violating the terms of its commercial licenses. They are doing it the way commercial advertisers normally do.

    Advertisers usually try to persuade people by distorting the reality for them and letting people deceive themselves through their mistaken perceptions. And that's what this CNBC earnings graph is apparently designed to do.

  2. MySnowPro on August 2nd, 2009 9:20 pm

    GE is a publicly traded company. And it is in their best short term interest to prop the market. They need to adhere to "accurate/unbiased" reporting of accurate information even less than the Fed. They are a private, yet publicly traded, entertainment company. The addition of Dennis Kneale to their list of entertainers has kept me from turning the sound up on that joke of a 'news' source.

    I listen to a few of their morning guests including Art Cashin, and Rick Santelli. Other than that, I give the rest a hairy eyeball.

  3. Andrew Horowitz on August 2nd, 2009 10:16 pm

    Hairy eyeball , I like it! Andrew

  4. James on August 3rd, 2009 12:23 am

    Thanks Andrew, I saw this after you mentioned it.

    Once a person gets some real market experience, it's easy to see that there's a big difference between those who actually trade and the markets and those who merely report on it yet don't really get it. Hence, the need by the CNBC execs and reporters to resort to using the bar charts Jedi mind trick.

    BTW, did you see on Fast Money a few weeks ago when they replayed one of the reports with Buffet (Warren, not Jimmy) acting as an economist that Harry Dent referenced? The first couple of traders kind of nodded in agreement, but Guy Adami actually had the guts to say "He didn't say a damn thing. It's the same thing we heard 2 months ago. If it was anyone else we wouldn't have heard a thing, I'm sorry but that's how I feel about it". Nobody really knew what to say; it was a beautiful moment.

  5. Andrew Horowitz on August 3rd, 2009 1:13 am

    It us pitiful

  6. nomadwolf on August 3rd, 2009 3:55 am

    They're just preparing for their entry in the right-to-left market in the middle east.

  7. jimmy hoffa on August 3rd, 2009 3:06 pm

    could anyone supply a link to a video showing this?

  8. James on August 4th, 2009 10:31 am

    Check the link below. Becky Quick showing MCD current Q2 revenue bar. It's to the left and lower than the one year ago bar on the right. Just the opposite of how you would normally look at a bar chart.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1192444222&…

  9. jimmy hoffa on August 4th, 2009 11:03 pm

    Thanks james. yer a champ.

  10. social networking on February 20th, 2010 7:15 am

    Amazing! Thanks a lot! I always needed to write in my site something like that.

  11. Escuelas Profesionales on February 21st, 2010 11:19 pm

    CNBC is really a fraud company. I got lot of bad reviews about them in a poll.