In a now infamous interview that Jim Cramer gave to TheStreet.com’s Aaron Task back in 2006, the host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” defined “fomenting.”
“You can’t foment,” Cramer said. “That’s a violation. You can’t create yourself an impression that a stock is down. But you do it anyway because the SEC doesn’t understand it. That’s the only sense that I would say that it is illegal. But a hedge fund that is not up a lot really has to do a lot now to save itself.”
“This is actually blatantly illegal,” Cramer stated flatly, “but when you have six days and your company may be in doubt because you are down, I think it is really important to foment. If I were one of these guys, foment an impression that [Company X] isn’t any good, because [Company X] is the key today.”
Cramer explained, “It’s important to get people talking about it as if something is wrong with [Company X]. Then you would call the [Wall Street] Journal and talk the bozo reporter on [Company X] and you would feed that [Company Y] has got a killer it is going to give. These are the things that you must do… And if you are not doing it, maybe you shouldn’t be in the game.”
With that definition in mind, and in light of the SEC article we just posted, which media outfit, and/or individuals, if any, do you believe is the worst Apple (AAPL) fomenter? And, please include examples (links) to specific instances if you have them. If you don’t believe the media outlets and/or an individuals would do such a thing, please let us know, too, as we have a rather large-sized bridge in Brooklyn for sale that you’ll surely love.
TheStreet.com’s Scott Moritz and Gary Krakow
Go Cramer!
TheStreet.com’s Moritz: Apple’s ‘iFlop’ tablet ‘shelved’ until 2010 – Thursday, May 21, 2009
MDN
Sorry, but what does a 2006 Interview have to do with Today’s News ?
Is there a link we’ve missed ?
BC
CNET. Thousands of articles, at least.
I think CNET by far has done more to attempt to damage Apple.
ZDNet has contributed too but frankly they are both pretty useless sites, existing only to attract pageviews for their owners. The quality of the gear reviews on CNET is now laughable and ZDNET which used to be credible has sunk to the level of “hit-whore” posting obvious stories designed only to attract the attention of nubes and fanbois…
Besides Moritz and TheStreet.com, any outlet that uses the quote-for-hire Rob Enderle.
pr:
They’re one and the same:
In October 2000, CNET Networks, Inc. acquired ZDNet for approximately US$1.6 billion. ZDNet remains a core brand for CNET Networks today.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZDNet
@ BC Kelly
What part of “in light of the SEC article we just posted” did you not understand?
Foment I didn’t know what yous was talkin bout.
Doug Kass of the Street.com fomenting fear around Mr. Job’s health issues, stock options backdating issues, etc.
Also, I recall an online video at the Street.com by their “tech guru” Gary Krakow when the iPhone came out, that was woefully wrong and illogical in predicting the iPhone’s serious problems and probable demise.
Almost every day I wonder why Cramer is not in prison.
@pr
I’m with you on ZD-NET – they’ve been shrilly trumpeting the failures of Snow Leopard since it came out. Nonsensical.
@Fred Mertz
I did not realize that ZDNet was acquired by CNet. I stopped visiting ZDNet years ago because I felt that the depth, relevance, and credibility of their articles on Apple were in serious decline. The cause is now apparent.
+1 more vote for ZDNet –
blatant hit whores. See today’s article on how snow leopard missed the boat on enterprise adoption….
Do You have a Shot Gun? If so just put all the Financial Media Outlets Print & Broadcast and the Bloggers too, in the Street in front on the NADAQ Building on Wall Street point the shot gun their direction and pull the trigger. You can do the same thing with the analysts and the Fund Managers too. Because they are all most all guilty. Even the Huffington Post that published the last story is guilty of fomenting as the story itself is a foment of the truth. The Huffington post makes it sound as though someone inside Apple is doing the trading, when in fact the writer nor the interviewed Hedge Fund trader know who or what activities the SEC might be looking at. The Hedge fund Trader has spun it to make it look like insider trading to make Apple look bad. The fact is the SEC as not said what activity they are looking at.
foment |ˈfōˌment; fōˈment|
verb [ trans. ]
1 instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action) : they accused him of fomenting political unrest. See note at incite .
Similar to: instigate, incite, provoke, agitate, excite, stir up, whip up, encourage, urge, fan the flames of
If you want to know all about Cramer and his fomenting you need to read the deepcapture.com blog. It’s an eyeopener.
http://www.deepcapture.com/category/1-the-players/
The stock market has always favored institutional investors and wealthy investors because they have the most complete and timely knowledge and immediate access for initiating trades. In addition these investors utilize all of the investment tools (currency hedging, options, stop limits, etc.) to maximize profits and minimize the associated risk. In addition to that, investors at the highest levels have access to sophisticated program trading algorithms to take advantage of short term stock price fluctuations (such as the rises/dips associated with various misinformation/FUD propagated by pundits, analysts, and others).
The internet has been the biggest equalizer for individual investors in my lifetime. It does not erase the advantages of the large investors, but it narrows the gap quite a bit in terms of timely access to information as well as access to rapid, low-cost trades. That very access, however, has led to the effectiveness of the “fomenting” that is the topic of this article.
Bloomberg’s Connie Guglielmo, and her endless fascination with Steve Job’s liver.
I think MDN is right up there with the outlets it regularly castigates …
My vote goes to MDN:
While a number of media outfits were seriously concerned about Steve Jobs health in 2008, MDN was spinning Apple PR:
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/18399/
MacDailyNews Take: Steve: We know you hate wasting time on clothes; hence the uniform, but, seriously, dump the old ill-fitting jeans and black mock turtlenecks and get new jeans and black mock turtlenecks that fit your newfound svelteness. Problem solved.
The problem was not solved with a new pair of jeans.
Does this guy ever actually say anyhting coherent?
Thanks for the lesson on how things work MDN. A lot of people don’t understand this economy is based on greed and ignorance by both the public, the media and big companies. It’s easier for some citizens to say because they were given a house or credit card, they were lured in, without accept that they themselves were out to profit also. Ignoring the fact that these companies were lending to people to profit even more, was very foolish. Too much finger pointing going one. I always felt stocks were being manipulated, yet suckers who couldn’t afford it would dump their money in, and get eaten alive. Media controls the brainwashing, usually, a better question might be, which media outlets are still ethical and informative, so we can finally move forward.
The Street are all guilty and should all be locked up with madoff and his roommate Buhbuh.
I’ll put forth “The Register” as a culprit and Orlowski as the worst offender there. There have been many times over the years they repeatedly put of things they have been shown were totally false.
There are so many, but yes, I’d have to say Bloomberg’s vultures trio, the worst of the lot.
Gabriel, you asked me …
“What part of ‘in light of the SEC article we just posted’ did you not understand?”
My basic problem with this, as written …
Who is “we” and when was the “we” established in the context of the total article ?
Yes, I know the “we” is MDN – but had to stop and figure it out, took a second
It’s not specified once in the entire Article, dig ?
MDN, I love you guys – Man – and have “teased” you about this before …
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You play loose with Journalism Writing Standards at times, imho
And at times, like this one, you play loose with some Basic Elements of Style, imho
In fact, imho, you make some of the same mistakes many of the “fomenters” make
Which leads, imho, to a lot of the “fomenting” … more on that in a minute
Yes, you have a Great Website, and feed us compelling Apple News
*** Here at the MDN Hotel, Resort, and Casino – Bring the Family ***
And yes, you’re probably nice guys and we’re happy you let us be part of your weblog
But sorry, that doesn’t mean you’re “Journalists” or “English Majors”
When certain “rules of the road” are not followed, confusion can easily follow
My suggestion in this instance …
Specify immediately at top of Story, for example …
“MDN wants to dig into its Archives for this Article from 2006”
“In a now infamous interview ….yada yada … fomenting.”
———————–
“Cramer quotes, other paragraphs”
“Cramer explained, yada yada, last paragraph … in the game”
————————
“Now, with that definition in mind, and in light of the SEC article we posted earlier today, MDN wants to know which media outfit … yada yada”
See the difference ?
We know who is talking when, time frame references are given, sections are defined
If have to use bullets, line breaks, whatever – anything is better than nothing
Also, bet this is a good example of how much of this “fomenting” gets born, imho
Bet most of these “analyst types” are good with numbers (ok, we’ll say they are)
But words and language can often get in their way – get misconstrued, and misunderstood
And the “fomenting” spreads like that Gossip Game around the Campfire
It could maybe be argued that much of the “fomenting” is not by design
But mostly by accident due to communication skills that often leave much to be desired
Yea, those like Cramer, Dorkvat, etc are maybe so busy playing Expert with Other People’s Money™
They’ve maybe been talking bullshit for so long – – Their doublespeak probably has them confused
And we the readers ? … forgetaboutit
Finally, one particular type of word is a universal challenge
Again, from up top here …
Which “we” are we talking about that “just posted”
And will we have to stop, think about it, and figure out who “we” is
Or will we find it easier to read article and quickly understand if we know “we” is MDN
Nouns … please … not pronouns …
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MDN you’re doing fine over all, I’m just picky, no need to sweat it too much
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You’re in the middle of trying to invent new forms and styles of Communication
Parts of these structures are unique to Internet, but others are as old as papyrus
So just think of me as the English Teacher Editor From Hell™ you maybe never had
And as someone said – What you may lack in expertise, you make up for with enthusiasm …
BC
p.s. interesting the connections between ZDNet and CNet, didn’t know that
Do know CBS/Viacom now owns CNet – and so got MacFixit, et al in process, yes ?
Lot of folks in bed together, very interesting
Wonder who’s “doing” who ?
Awww, shame on me for not paying attention – just found out …
Ted Landau left MacFixIt this past June (damn, he’s a Great Writer too)
And of course his last article is the question “The Demise of Troubleshooters?”
Could be …
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http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090828101427842
For so many years it was so easy for us with guys like a Landau around
We never had that many Mac Info/Help/Troublesooting sites to choose from
So simple to know who had the Real Deal™ and who was talking shit
How come always felt so bad for Windows folks all these years, lot of noise out there
Let’s hope it doesn’t get too noisy and crowded in our Future Apple World
Especially if we don’t have enough Ted Landau’s around to help us “fixit”