Back in August 2007, just as the quant funds had their first taste of what the upcoming collapse would look like and when the Fed for the first time realized [10]that the subprime woes were "not contained" despite what Ben Bernanke had promised previously to Congress [11], financial comedy TV's best known mascot, Jim Cramer had a meltdown on CNBC following Bear Stearns' CFO admission that the fixed-income market turmoil was the worst in 22 years, ranting how the Fed "knows nothing" and how it should promptly bail out the financial system.
Little did Bear Stearns know that less than 9 months later it would no longer exist, but not before the same Jim Cramer proclaimed Bear Stearns was "fine" and is not in trouble when it was trading at $62/share. A week later the company was insolvent and was handed to JPM for a forced take-out at $2/share.
Fast forward 8 years when we just witnessed the biggest weekly market rout in 4 years and largest VIX surge in history, and when - like clockwork - the financial "experts" come crawling out demanding, you guessed it, another Fed bailout.
Here is Suze Orman, self-described as "America's Most Trusted Personal Finance Expert [12]" who, hilariously enough, in a Twitter conversation with none other than financial comedy's prime mascot made it quite clear how she feels about the market rout:
I am taking this year off but it is hard to sit silently and watch these markets. Fed Chair Yellen help us out. Commit to no rate increases
— Suze Orman (@SuzeOrmanShow) August 21, 2015 [13]
Cramer's prompt response was essentially a rerun of 2007:
.@SuzeOrmanShow [12] Could not be more right. Silence the Fed heads who say all is good. IMF is dead right! https://t.co/f1BV7JfSyr [14]
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) August 21, 2015 [15]
The "trusted expert" chimes in, demanding someone do something to crush the selling which "did not need to happen" - after all only buying is allowed under central planning.
@jimcramer [16] Jim do something. This is so crazy. This did not need to happen. I know run for President.
— Suze Orman (@SuzeOrmanShow) August 21, 2015 [17]
The punchline, as usual, belongs to Cramer:
Everyone should be following my good friend @SuzeOrmanShow [12] as she is the most commonsensical individual in finance.
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) August 21, 2015 [18]
So let's get this straight: when the Fed-manipulated market keeps levitating ever higher, even as the Fed itself admits QE has failed to help the economy, America's "most trusted personal finance expert" is delighted.
But once we have even a modest stock correction - arguably because stocks are no longer allowed to drop... ever - the same expert comes out demanding a bailout, because you see it was beyond her "expert" skills to prepare America for tthe inconceivable contingency of a market drop. And just in case her message is lost on someone, Cramer defines this same "expert" as the most commonsensical individual in finance.
Is it any wonder that with "personal finance experts" such as these, that the personal finances of America have never been worse?