Pound out your frustrations over dough

The Jim Cramer/Jon Stewart ride ends here now for us. Wall Street punditry has done the average American investor wrong. Keep your eyes open and do your due diligence before taking anyone’s investing advice. Even if you take investing advice – or advice on where to find payday loans – from your dog. But if your investment adviser can’t pass a Turing test, you should be put away…

If you missed parts ONE, TWO, THREE or FOUR, check them out.

Cramer: Your ultimate goal should be to expose these shenanigans.”

Stewart: “(How can we trust) shows like “Fast Money” anymore?”

Cramer: “Jon, you and I, we’re entertainers. There’s a market for it.”

Stewart: “Yes, but there’s a market for cocaine and hookers. So what? What is the responsibility of people who cover Wall Street? Who are you responsible to? 401k and pension holders, the general public or Wall Street traders who are working hard but getting fu*&ed in this too?”

Cramer (dodging the real question): “Should we have constantly been pointing out the mistakes? Absolutely. I’m a commentator. I’m a guy trying to do an entertainment show about business. It’s tough; what am I going to do?

Stewart: “I’m under the assumption that you don’t just take (Wall Street CEOs) words at face value, that you check things out. Jim, this is unfortunate, because you’re not “the face” of this. I don’t mean to direct this solely at you. There are larger powers at work. We are both snake oil salesmen…”

Cramer: “I do not disagree with that.”

(Gulp!)

We must force these “higher powers” to be accountable for their actions. Playing with other people’s money is no game; it is a marathon that few can truly afford to lose. While the Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer interview is now several days old, the memory in the collective consciousness of the entertainment media still burns. Time magazine TV critic James Poniewozik blogs for “Tuned In” that we should remember that while the battle was between two men, they’re simply footsoldiers in a larger war.

As Poniewozik puts it, “There’s a big temptation to frame last night’s head-to-head between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer as a battle between two guys. But as Stewart told Cramer, to his credit, ‘This song isn’t about you.’” It certainly wasn’t a banner moment in Cramer’s career. However, the focus of this exchange was an outing. How America does (in the same way that Debbie does…) journalism is at issue. Business journalism most specifically. To finish off, do THIS…

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