Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Business Bravado

A new development in the business channels:
As soon as a viewer names a stock, the host, as if playing Russian Roulette, screams the answer, with little or no thinking and fast, really fast; immediately after he does that, he goes to the next caller. The callers are asked on air (by the host) to cut to the question fast and avoid pleasantries, such as "Hi, I enjoy your show," although the callers do it anyway. I suspect they may be told to do this when the callers are screened beforehand. This part of the show where the host answers viewer questions fast is called a "Lightning Round," or some such name like it.
What makes highly-educated people (some ivy-league graduates from Harvard, Yale, etc.) to act like used car salesmen? Crazy Eddie comes to mind from decades ago when I lived on Long Island, NY.
"Ratings I guess and ratings it must be," I answer myself. Ratings, since I like to watch them and their theatrics with enthusiasm, even though I dislike listening to stock market news.
Maybe with such great acting, these hosts will make a convert out of me. Maybe I'll end up watching the ticker tape as enthusiastically as one of those CNBC and FNN people. You can never tell with ivy-leaguers. Some of them become presidents and CEOs, some of them uni-bombers, and then, some of them shape-shift and perform miracles.