ANYTIME fear enters the markets and a collapse occurs like the 800+ dow points lost within 24 hours, which really isnt anything to worry about since the markets are up over 200% in the last 6 years, cnbc has to air special reports the sunday before the opening bell, I have seen this in the past and I think I predicted that cnbc would be doing this again, how come they don't have special reports when the markets are at historical highs, seems they only have special reports when markets are in collapse mode...and I can tell you that if there is another major sell off next week of 5% or more the fed will have an emergency meeting and yellen will talk up some dovish nonsense dribble about not raising rates for the remainder of the year and they will announce that they will do what ever it takes to calm markets, my guess is more intervention is on the way, this cnbc special sunday night report is just the beginning. In my opinion this is just fucking pathetic.....special report, hah. On why the markets are down? Really? This is breaking news? How about this is what markets are SUPPOSED to do.... Markets in turmoil: Watch CNBC special report CNBC will be airing a special report on Sunday, Aug. 23 at 7pm ET. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/21/turmoil-watch-cnbc-special-report.html
Psychology researchers found "we pay attention to bad news, because on the whole, we think the world is rosier than it actually is. When it comes to our own lives, most of us believe we're better than average, and that, like the clichés,..."
I think the simple reason CNBC does a special report on this rather than "SPECIAL REPORT: NASDAQ RALLIES 2% IN A DAY BASED ON NOTHING" is because blood/fear/loss/etc sells, the majority of their audience are deer in headlights / 100% long types, and fear overrules greed because here people are helplessly losing money rather than smugly gaining it. The same reason we almost always see an asymmetric pattern when it comes to breakouts vs breakdowns.
Gotta calm the sheeple 'lest they stop tossing coin at Wall Street. With everybody's retirement plans tied up in index funds, the Wall Streeters and the Feds can't afford to have a panicked rush for the exits. So try everything including CNBC specials to calm every investor the fuck down. Traders, we don't give a damn which direction the market is going. We make money either way.
CNBC will get a short-lived ratings boost from the "turmoil". VIX is probably as good an indicator for viewership as they have...If/when it makes it back into the low teens, the eyeballs will be gone.
That and the fact that most of their viewers are probably long-only buy and hold types. Many have a lot of market risk / exposure right now.
I can't imagine many buy and hold types having done badly in almost any scenario these days, regardless of this correction. Only way somebody did badly is liquidate in a panic in 2008/2009, or this correction goes 30-50% and holds lower ( not going to happen, P/E's are way too solid for that, US economy is not really weak ). I don't even think there are many new investors piling money into equities the last few years ( like in the Nasdaq bubble ), because the housing market suggests otherwise. A lot of posts on here seem to be less about reality and more about emotional responses to missing a good chunk of the run up in US equities since 2009. Emotional because the points being made aren't logical and certainly aren't justified by how everyday people think of the stock market. Most long term investors have money in their home and their 401Ks, and the 401Ks are a mixture of equities/bonds/money market. The asset mix on the 401K gets adjusted maybe yearly as markets move. It seems to me reading posts on here, that most short term traders are fairly young and don't relate to investing at all. They haven't been through several cycles in asset classes and tend to think that market crashes occur far more often then they do, because the 2008/2009 crash is still fresh in their memory ( after all, it was a big event in their life ). Certainly if someone is single, renting their place, and trading short term, it's understandable that they can't relate to many investors. But the over the top snarky commentaries that ratchet up on any corrective phase don't make you any money.
One will also notice that they scheduled this "special" for Sunday evening. Most likely so they can play sports announcer for the Asian session complete with scripted reactions to whatever happens. I hope the markets just open and sit there like they normally do on a Sunday just to starve them of talking points.