I'm afraid that he has "peaked". The only guy that actually had a clue about the markets ( and specifically the ENERGY MARKET ) was Eric Bolling, who left Fast Money for Fox TV. No one else actually trades for a living on TV, and it shows.
Rick Santelli was a former floor trader in bond pit and a good one. He was someone that they pursued for his 'insight' like NYSE Art Cashin. They convinced him to give up trading and do commentary full time.
The key word is former . . . In my opinion, if he had been successful at trading, he would still be doing so. And given his positions at Rand Financial, Geldermann, and Drexel over the years, I would suggest that it has been many many moons since Santelli was an "active" trader. Think about that for a moment.
Oh God! You can't be serious. From time to time he makes a smart comment, but overall he's incredibly clueless. The oil futures pit is a den of thieves. You don't actually have to know caca about trading but you have to be in the "in" crowd so that you can stand around and mindlessly rip off customers. I hear it's going electronic, so Eric was smart enough to get off the floor because he's not smart enough to really trade.
' Of course he's a <i>former</i> trader. You can't have a full time job commenting on television and be a full time trader. You don't need to be a trader currently to understand how the markets work, ya' dope Plus, standing in the pit/sitting in front of screens for decades is taxing. A lot of guys make their money and find something else to do while fresh blood trades their capital.