Dylan Ratigan realized that he had gone too far.
Ratigan created a show on financial TV about stock picking and filled it with a bunch of know-nothings who would come on every night and pitch their own stocks (or their own short positions). The show, Fast Money, was just that. It was fast. It was a fast opportunity for Ratigan's buddies, so called stock market gurus, to misguide the general public by running after the latest flavor whether that be bank stocks or agriculture stocks.
Ratigan's buddies included Jeff Macke (a bald guy with a sharp sense of humor who screamed a lot), Tim Strazzini (a dry technical guy who was so dry that he was thrown out after the first season), Guy Adami (a less dry, less technical guy who provided no insight into anything), Pete Najarian (a barely articulate option's trader who never seemed to place a bad trade in his life), his brother Jon (who seemed to guarantee his future on the network by pounding the table on GE's stock), Tim Seymour (a trust fund baby who lost his family fortune betting on emerging market stocks) and Karen Finerman (the show's only really credible insight).
The show had excellent ratings and it might have made sense in 2007. But, for 2009 and the world beyond, it seemed highly inappropriate.
Dylan Ratigan, at the same time, seemed to be want to be a credible financial reporter. He wanted to get deeper into the financial crisis. He seemed to want to report on the causes and effects. The show was highly inconsistent with his own goals.
Finally, on Friday he did the right thing. He walked away. He left CNBC and Fast Money and is probably going to move on to more serious credible things.
Now if CNBC would just take Jim Cramer and his ridiculous routine off the air it would clear the way for its reemergence as a very credible financial network again.
Comments
Dude!
March 30, 2009
You got this completely wrong. Ratigan didn't leave for altruistic reasons and he didn't leave because he realized that he had created an inappropriate show. He left because he thought that he was a star and CNBC wasn't giving him the big bucks that he wanted. CNBC (like its parent GE) views everyone as expendable and they knew that Ratigan was nothing more than script-reader who would scream and get excited a little.
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AronLiv
March 30, 2009
It was good entertainment and the personalities were compelling. I hope that Ratigan joins one of the major networks and reconvenes the entire cast in a reality show where these guys are stranded on a desert island or race around the world or something.
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AronLiv
March 31, 2009
Watching the show tonight without Dylan is like watching a car crash in slow motion. I don't think it is going to survive until the end of the week. The other characters really seemed to leverage off of Dylan. Without him, they are completely lost. Adami looks a little like a cub who can't find a parent. Najarian is trying to scream and he has nobody to scream at. Seymour is enjoying the added exposure and Finerman makes sense in any platform.
Dylan is on a beach somewhere smirking.
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XHS40LA
March 31, 2009
Ratigan was out for the money, nothing else. Article is off. Comments above this one are funny though. I agree about the reality TV show.
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db
March 31, 2009
Complete miscalculation. He overestimated his own value and he will never be worth anything to anyone again.
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maybe
March 31, 2009
He is going to follow his friend Eric Bolling to Fox?
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