Shark Bytes

W$W jumped when Frontline (another PBS show) criticized the show. In 1998 Frontline ran an excellent show predicting the tech bubble was going to burst and it was going to be huge (THAT prediction was 100% correct, unlike those of W$W guests). Frontline pointed out that tech companies were way overcapitalized, some by over a $1 billion. The hype of said companies approached delirium. Their assets often totaled way less than a $1 million, often amounting to computers and office furniture. Frontline pointed out that the popularity of W$W was misguiding many thousands of young investors that tech biz was the avant garde and mutual funds were the gate keepers. It was a real eye-opener. Frontline also pointed out that tech companies were also planning to sell store items online, like food, something the public was clearly not going to do any time soon. I bailed from the markets with my little nest egg in the previously mentioned March 2000 and bought a little house. For a man who is a total idiot in investments, it was the only smart thing I ever did! My brother stayed in the market, and lost $90K of his $100k investment. As the above poster adroitly pointed out, by the time us bone heads on Main Street hear about a "hot" stock, it is fully capitalized. There is no substitute for personal knowledge of a company and how they are doing. Solid insider info is crucial to being able to successfully play the markets. It is ironic that PBS threw one of its most popular shows into the shark tank. There is plenty ot criticize PBS for, but it at least had the integrity to air that episode of Frontline. Can you imagine any of the the Big Four networks doing that??

He stuck to his financial guns and never compromised his wit. The intros I will always remember as the best part of the show combined with thoughtful questions. It was upsetting when Maryland Public Television axed him. That's reason enough not to contribute to public television. They fired their best PSA man(Lou).

Lou jumped many times, starting day 1. Over time, recommendations made by the show’s guest substantially underperformed stock indices. If a sign reading buy the S&P 500 index had been aired instead of Lou’s show, people would be far better off. I used to work on Wall Street and by the time a stock appears in the media, everybody knows it and it’s fully valued. I did find the show entertaining pre FNN and CNBC, because it was the only game in town for years. Lou seemed to get more pompous over the years, he presented his father as an investment god (Dad ran money on the street, Lou got his job through connections), he got a few nips and tucks, and really slipped into self parody for his last 12 years (on those rare occasions I watched , usually 5 minutes). Show is now on CNBC and Lou has not been seen in close to a year (he’s sick and the show is off next year) which has got to be some sort of TV record for a hosts absence. And there were Lou’s pun’s, so lame (and there were many) that even trying to make a joke about it taints that joke because it mentions them (humor fungus). Glad others noted the lady who guided the guests 20 brutal feet. I was always terrified at the start of each epic voyage, but through her wisdom, perseverance, cunning, animal instincts, and superior judo skills they made it each and every week, feewwww, but man what a consistent cliff hanger. A great example of a big problem for much of the show, antiquated schmaltz. I suspect one day soon we will hear of Mr. Ruckheyers death and it will be sad. I am sure the show helped many with investments basics and in that’s good, but numbers do not lie, and part of its premise of providing investors with good recommendations completely failed. It make’s you wonder why Lou was so pompous. In the latter years maybe because of his investment news letter, made him a bunch, but not subscribers, underperforming indices.

Jumped sometime during the mid-80's. Lou and the crew decided to quit being business journalists and became fax-reading shills for corporations and investment houses. And just think, they come into your living room every week to share this special "information" with you alone! (nod, nod, wink, wink)

When they started talking too much about municipal bond yields, it really pissed me off. The show was never the same after that.

I've watched this show since I was a kid (I'm 41 now); mostly for the economic information. But one day Rukeyser was doing his DRY monologue and made a comment about failing US Airways being "voted the 4th best reason to take the bus. Would any one notice if they stopped flying? Would anybody care?" Being from the South I knew exactly what he meant. More importantly, I realized how damned funny he truly was. Show jumped when he was fired.

Marty Zweig ALWAYS looks like he just went boom boom! LOU: Marty, where is this market headed? Marty: Uh, excuse me Lou, I uh just grew a tail in my pants. Lou: At Last! Growth! At least we know where YOU are headed. hahahahahah.

This show was always more entertainment than anything else. It jumped when Lou left, the old patrician bastard, ya hadda love him. As far as the investments went, it was ok to hear about the general direction of the market, but anyone running right out to buy the stocks touted right away deserved to get their heads handed to them. But the absolute best moment came the Friday before the Monday crash of 1987. The Dow dropped over 100 pts. (a lot those days) and Marty Zweig was having a real tough time with it. I mean he really looked like he was about to cry. The rest might have gone like this: MARTY (finally breaking down): Oh, Lou, you gotta help me! I lost my clients' money. What am I going to do?! (starts sobbing uncontrollably). LOU (obviously unmoved): Snap out of it, Marty, or I'll have you thrown off the show. Frank Capicola, what do you think? FRANK (disgusted): Let me kick his ass, Lou. I was a MARINE, you know. LOU: Knock yourself out, Frank. Better yet, knock Marty out. On to more important things. Why are there no good looking women on this show? Yes, Lou and friends always made for an entertaining half hour.

It never jumped. It just got better even after it was cancelled by PBS/MPT. It is cool to watch and listen to the wit of this show. A real class act. P.S. Some would say that it jumped when Louis Rukeyser cut his hair about a decade ago, dropped the George Washington pageboy, but it never jumped.

Louis Rukeyser has a great sense of humor, and his droll opening monologue for the show was funnier than anything Carson ever said. I don't give a rat's ass about stocks, so I never saw anything after the first five minutes, but Louis should be credited with making a dull subject interesting to the masses. Yeah, that opening theme music was great.

When Louis went on CNN and as much begged for a job. That and when I found out he wasn't the guy on the one dollar bill.

This is probably a sign of real trouble in my world but.... i would just love to do the wild thing with Liz Ann Sonders while she is giving out investment advice. She could handle my portfolio in any kind of market!

This is possibly the most boring program of all time. The content may contain valuable information for all I know, but I couldn't tell you because I have never been able to sit through 5 minutes of the show. Want to put a kid to sleep? Just flip on this show - it's like visual valium. In contrast, it makes a 10 hour car trip through the midwest seem exciting.

Wall Street Week jumped the shark when Maryland PBS fired Rukeyser. He made the show what it was, and his firing is one of the greatest blunders of all time. The first show after his departure was pathetic. This was an effort to capture a younger audience? By the way I heard that all of the regular panelists are boycotting appearing on the show.

What is wrong with MPT? Did they hire some moron from ABC?