My Fourth CNBC Appearance

For fifteen years, between 1986 and 2001, I hosted my own national, public television series -- Thinking Allowed. But, CNBC is an entirely different animal. On Thinking Allowed, I conducted half-hour, uninterrupted discussions with a single guest -- going into depth on a topic of psychological and/or philosophical interest. With CNBC, on the other hand, I'm on the show for an hour -- with about ten other guests -- during which I have about two or three minutes of actual airtime. So, I have to speak in "soundbites." I'm still learning how to take complex ideas and present them in thirty seconds. It's an artform.

And, at the same time, I realize that the CNBC audience wants more than just a simple explication of the "short squeeze" strategy I have been using these past four weeks. Every stock pick has to have more of a story. As one guest put it, "people are buying hope."

These CNBC appearances have been a remarkable experience for me -- taking me outside of my familiar elements. OK, I've done a lot of television. And, yes, I've been studying the financial markets closely for the last seven years. But, I've never -- until now -- combined the two. And, I realize that I'm on a program with a lot of people whose professional backgrounds in the world of financial markets exceeds my own.


For example, the person I am generally paired up with on this show, James Altucher, is a former hedge fund manager, and is the founder of http://www.stockpikr.com/ -- the most popular social networking site on the web devoted to stocks. But, it really blew my mind yesterday when they announced that he was also author of a book called Trade Like a Hedge Fund. I own that book, and it is one of my favorites -- with twenty viable, uncorrelated, clearly articulated, trading strategies.

My background in parapsychology, metaphysics, philosophy and psychology is quite strong -- however, I still feel like a beginner in the field of finance. (Perhaps my "beginner's mind" was an asset in writing the Handbook For Contestants in CNBC's 2007 Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge.) While I am registered as a Commodity Trading Advisor and, incidentally, also as a Realtor in Las Vegas -- I am not pursuing these careers professionally, so much as using these credentials to assist in my own personal trading and investments. For the most part, I've avoided involvement with the mainstream institutions in this field.

But, ironically, there are some amazing similarities between the psychic world and the world of financial forecasting. From a scientific point of view, they are both areas where there is a great deal of controversy. While financial forecasting may seem like a mainstream activity and parapsychology may appear to be a fringe science -- both areas appear to be grounded upon a roughly equivalent amount of empirical data. In general, I would say that the field of parapsychology is more rigorous, scientifically than is financial forecasting. Actually, it appears to me that the field of finance relies much more heavily upon rumor and folklore.

This will be the subject, I think of another blog -- some day.

Incidentally, my next appearance on CNBC is scheduled for Friday, April 13, from 4 - 5 pm, Pacific Time, or 7 - 8 pm, Eastern Time.

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