CNBC. This morning, Squawk Box anchor Becky Quick is her well-coiffed, pulled-together fabulous self, sporting a fuzzy white sweater, necklace, dangly earrings, and a pin. As usual, she has on some serious eye makeup, and her lips are glossed to the max. On the CNBC network, the men dress as if they're headed to the office, the women as if they're headed for a night out on the town. Case in point, Joe Kernan is dressed in a muted blue-striped shirt and a tie with diagonal stripes. However, he is not wearing his jacket.
The European Markets are closed because of Boxing Day, and Joe and Becky ponder the meaning of this holiday. I am surprised when they have to look up its origin. They move on to the disappointing retail sales numbers report, the paucity of the Goldman bonuses (capped at $400,000), the approval of GMAC's bank holding company charter, and of course Madoff. Joe and Becky work into the conversation that they both attended church on Christmas Day.
The first two guests, coincidentally, are both wearing black-and-white ties. Jeoff Hall's is a pleasing herringbone pattern that sets off his lavender shirt. Scott Jackson's shirt is classic white, which is not as common as one would expect on a business news show, although the traders often wear white shirts, and jackets.
Bloomberg. I flip to Bloomberg. The two anchors, both women, are dressed more conservatively than pretty Becky, their hair flatter, matte lipstick duller, earrings less annoyingly jingly, but both continue with the heavy eye makeup. They discuss the same retail sales data, the GMAC bank charter, but no happy personal chatter here.
FBN. I like low-budget FBN, mostly Charles Payne and Kevin talk, are seldom interrupted by guests or video clips. Charles's flashy clothes always surprise. Today he sports an over-sized checked grey flannel suit, and silvery pink tie. A generous triangle of handkerchief emerges from his suit pocket. He adroitly employs the expression, "justice is meted out". He's articulate, that Charles. The only other remarkable word I've heard all morning, exigent, was lifted from a Federal Reserve release. Not surprisingly, Kevin cites a story from today's Wall Street Journal.
