While watching week-old Daily Shows on my Tivo, I caught Jon Stewart interviewing CNN’s Personal Finance editor Gerri Willis. He brought her on ostensibly to explain the housing crisis, which she did well. At the end of the interview he tests her general financial knowledge in the guise of “helping him decipher the gibberish on financial programs”. You can tell from her expression and guarded answers that she realizes what he’s doing.

Can you find the problem? (Fast forward to 5:40 if you don’t want to watch the whole thing.)

Stewart: “We opened 500 points down on the Dow Jones, that was a great moment to cover those shorts and take a shot on the long side.”

Stewart: “So is he saying we’re down 500 points and you should bet that the market is going to go down?”

Gerri: “Exactly. He’s betting against the market. I’m betting the market will go down.”

Incorrect of course–exactly the opposite. As anybody who reads this blog knows, to “cover a short” and “take a shot on the long side” means you have decided the market is going up. You are changing from betting against the market and starting to bet with the market.

Not to beat up on Gerri–apparently her background is in real estate, not the stock market, although one would hope that CNN’s Personal Finance editor would know the difference between a long and a short position. But nobody should be judged by a single interview–especially with Jon Stewart, one of the sharpest (and funniest) interviewers on TV. If you’ve never seen it, the Daily Show on Comedy Central spends its time making fun of politics, politicians, and the disgraceful job our media does covering them.

Stewart is otherwise known as “the guy who got CNN Crossfire canceled“:

Mr. Klein specifically cited the criticism that the comedian Jon Stewart leveled at “Crossfire” when he was a guest on the program during the presidential campaign. Mr. Stewart said that ranting partisan political shows on cable were “hurting America.” Mr. Klein said last night, “I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart’s overall premise.” He said he believed that especially after the terror attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion.

You’d think by now CNN would have learned not to let their hosts into the same room with Stewart. I’ll leave you with the best interview in the history of television: