Losing your cool

Every once in a while, a journalist loses their cool, and says frankly what this blog has tried to imply for a long time. Journalists are nothing but shills for various industries.

From the horse's mouth herself, I present Diana Olick from CNBC: By the Numbers.

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from users out there questioning the housing numbers we report on CNBC. Yes, we do a lot of numbers: Existing Home Sales from the National Association of Realtors, Housing Starts and New Home Sales numbers from the US Dept. of Commerce, the monthly Housing Market Index of home builder sentiment from the National Association of Home Builders, just to name a few.

One user writes: “How honest are the NAR’s numbers? Days on Market? Median Price? etc. I have yet to see a major news network investigate such goings on. The REI commissions depend on strong numbers. How accurate is this data?”

Another, Michael Crespy, writes: “Although you periodically have a "housing bear" on the program, more than not, the program is filled with the NAR or NAB's "economists" who are no more than the HEAD cheerleaders for the housing industry!!”

Mr. Crespy, you’re right, they are the cheerleaders for the housing industry, but they are also economists whose sole purpose is to organize and present data on the industry.

Still, NAR’s chief economist David Lereah gets a lot of flak. He not only gets hate mail, he’s got his own hate site: (link). Actually, there are several not-too-savory sites on David. I called him this morning and asked, “Why are people so skeptical of you?” (That wasn’t exactly how I phrased it.)

“Because I’m a shill. Look, they’re basically saying, ‘You’re the Realtors, you’re in it for the money, you have to say the market is going well.’ What are you going to do?” says Lereah.

David Lereah speaks the truth, but he’s also one of the best spinners I’ve ever met, and after 17 years in this business, I’ve met a lot. David always finds a way to turn a negative number into a positive outlook. The steep fall in sales is a “correction” to him. Falling prices are “healthy for the market.” He’s got a million of ‘em, but guess what, he’s also got real numbers.

Now before everyone starts yelling at me, YES YES YES, these guys will do their best to make the market look brighter. YES, they represent Realtors and builders and investors who want good results. Their quotes in the press releases are often nauseating, but when you look past the quotes, there are the numbers.

Here comes the coup de grâce:

I confess, I do own a house, so there’s my bias; I’d like it to continue to appreciate. If you don’t buy what I’m reporting, that’s your choice.

Looks like Diana Whore-lick finally lost her cool, and blurted the truth out in print.