More on CNBC and the Dow record

It’s interesting to scan the stories and columns in Wednesday’s newspapers and see how many writers or experts mention CNBC in relation to the Dow Jones industrial average closing at a new record.

Here is a sampling:

1. Susan Tompor, columnist for the Detroit Free Press and a SABEW board member: “The trick to making good money has been to ignore the talking heads on CNBC and the like — and not chase rapidly rising stock prices.” Read more here.

2. From a Palm Beach Post article written by Jeff Ostrowski: “Boynton Beach investment adviser Phil Keating also was underwhelmed. ‘I’m seeing no evidence that people are excited,’ Keating said. ‘It’s mostly a CNBC event. I think people are more interested in the housing market, interest rates and gas prices than they are in trying to get rich off the Dow.'” Read more here.

3. From Drew DeSilver’s story in the Seattle Times: “”CNBC certainly is milking it for all it’s worth, but from my perspective it’s of minimal significance,’ said Peter Glidden, who heads the Seattle office of Harris Private Bank, referring to the cable-TV business channel.” Story is here.

4. From Rob Johnson’s coverage in the Roanoke Times: “Jim Luke wasn’t dour, but he wasn’t dancing in the street either as he gazed through Valley Bank’s window with a practiced analytical eye. After all, he’s the regional portfolio manager for rival bank BB&T, right across Church Avenue. (BB&T has its own flat-screen TV for window watchers, but it was tuned to CNN, while Valley Bank had the more market-specific CNBC on.)” Read more here.

5. James B. Stewart, writing on the SmartMoney web site: “Yet millions of people are interested. Business network CNBC has been breathlessly counting down the Dow’s progress toward a record, and has often been criticized for treating the markets like sporting events. My reaction to that is: So what? Why not have a little fun? I was musing on this the other day as the Dow flirted with a record, wondering why I, too, was rather enjoying the CNBC-induced fixation on the Dow.”

6. Peter Grandich, editor of The Grandich Letter, an investing newsletter, wrote, “Is it just me, or is anyone else not going to be surprised to see the CNBC-TV anchors all wearing DOW 12,000 hats and blowing those New Year’s Eve gadgets in preparation for the second coming of the great equity bull market? For the love of God, please just watch CNBC’s counterpart in Canada, http://www.robtv.com just one day so you can realize exactly how biased and unprofessional most of CNBC-TV really is – (and how classy all of ROB-TV is).” Read more here.

What does this mean? Two things: That CNBC and the Dow seem to be permanently linked in our thinking of media coverage of the stock market, and that many people seem to think that the cable network overplays coverage when the Dow sets a new record.