Growing Rich - Arabictrader.com

KIRK KAZANJIAN
Review, which airs right before us in most markets, was becoming a
group of aging leftists, while we were a group of aging rightists,” he
reveals. “Louis decided to change that.” Rukeyser has added a number
of minorities, a cadre of females, and several young up-and-coming
new analysts to the show’s panel.
The routine for regular panelists goes something like this: A few
days before the air date, they get a packet of background information
to study. It contains a biography on the week’s guest, plus a list of
that person’s most recent portfolio holdings and analyses. This gives
panelists more insight into the guest’s philosophy and investment
style. “For example, if our guest is the world’s leading peanut butter
analyst, we’ll receive a list of the stocks he or she is recommending
to the firm’s brokers,” Stovall notes. “We’ll know if he or she likes
Peter Pan better than Skippy or Jif, but that’s about it. Knowing the
guests’ areas of expertise, their track records, and what they like helps
us to come up with intelligent questions.”
This is the only advance preparation the panelists, or guests for
that matter, are given. The one exception is with the viewer questions
segment, which has been cut back to once a month since the program’s
running time was clipped by PBS to add more sponsor announcements.
When this feature is included, panelists get their question in advance
so they can prepare an accurate answer. “The guest doesn’t know
which questions are going to be asked, and none of us has a clue as
to what Louis will talk about,” Stovall adds. “He comes up with all
of his own ideas and writes his own script. If you’re sitting around
the panelist table, and you’re number one to talk, you have no idea
what leading comment he’s going to make. He could remark, ‘Well,
Bob, there was a big snowstorm in northern Pennsylvania today, so
give us your favorite snowstorm stocks.’ Or he might talk about how
the Miami Dolphins are doing. You just never know.”
Panelists and the week’s guest are supposed to arrive at the studio
in Owings Mills by 6:00 P.M. on Friday, to loosen each other up. They
share a light meal, served buffet style, make a quick pass through
makeup, and prepare for the unrehearsed show. “The program essentially
airs live,” Stovall says. “We usually do what’s called a live tape.
This means we tape the show, but it is not edited and airs a few
minutes after completion. We start taping around 7:40 P.M. Eastern
Standard Time, finish just after 8:00 P.M., and it airs nationwide at
8:30 P.M. About a third of the time the show is done completely live.
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