In on-air gaffe, Fox Business Network confuses Apple with Abu Dhabi
An anchor on the network's <i>Money for Breakfast</i> show incorrectly reports that Apple purchased an 8 percent stock in AMD--when, in fact, it was Abu Dhabi that bought the stake.
The Writers Guild of America can keep up its strike--there's plenty of unscripted comedy on the fledgling Fox Business Network.
On its morning show, Money for Breakfast (full disclosure: I have been a guest on Money for Breakfast), anchor Alexis Glick accidentally reported that Apple had taken an 8 percent stake in chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices.
"There's some news coming across the tape right now," Glick said on the live program. "We're seeing from Wall Street Journal that Apple is buying an 8 percent stake in AMD."
In fact, it was the government of the United Arab Emirates state of Abu Dhabi, not Apple, that had purchased the stake in AMD. Yes, yes, I know Steve Jobs' Cupertino empire really could be mistaken for a cash-flooded sovereignty sometimes. But let's be serious. Apple? Abu Dhabi?
When the mistake became clear, Glick's co-host, Peter Barnes, said, "Oh, the Arabs. OK." To make matters worse, the program even referred to the country incorrectly, as "Abu Dubai," not "Abu Dhabi."
Even funnier, contributing analyst Charles Payne--the founder and CEO of Wall Street Strategies--had gone right along with the gaffe. "That's real smart by Apple because AMD is in trouble right now," he had said to Glick. "AMD has always had two problems: either it had a great product that was either sometimes superior to Intel but not the distribution, or it would have a terrible product that obviously they couldn't compete."
Never mind the fact that Apple has been stocking its computers with, um, Intel chips, and has been doing so for over two years. If Jobs & Co. had bought a stock in AMD, that'd be beyond huge news.
It doesn't look like any video of the snafu has surfaced (yet), but check out the transcript, courtesy of the Silicon Alley Insider. It literally reads like something out of Anchorman or a Saturday Night Live skit:
ALEXIS GLICK: There's some news coming across the tape right now. We're seeing from Wall Street Journal that Apple is buying an 8 percent stake in AMD."
PETER BARNES: "The big chipmaker, yup. And AMD and Intel battle back and forth, and so this is a very significant statement by Apple, Charles and Liz, is it not, that it's going to buy in to AMD, pick one of the two?"
(one-year charts of Apple Inc. and AMD)
CONTRIBUTOR CHARLES PAYNE: "Well, yeah, and AMD needs, uh--that's real smart by Apple because AMD is in trouble right now. AMD has always had two problems: either it had a great product that was either sometimes superior to Intel but not the distribution, or it would have a terrible product that obviously they couldn't compete. And they're sort of in the middle right now--they haven't had great product offerings per se recently, the stock has been really just sort of muddling along, so I gotta tell you, Peter, I think it's a smart play by both companies to get involved with each other."
BARNES: "And we are getting some more news (inaudible)"
GLICK: "That, oh, it's not Apple. Let me just correct ourselves here. It is not Apple. (cross talk) Alright, I'm sorry, we got a little ahead of ourselves here on that. Um, Apple Dubai? Abu Dubai." [sic]
BARNES: "Oh, the Arabs. OK."
GLICK: "Oh, OK, there we go. (Laughs) We thought it was Apple! We got so excited about it!"