Talking Squawk: Blogging tidbits, insights, and some sarcasm on the WEEK THAT WAS and the WEEK TO COME from the notepad of the senior executive producer of "Squawk Box."
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Joe, Becky, and Andrew all hit on this week's theme: The U.S. stock market-disconnect continues to confound. Most of the major equity indexes have maintained their upward trend lines, lingering at or near all-time highs, while the economy continues to stall/sputter/lag/under-perform/idle (or insert your own description) and red flags continue to pop-up all over Europe.
Speaking of Europe, has the Cyprus story run its course? The Cypriots are flocking to their now-open banks and marching in the streets, (which sounds promising as a TV news event), but as a market event it's anybody's guess. The more I think about it, I'm not sure if there are physically enough people on the island of Cyprus to create a quality "TV network worthy" protest. Maybe the Greeks can organize a sympathy demonstration in Athens to satisfy our need for some good old-fashioned tear gas canisters, police in riot gear, and the firebombing of a few municipal garbage cans? I can guarantee you one thing that business TV newsrooms will hedge their bets and surely start looking up euro zone GDP stats, flag colors, and capital cities in search of the next domino. Can anybody locate Slovenia on a map?
Tweets of Note
@MCaruso_Cabrera: Armed delivery of money to a bank in #Cyprus. We've seen many of these today [Thursday] as they prepare to reopen the banks.
@alexcrippen: Warren #Buffett isn't a big fan of Wall Street, but he does love Goldman Sachs http://cnb.cx/10bftu8 #BuffettWatch
@beckyquickcnbc: Yale's Sonnenfeld on splitting Chair & CEO: "I feel like the proverbial mosquito in a nudist colony. I hardly know where to strike first."
Guest Moments Worth Another Look
David Darst of Morgan Stanley guest hosted on Tuesday. Have you ever wondered what a real "Squawk Box" looks like?
(Watch Video: Darst Gives Us a Squawk Box—at around 1:52 in this clip)
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seems to never age and always comes to work with a smile on his face, despite a potential new competitive threat from Wal-Mart.
(Watch Video: 'Laughing' Jeff Bezos)
Matt Belvedere | CNBC
Joe Kernen and Becky Quick tackle the daily 'Word Jumble'
Word Jumble
It's one of "Squawk Box's" oldest traditions. After the show, Joe and Becky compete every day to see who can be the first to solve the "Word Jumble" puzzle in the newspaper. (Living on the edge! The glamorous life of business TV news anchors!)
If you interrupt them during this daily ritual you risk having a phone thrown at you. It gets very intense. They literally have kept a running score of who wins each day that goes back to 2007 (click photo). Yes, they both need some new hobbies. It was a short week. So far, the weekly tally: Joe 1, Becky 2. Here's Becky after her big win on Tuesday (click photo).
Mark Your Calendar (or Set Your DVR):
Monday: Q2 Begins!
Tuesday: Scott Minerd, Guggenheim Partners CEO (Guest Host) 7-9 a.m. ET
Wednesday: Christie Hefner, Playboy CEO (Guest Host) 7-8 a.m. ET
Thursday: Daniel Akerson, GM CEO (Guest Host) 7-8 a.m. ET
Friday: Templeton's Mark Mobius 6:10 a.m. ET
'Squawkward Moments'
Becky in regard to all the potential bids for Dell: "Stop dickering around."
Joe "Can you say that on cable?" And yes, we looked it up! Dickering (verb): Engage in petty argument or bargaining.
Jeremy Bales | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Carl Icahn
Speaking of Dell...
Carl Icahn loves to read his name in the paper or on the cover of Forbes. I'm not sure if he has any real interest in Dell or not, but he surely has managed to get a lot of airtime this week. Maybe next week we can set-up a phone call segment and get Icahn and Michael Dell to call in and slug-it out on air like the fight he had with hedge fund manager Bill Ackman on "Fast Money" a while back.
(Read More: Billionaire Smackdown: Ackman, Icahn Spew Insults)
'Squawk Rewind'
Got a spare $200k lying around? We went to the New York Auto Show for a sneak peek at the new Bentley Flying Spur. And if luxury is your thing, the photos are definitely worth a second look. Andrew and "Jeeves" may schedule a test drive this weekend. Check out our great slideshow on our "Squawk" Facebook page, courtesy of our photographer Jonathan K. Li.
(Read More: Sneak Peek at Bentley's New Uber-Luxury Car)
TV Production 101
Euro Zone Crisis Animation (cue the tape)! Any good TV producer knows when to "up the ante" and build a little extra excitement and drama when the opportunity presents itself. And sure enough, opportunity knocked. It can't get much more exciting in business news than when you can have a "Cypriot" banking crisis!
Martin Diebel | Getty Images
Data Check
Bracket Busters! Our "Squawk Box Money Madness" got off to a flying start this week with an OLD TECH vs. NEW TECH showdown with IBM beating Amazon. Three No. 1 seeds fell in the "Squawk 16" opening round (our stock tournament consists of 16 of the most clicked stocks on CNBC.com, not 64 – who's got the time?). And yes Joe, you're correct. It's not scientific. It's for fun! The opening round of eight match-ups is complete. Now we're in the "Emerging 8" (our version of the "Elite 8"). Grab our bracket!
Data Preview
Monday: Monthly Auto Sales
Tuesday: Factory Orders (10 a.m. ET)
Wednesday: ADP Employment Report (8:15 a.m. ET)
Thursday: Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m. ET)
Friday: U.S. Unemployment Report (March) (8:30 a.m. ET)
CNBC
Quick screen grab of Joe Kernen hair mash-up
'Squawk Face-Time' (Hair Nation)
In the Control Room we love matching Squawk guests with Joe, Andrew or Becky's hair and vice versa: This week, (hint!) Joe also wished he had sold out to Yahoo for $30 million.
(Read More: Yahoo Wonder Kid Eyes More Start-ups After Summly Sale)
Cramer Clip
Check out @jimcramer on "Squawk" with his bullish take on two of our guest hosts (the CEOs of US Airways and AIG). Plus, why it's great to live and invest in America!
Regrets
Spending way too much time last weekend reading/worrying about Cyprus. I'm not going to make the same mistake with Slovenia. The New York-area weather forecast is too nice. I don't care if Slovenia can take down the entire euro zone, I'll be outside if anyone is looking for me.
Believing in teams like, Gonzaga and Georgetown (Florida Gulf Coast U, really?). Joe is hanging in there in the TV-Newser March Madness Bracket At least I am still ahead of my wife (for now)!
Source: AMC
"The Walking Dead"
Last Line
"Squawk on the Street" begins right now (following "Squawk Box" Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-9 a.m. ET).
Looking forward to the three-day weekend! On top of that great looking weather forecast, there's HUGE great drama on TV. The NCAA gets us into the "Sweet 16" and "Elite 8" games. And BTW, who OKed this scheduling conflict!? "Game of Thrones" Season 3 Premiere Sunday at 9 p.m. ET! "Walking Dead" Season 3 Finale Sunday at 9 p.m. ET! Hello. Don't these people talk?! Fire up the DVR.
Happy Easter, everyone!
—By CNBC's Matthew Quayle. Follow him on Twitter @matthew_quayle
