CNBC's Schacknow: Our Day On Alerts Desk
By: Peter Schacknow | Senior Producer, CNBC
Greetings from the Breaking News Desk. It’s one of the most exciting areas of CNBC and at the same time, the scariest. “Get it on” and “get it right” are our two most important and often conflicting requirements. That’s, in part, why I’ve subtitled our internal guide to working at this desk “How To Break News Before It Breaks You”. Hopefully this blog will give you not only links to the latest breaking news but also some insight as to how it gets on the air. It ain’t always pretty.
Some News Isn’t News Until Monday:
Often--market moving stories break over the weekend - but they don’t really become CNBC’s news until Monday morning when we can see the full market impact.
This is not to make light of Pfizer’s withdrawal of a potential Lipitor successor, torcetrapib, because of excessive death rates and unexpected medical problems in a clinical trial. But Monday morning is when we get a chance to what it means to investors and the company, starting with pharmaceutical reporter Mike Huckman’s analysis on "Squawk Box" (6 a.m. ET) and subsequent interview with Credit Suisse drug industry analyst Catherine Arnold. (6 a.m.). "Power Lunch" Anchor Sue Herera, along with Mike, interviewed Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler (12 p.m.) about the withdrawal in a First On CNBC interview.
Megabucks Bank Merger:
News broke right at 6 a.m. that Bank of New York and Mellon Financial were merging in a multibillion dollar stock swap deal. CNBC viewers heard about it first from our go-to guy for mergers and acquisitions, "Squawk Box" anchor Joe Kernen. Analyst Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets (11 a.m.) provided analysis of the deal for "Morning Call" viewers.
Why We Love White Collar Crime:
Let’s face it, people love to see wrongdoers make it right. As do we at the breaking news desk! This morning, our partners at the Wall Street Journal broke a story that Jefferies and Co. had been fined for giving excessive gifts and entertainment to traders at Fidelity in hopes of winning their business. WSJ Reporter Susanne Craig broke the story on "Morning Call" (10:43 a.m.). The fine: $5.5 million dollars. The excessive gifts/entertainment: private jet flights, Wimbledon tickets, DVD players, and dwarf tossing exhibitions. Without further explanation, let’s just say this one easily passed our litmus test.
