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Sue Herera and Maria Bartiromo are two of the best-known faces in financial journalism, a world once dominated by white men in suits. Both women, in recent interviews, expressed their thoughts on the stock market, the booming demand for business news and their ever-busier lives. Sue Herera, 41, grew up in Brentwood. Her father was a shoe wholesaler and her mother a homemaker.

The verdict from critics Friday was quick and unsparing: Comedian Jon Stewart trounced CNBC pundit Jim Cramer in their televised encounter Thursday night. Forgoing his typically caustic humor, a serious and at times angry Stewart eviscerated Cramer for jocularly discussing how to manipulate the stock market and slammed CNBC as an ineffective watchdog of Wall Street.

Even when it's play money, some people can't help themselves. They cheat. CNBC may have to confront this reality, one of the risks faced by companies that sponsor games for customers and, more to the point, for people the companies hope will become customers. It happened to McDonald's several years ago with various promotional prize contests, and to Taco Bell in the late 1980s in its "Wheels, Reels and Meals" sweepstakes.

The "weeklong feud of the century" reached its climax Thursday night as Jon Stewart welcomed freshly minted nemesis Jim Cramer to "The Daily Show." Cramer, who hosts the CNBC show "Mad Money," had figured heavily in a "Daily Show" piece highlighting that network's poor track record on the financial apocalypse, an attack originally inspired by reporter Rick Santelli's diatribe against over-leveraged homeowners.

The "weeklong feud of the century" reached its climax Thursday night as Jon Stewart welcomed freshly minted nemesis Jim Cramer to "The Daily Show." Cramer, who hosts the CNBC show "Mad Money," had figured heavily in a "Daily Show" piece highlighting that network's poor track record on the financial apocalypse, an attack originally inspired by reporter Rick Santelli's diatribe against over-leveraged homeowners.

Tom Rogers, president of NBC's cable division, is confidently ticking off the benefits of NBC's $145-million winning bid for Financial News Network when, on the TV set against the wall, a CNBC anchorman reads a news item about the drop in broadcasting stocks. The graphic illustrating the story says "TV Stocks" and shows little arrows pointing down next to the stock symbols for CBS Inc. and Capital Cities/ABC Inc. But the arrow next to General Electric Co.'s stock symbol points up.

2200 Fletcher Ave. Fort Lee, NJ 07024 * Maria Bartiromo Moderating "Growth Stocks for the New Decade" and "Picking Technology Stocks" Maria Bartiromo is co-anchor of CNBC's nightly "Business Center" program. She also covers breaking news from CNBC's New York Stock Exchange bureau during the network's "pregame" financial show, "Squawk Box." Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 after five years as a producer and editor with CNN Business News.

The verdict from critics Friday was quick and unsparing: Comedian Jon Stewart trounced CNBC pundit Jim Cramer in their televised encounter Thursday night. Forgoing his typically caustic humor, a serious and at times angry Stewart eviscerated Cramer for jocularly discussing how to manipulate the stock market and slammed CNBC as an ineffective watchdog of Wall Street.

CNBC has dumped wrestler John "Bradshaw" Layfield as a financial analyst after he was observed making Nazi gestures during a World Wrestling Entertainment match in Munich, Germany. Layfield, who has written a book on personal finance, had been a CNBC contributor for only three weeks. While in the ring over the weekend, Layfield reportedly imitated a Nazi march and raised his arm in a Nazi salute.

* Saks Inc. said Wednesday that its Saks Fifth Avenue department stores will provide on-air attire for as many as 14 of CNBC's male news anchors. No money changed hands in the deal, which Saks hopes will raise its profile among the cable network's viewers. But some observers said having news anchors double as fashion models poses conflict-of-interest concerns.

Jon Stewart didn't take kindly to CNBC pundit Jim Cramer dismissing his Comedy Central program as a mere "variety show." "You make me sound like I'm some kind of buffoon, just flapping my arms with crazy buttons and wacky sound effects," the host of "The Daily Show" said Tuesday night. He then cut to a clip of Cramer on his CNBC show "Mad Money," punching buttons that make wacky sound effects. Ouch.

New York Times Co. and business news channel CNBC will share video and stories from each other's websites in an alliance that could bolster them against an expected assault by News Corp. Under the deal, New York Times stories will be posted on CNBC's website and the Times will use CNBC video for its site. Neither company will pay the other for its news.

It was Roger Ailes who came up with the slogan "First in Business News" for CNBC when he was running the channel. Now, he's determined to knock it into second place. Ailes is a key architect of News Corp.'s new Fox Business Network. The channel, which is scheduled to launch Oct. 15, helped drive media mogul Rupert Murdoch's pursuit of Dow Jones & Co. News Corp. won its $5-billion bid for the company, which owns the Wall Street Journal, this week.

Even when it's play money, some people can't help themselves. They cheat. CNBC may have to confront this reality, one of the risks faced by companies that sponsor games for customers and, more to the point, for people the companies hope will become customers. It happened to McDonald's several years ago with various promotional prize contests, and to Taco Bell in the late 1980s in its "Wheels, Reels and Meals" sweepstakes.

Both times it aired in October, the CNBC documentary "The Age of Wal-Mart" attracted larger audiences than any other business program on the network that week. That's not particularly noteworthy until you consider that they were reruns. More than a rerun: The Peabody Award-winning film is two years old and CNBC has shown it 44 times.

For Michael Eisner, it's a small audience after all. Once one of the most feared executives in Hollywood, Eisner's new job as biweekly TV talk show host isn't giving Sean Hannity or Larry King much to worry about. Eisner, who ran Walt Disney Co. from 1984 to 2005, tanked with the 6 p.m. Tuesday premiere of "Conversations With Michael Eisner," his new show for financial-news cable channel CNBC.

Josh Howard, a former executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday" who left CBS after a report on the newsmagazine about President Bush's military service was discredited, was named vice president for specials and long-form programming at CNBC on Thursday. The cable outlet said Howard would concentrate on producing one-hour specials and feature-length documentaries on issues related to business and the economy.

Nearly buried in the bad financial news of the past week was the glimmer of hope it offered to struggling CNBC. On June 26, the day after CNBC's David Faber first reported about WorldCom Inc. inflating earnings by hiding nearly $4 billion in expenses, the cable network had 29% more viewers than on a typical day this year. After a nearly unrelenting two-year run of bad news following the bursting of the Internet bubble, CNBC will seize on even that small reason for optimism.

Michael Eisner, the former Walt Disney Co. chief executive who was never at a loss for words -- including some that came back to bite him -- is headed for prime time as a talk-show host. "Conversations With Michael Eisner" will run on CNBC every other month, the cable business news channel announced Tuesday, and will draw its guests from business, politics and entertainment. The show marks Eisner's return to television nearly two decades after hosting "The Magical World of Disney."

Josh Howard, a former executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday" who left CBS after a report on the newsmagazine about President Bush's military service was discredited, was named vice president for specials and long-form programming at CNBC on Thursday. The cable outlet said Howard would concentrate on producing one-hour specials and feature-length documentaries on issues related to business and the economy.