Schiff shoots down Gartman
The ego and denial of Dennis Gartman was on display moments ago on Fast Money (12-7-2011).
Peter Schiff was brought on so the smug regulars could poke fun at him on the matter of his cure for the European situation (Austerity, not more easy money to kick the can down the road). Earlier in the show, Gartman had said he had cut his gold allocation 25 percent and moved more heavily into stocks (not precious metals).
Part of Schiff's investment play on the European mess is to continue to own gold. Gartman made a point of calling himself a long-running gold bull, like Schiff. But Schiff challenged him on that, recalling an August 2011 CNBC appearance when Gartman, speaking on a selloff day, said gold was a bubble and it was bursting.
Gartman was indignant that Schiff recalled it that way. In fact, Gartman denied it, saying how long he's been a bull -- months, years -- and begging a sarcastic pardon for not being in "15 years ago."
So, who remembered correctly? Do you really need to ask?
I Googled Gartman, gold, Schiff, Fast Money and August 2011 and got a link to Gartman's Aug. 24, 2011 appearance on Fast Money halftime when he said, "I sold a lot of gold in the last 54 hours -- I wish I had sold everything and I wish I was short." He also is quoted as saying, "This (gold) was one of the greatest bubbles of our time."
The arrogance of this guy is unreal. He contradicts himself regularly on these appearances and gets angry when someone like Schiff is bold enough to call him on it. The Fast Money host promised to get the videotape to see whose memory was right. Don't hold your breath on seeing that one. But, as mentioned, you can find the transcript on the CNBC web site. Didn't bother to watch the video, so I guess Gartman can claim he was misquoted. Hard to see how that could be true.
I can't understand why flip-flopping Gartman still has a following. The guy makes so many, contradictory predictions, that some are right. But you better guess right on which to follow. And, on this point, Gartman clearly was bearish on gold in late August, no matter what he says now.
