What's happening to our money?

If you haven’t had a chance to see the Stewart versus Cramer Video yet, here’s the link: Link
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=221516&title=jim-cramer-unedited-interview

This video raises many questions and whether you like Jim Cramer or not, at least he had the guts to come on the show and get publicly humiliated for his “mistakes”. My personal problem with the investment community though is still the fact that there are pervasive conflicts on interest throughout the industry. And despite or perhaps because of regulatory oversight any recommendation must always be taken with a grain of salt. Nobody can predict the future and yet many institutions are paid to do so. Personally I feel the bigger blunders are with the ratings agencies who are after all still getting paid by the companies and institutions they are supposed to rate, including those sub-prime CDO’s and CMO’s. Compare that with the simple conflict of interest rule for brokers. No broker can accept gifts of over $100.
It is also clear that the news media and reporters are not free of conflicts of interest. To that extent we must question why reporters (disguised as comedians) could not or did not expose these conflicts of interest, the false predictions, the questionable role of CNBC and other organizations earlier. When things are good, everyone including John Stewart’s 401K enjoyed the (false) benefits of a booming economy. Yet, a rational person should have questioned how on earth someone’s home could double in value every 5 years … and continue to do so indefinitely?