NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- When I worked in Dallas sports radio, we lived by a couple mantras that, as far as I know, still stand: All Cowboys, All The Time and the painfully straightforward Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys.
It's called playing the hits, buddy. Top 40 radio -- which still works as a concept -- was founded on the same principles. Give the people what they want when they want it. Back in the 1950s, a guy named Todd Storz invented the Top 40 format in Omaha, Neb. Storz observed that a small collection of songs received the best response from listeners. These were the same tracks that played over and over again on the jukebox at the local bar. He figured it made sense to program radio stations based on these observations. So, yeah, play the hits, whether that's Cowboys talk on the radio in DFW or the latest from Taylor Swift on FM stations across the nation. Same drill here at TheStreet vis-a-vis Apple ( AAPL). Also at CNBC. When they call, it's -- more often than not -- to discuss Apple. I went on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" yesterday (see the video on Page Two). And Carl Quintanilla got it right -- I'm "seething" over what's been happening with Apple, company and stock, lately. If it weren't for the persistent joy and frequent rushes I get from doing my job, I probably would lock myself in a dark room and listen to Morrissey tunes or maybe Springsteen's "Nebraska" all day. It's flat depressing -- the way the media and investors treat Apple. But, as maddening as it all might be, none of this should surprise you. Everything that has happened comes down to two easy-to-understand phenomena. No. 1: We've been over this together more than once: Steve Jobs is dead. Subsequently, there's a crisis of confidence. Not at Apple, but in the media and among investors. Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. He's not Jeff Bezos either. The market simply will not give Apple the benefit of the doubt it does Amazon.com ( AMZN).
