The seven best business videos - ever

YouTube and the online video community may cheer sneezing pandas and smoking babies, but it has also flung open dusty vaults at major business news networks and made available finance news, commentary and blunders at the click of a button.

The business video offering ranges from serious to downright funny – recent stand-outs include Mr T's appearance on Bloomberg, passionately touting the merits of gold investment, or 30 Rock's sharp CNBC spoof, featuring Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy.

But the clips can equally be a source of tears, as 'AJ', a 23-year-old investment banker, taught us when he invited a global audience into his intriguing world of "models and bottles". The youngster became the target of all sorts of internet nastiness, and rumour has it he was also fired from his job over the video.

To help you sort through the terabytes of trash, Business Spectator has compiled a list of all-time top picks, from the infamous Jim Cramer, who produced what was perhaps the best business television moment, to classic skits from Monty Python, and some vintage Robert Gottliebsen.

Jim Cramer's meltdown

Watch CNBC's Mad Money loud man Jim Cramer meltdown alongside subprime mortgages in this classic live-to-air plea to Ben Bernanke. Cramer devotees will also remember his less-than-timely hold call on Bear Stearns – "Bear Stearns is not in trouble... Don't move your money from Bear!" – six days before the global investment giant collapsed.

The dying art of market hand signals

Have you ever wondered about those funny hand signals you've seen on trading floors? Bull fingers, ring pointing, open palms – former floor trader Ryan Carlson explains exactly what they mean in an effort to preserve the fading practice, which now only exists at three exchanges in the US.

A devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government

In the dying stages of Gordon Brown's prime ministership, he and his economic credentials were the target of this particularly stirring attack by Daniel Hannan. The conservative British member of European Parliament ambushed the then PM in one of the most striking political assaults of recent times – if only Canberra politics were this good.

Warren Buffett on how to pick a stock

The Oracle of Omaha explains how he turned a $US500 million investment in the then little-known PetroChina into a $US3.5 billion profit – from discovery, through to valuation, purchase and the eventual sale.

Is Europe crumbling?

A fiery discussion between Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the Spanish Ambassador to the UK Carles Casajuana, and hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry. Note that it's from before the €750 billion shock and awe rescue package was unveiled in May, but it rings just as true today as a fresh round of euro fears rattle markets.

John Cleese – lion tamer

Watch John Cleese confirm the myths about the "desperately dull" financial services industry, as he talks a bean counter out of becoming a lion tamer in this public service announcement from the League for Fighting Chartered Accountancy.

Ernie Dingo channels Bob Gottliebsen

And finally, who could forget when Business Spectator's own Robert Gottliebsen was lampooned weekly by Ernie Dingo on the hit comedy, Fast Forward, The series of spoofs propelled Bob, who very much enjoyed them, into the national consciousness and the two men remain friends. They even swapped ties.