I started to read the WSJ in college. I had a professor who recommended that we read two newspapers every day: the NYT and the WSJ. Considering he was my intellectual hero at the time (and frankly, still is) I took his advice. Within a few months I was hooked on the combination. Both delivered great news but from different points of view.
For the last 20 years, the WSJ has been a central element of my every day reading. While I no longer get a physical copy (does anybody anymore?), the digital version is still a daily read.
But over the last few years -- the Murdoch years -- there has been a disturbing trend.
First, Murdoch owns the paper. Simply put, the man is alone responsible for a collective loss of at least 50 IQ points in the American public's cognitive ability. While he is great at making the news look like a big-time wrestling event (more yelling and screaming per hour than any other channel), he is terrible at informing people.
But while the WSJ has a few stories that I read, the number is far less so then before. Frankly, Bloomberg and Reuters are much better news sources. They seem to be far more interested in the art of informing the reader rather than trying to convince the reader of something. In short, the WSJ has lost a considerable amount of its skill at writing straightforward economic and market news items.
So, do I still need to read the WSJ everyday?
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8 comments:
Dump them and go with the Financial Times instead. Hell, with the FT you'll learn a lot more about what's really happening in the US than from either the NYT or the WSJ.
Go with FT. I did several years ago and haven't regretted it.
I read Bonddad Blog....
FT for sure, although we still get NYT daily for my non-tech husband. There is a pleasure in reading papers that we very much enjoy
Bonddad:
I abandoned the WSJ years ago, though I did read occasional articles in a free copy where I work. I found it was providing less useful information (except for the market numbers that today you can get from other sources.) I agree with you that during the Murdock years it became very difficult finding things that were accurate and useful and I questioned why I was devoting time to reading the WSJ at all, even the free copy I had access to at work.
Today I read the NYT, the Bonddad Blog and Bloomberg every day on-line and try to scan The Big Picture and occasionally Calculated Risk. The latter two you introduced me to and I thank you for that.
I occasionally read the FT at work and agree with other comments that it has good stories in it though I am not sure why I have not made it a daily habit rather than an occasional look. One only has so much time.
Recently Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture waxed eloquent on the WSJ. Seems he was having second thoughts because of the dis-information that he found in it, where actual known facts easily lead to a different place than what was being advocated.
In the investment and economic world we must focus on facts and try to understand the universe as it is in order to function and invest with some chance of success. Basing investments on the way someone wishes they were to fit their own political or policy agenda is a recipe for disaster. Any and all political or economic bias will lead to problems eventually no matter what stripe they are. In this regard right, left, up or down biases in reporting will lead to problems.
The WSJ appears to be selling opinions these days rather than facts. Someone recently told me that opinions are like belly-buttons. Every adult has one, and they are useless.
SO, let this be a "Thank You" to the wonderful Bloggers on the Bonddad site who concentrate on facts and try to understand them in an objective was. Keep up the excellent work.
NYT has a new business section designed to take on WSJ. http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/business/
No.
This has been simple answers to simple questions.
There is no substitute for analysis
done by the individual using various web sites....I use the St. Louis Fed and I pay $200 to Economagic ( and no i am not an owner) so that i do my own analysis. Unfortunately what is most available on blogs is retail info what you want is the wholesale
variety ( and believe you me they charge for it because it is truly valuable). I have befriended a reporter from a major business news organization who gets me free access to this wholesale data in exchange for laboriously reading 10-Q's...it was this data that convinced me the financial system was generally OK and what happened in 2008 was a "great panic",,,,,,so...
I guess i am saying get access to the wholesale data or opinions if you can for free if possible.
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