Dump the WSJ?

[Lsbcal]

I've subscribed to the Wall St Journal for around 35 years straight. Just got a renewal notice for 2 years at $426. Seems outrageous given the info now available on the web for free. I never liked their editorial stuff anyway which is too severely slanted to the right. They don't even seem to try to balance it out. Their investment advice is sort of nonexistent. Jonathan Clements left just recently. The Saturday edition seems to be full of discussions of $40/bottle wine and other high priced stuff. Not my philosophy which is more LBYM. My Economist subscription covers the international stuff better and has more thoughtful economic focus. Seems all the WSJ can do is talk about M&A deals and the Ahead-of-the-tape column is a joke. Am I missing something here?

So what sources of financial info do others use? On the web I like Bogleheads, our ER forum, NY Times, Morningstar. Any other suggestions? It will be a relief not to have to plow through 2 papers every day. Nice to vent about this !!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I really like the WSJ and enjoy reading it when they offer me a free subscription.

But when I look at the cost of a regular subscription, my value meter always says "NO!"

I read a little of this or that on a lot of sites. I think maybe that gives you more of a balanced approach with the benefits of immediate feedback...

 

[W2R]

I think you have answered your own question! That is a lot of money to spend, especially if you aren't getting the kinds of articles you want to read.

It sounds to me like you have a good handle on sources for information, and if you read all of those you listed that should keep you busy!

 

[socca]

Rumor has it that Murdoch wants the WSJ to look more like USA Today. USA Today is cheaper

 

[Olav23]

If you just want a cheaper rate,

https://services.wsj.com/Gryphon/jsp/retentionController.jsp?page=375


Or if you have frequent flier miles to burn:

230 issues of Wall St Journal for ONLY 1700 FF Miles (DELTA, CO, AA, , NW)

 

[Texas Proud]

I used to subscribe to them... but that was in 1999... I suspended my sub when I went overseas for a bit... seems they could not transfer the sub to the UK...

then when I came back... they did not want to deliver to my door for some reason.... I wanted to read it on the bus.... heck I still have about 3 or 4 months on my sub way back when....

I would get a 'free' copy for awhile... slightly used (or not)... we had the cleaning crew 'deliver' a copy to us from one of the law firms in our building... you can do that is you manage the crew...

I read the internet... I have thought about getting something so I can read it when I go to lunch or am sitting around... like that Amazon thingy... but just have not wanted to blow the cash....

SOOO, started to read some books again....

 

[clifp]

I subscribe online to the WSJ. When it first started I believe it was $60 now the price is $100 and next year is is $120/year. So this will be my last year, I am hoping to do the cancel trick and which generally results in a lower price.

 

[ladelfina]

I think I saw a chart somewhere comparing article content pre-/post-Murdoch. Decline in pure business/economics articles; rise in politics and 'lifestyle'.

You might consider the Financial Times.. they have quite a lot for free (w/registration).

 

[Gumby]

For the reasons you cite, I will likely not renew my WSJ subscription when it expires this year. I may subscribe to FT online.

 

[Maurice]

Interesting timing, I just canceled my online subscription last week.

clifp - you are right, they countered with a $99 offer when I canceled. (they had re-upped me at $119) I declined their offer.

In my case I read the NYT and FT in paper version every day, professionally I much prefer the FT to the WSJ, it covers fixed income and derivatives markets much, much better than the WSJ. Also, I know Murdoch will take it further down market so it felt good to cancel and give that as my reason.

If my leave of absence turns into ER, which is likely, I won't re-up my FT subscription when it lapses in a year or so. I agree there's too much info on the web to be paying several hundred a year for one of these papers, at least if you are a retired passive index investor.

 

[Dawg52]

I used to read it at work but haven't missed it now that I'm retired. Too much free stuff on the web. I have thought about dropping by the library to read it but haven't had a big enough urge to do so.

 

[ladelfina]

Bloomberg site is also good for basic finance headlines and such.
http://www.bloomberg.com

 

[Rustic23]

Just got a renewal for the Houston Chronicle, $177 for one year. Their Business section is 4 pages long on average, with 20 to 30% of that advertisement. WSJ for $426 for two years does not seem that out of place.

 

[REWahoo]

Rustic, interesting you mention the ads in the business section of the Chronicle. This month the SA Express-News began running 1/16 page ads on the front page. I'd love to stop our $175-a-year subscription but a lifetime habit is hard to break.

 

[saluki9]

If you don't mind answering surveys e-Rewards will pay for your subscription.

You could also go online only which I think costs me $100 a year.

 

[Nords]

Heck, if you just want to read the WSJ you can follow this article's advice:
Free Access to Wall Street Journal and Other Subscription Sites

I used to read it at work but haven't missed it now that I'm retired. Too much free stuff on the web. I have thought about dropping by the library to read it but haven't had a big enough urge to do so.

Rustic, interesting you mention the ads in the business section of the Chronicle. This month the SA Express-News began running 1/16 page ads on the front page. I'd love to stop our $175-a-year subscription but a lifetime habit is hard to break.

What Dawg said. Maybe you could tell Express-News that you're going on vacation for a month or two and then see if you can make the shift to the website (or some other local paper's website). Of course if SA Express News could also deliver your U.S. mail then I'd understand paying for the subscription.

For the last couple years of our local paper's subscription we got better coupons in other places. The classified ads have been replaced by Craigslist. I no longer have to wash my hands, recycle newspring, listen to the delivery thunk into the garage door at 4 AM, or hear the delivery driver practicing his best NASCAR/drifting spins in our cul-de-sac. We get three different free weekly fish-wrappers in our mailbox with neighborhood news and even they're hardly worth more than a glance.

It takes me mere minutes to scan our local paper's website. In the time it took me to handle the printed paper I can also go through Business Week's website (we cancelled our 25-year print subscription a few months ago), Scientific American (why do we still subscribe?), Pacific Business News, and Reuters.

Then instead of pestering my spouse with "Hey, honey, look at this!" and having her politely pretend to be interested, I can e-mail her a link and let her read it at her convenience-- if she even cares to read it at all.

I'm finding U.S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS print articles on Military.com, and spouse's days of reading "The Naval Reservist" are just about done. In another five years our only print subscriptions might be Family Handyman and the alumni magazine.

Oh, and Highline Media's "Wealth Management" rag. I can't help laughing at how the financial managers view us [-]sheeple[/-] customers.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just got a renewal for the Houston Chronicle, $177 for one year. Their Business section is 4 pages long on average, with 20 to 30% of that advertisement. WSJ for $426 for two years does not seem that out of place.

Interesting... I was thinking of subscribing so I can have something to read when I go to lunch.... but that is a bit more than I want...

I read a number of articles on Chron.com... I have never seen one in the paper that is not on the website... in fact I got it open in another window... reading a few articles

 

[Midpack]

Let my WSJ subscription go many years ago, in fact don't take any newspapers whatsoever any more (cost and environment). Have let most of my magazine subscriptions go to (same reasons). Read what I want at the library, get my financial info from the internet, whatever I need whenever I want it for "free." Only read I can't let go of is The Economist, just feel that it keeps me current on the world like no other source. My 2¢...

 

[Maurice]

I hear you, Midpack. The Economist would be the last paper publication I'd part with. And my wife will take her New Yorker subscription to her grave.

 

[plsprius]

Thanks to this board, I just canceled my WSJ online subscription of long standing. There's just too much available online for free to merit $119 per year. Would you believe my subscription was set to renew tomorrow?

By the way, the 'cancel' phone option is closed on the weekends - how nice! So, I went through the 'start new subscription' phone menu to get to a live person. Got NO PUSHBACK for canceling--guess they are too busy trying to keep the newspaper alive to worry about a 15+ year customer...I've had better salespersons (freshmen!) calling from my undergraduate/graduate schools looking for more donations--and a bunch of those recently.

- plsprius

 

[youbet]

I tend to rotate through various papers and magazines depending on what offers show up with attractive prices. They all have their pros and cons. I'm in the middle of a WSJ one year subscription now and admit I like finding the paper on the porch six mornings a week. Don't always have time to give it a complete reading, but most days it gets a 15 - 20 min look. Definitely won't renew unless they extend another near-free offer which I doubt since most of these really cheap offers are for new subscribers only. Previously I was getting the FT and if I can find another dirt cheap "for new subscribers only" offer will go back to that. Then maybe back to WSJ, again using special offers so the cost is minimal.

Also get the Economist, the Atlantic and a couple of populist financial rags that were available for trial subscriptions for literally pennies an issue.

 

[Orchidflower]

I read the WSJ every day, and have gotten my money back many times over by the little suggestions they have (i.e., like net addresses on where to buy things cheaply or better). If nothing else I get out of that paper, I do get that; however, $426 for 2 years is a tad pricey. I would probably go do the net thing if I had to spend that IF one of our members hadn't kindly posted a cheaper print version price on this very thread.
Since I was a student in a finance class, the professor got a card offering a 2 year for $99 or so, which, of course, I took advantage of. So, deals are out there on the WSJ.
But, honestly, I get so much out of the WSJ that I feel I actually save too much $$$ from using their suggestions to give it up at this point.

 

[cho oyu]

I've read the WSJ on-and-off for quite a few years. At present, I have free on-line access through a company subscription.

However, I've recently (probably about the time Murdoch took over) become very unhappy with the journalism.

The editorials have always (well, for at least 15 years) been slanted towards one side of the political spectrum - being editorials, it's not a big deal one way or the other. Unfortunately, it seems that the political slant has now taken over the rest of the newspaper, too.

I want journalism and information so that I can make my own decisions, not one-sided rhetoric.

So now, even with a free subscription, I might glance at a few articles a week at best.

 

[Lsbcal]

After reading through the thead responses I'm feeling even better about my decision. After 35 years it's going to be kind of like a divorce (although I've never gone through a real one). I guess the old girl is just going to have to plunge on without me. I'm actually looking forward to freeing up the time it took to wade through all those sections looking for info that would be useful.

Tried the free access tip mentioned by Nords but it didn't work for me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong though. Some of the content on the WSJ site seems to be available free anyway.

 

[Orchidflower]

Boy, not many of us want to keep the WSJ. And if Murdoch makes it into a swankier version of USA Today, I'm outta there, too. However, as of now, I stand by getting the WSJ, so it gets one vote for keeping it at least.
Nords, I, too, cannot get your link to the free WSJ site to work.