Getting Financial/Economic News & Opinions

[studbucket]

I'm relatively busy with my job, young daughter, wife, home duties, and my hobbies, so I (as most of you did/do) don't have time to do everything I want to do.

Part of that is learning about finances and economics. I could prioritize this over other things, but I don't think I'd enjoy losing some of my limited time I get to play/read about sports

Given that, are there are podcasts you listen to, or any websites that I can use to relatively quickly learn or digest information?

I currently listen to NPR's Planet Money podcast, which I enjoy because it's only 20-30 minutes long, I can listen to it on my commute, and comes out about twice a week.

Anything else you guys could recommend or suggest?

 

[chinaco]

I am a little unclear. Finance and Economics can be very broad. Since you are on a retirement forum, I assume your goal has something to do with preparation for retirement.

Can you be a little more specific about what you want to learn about.

What is your goal? Investing? Retirement planning?


Your signature says "Planning and Hopeful". It also indicates that you are in your mid 20's.

The good news, since you are taking the steps to work on your personal financial well being.... if you stick with it, save (lbym) and invest (responsibly for the long term), you will be doing your part to fulfill that goal.

 

[Midpack]

I sorta sample a lot of places. The Economist, Yahoo Finance and Vanguard to name a few, but I watch many others too. But my investing philosophy is pretty well established (from books, not periodicals), I watched and read more when I was younger. Frankly, I get a lot of good leads right here at ER.org!

 

[mystang52]

You have, literally, years to learn this. Why not take 20 minutes at a time, just a couple of days a week, to read parts of any book devoted to retirement basics and/or investing basics? Within a month or two you'd already have a good foundation of basic knowledge.
I don't have knowledge of the areas you asdked, in your original queestion, but I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[arebelspy]

I agree with the reading of books for the financial base and knowledge.

However he was asking about financial news, based on the subject title. Books aren't good at giving you news.

In that case, I'd recommend: books. Stay away from news. It's sensationalist. It's biased. It's entertainment. It's selling something. Ignore it, for the most part.

IMO.

 

[Onward]

This DVD set is the best introduction to economics I have seen.

Economics, 3rd Edition

The instructor (Timothy Taylor) has a very rare talent for explaining difficult concepts in plain English. The set isn't cheap, but it's absolutely worth it.

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)...
Part of that is learning about finances and economics. I could prioritize this over other things, but I don't think I'd enjoy losing some of my limited time I get to play/read about sports
....

I'd suggest a subscription to the Economist magazine. It gives a broad based world news/economic view. For example, before the housing crisis there were articles with data showing how much various countries had overpriced their housing. Now you can find articles/data on how that situation is -- in the US renting is now on a par with owning, etc. etc.

BTW, one should not make investment decisions based on one's views of where things are going in the next 6 months. The markets already incorporate such views. Best to see this as entertainment and maybe very long term planning.

 

[FUEGO]

For news, I will glance at the yahoo finance headlines. Jobs up one day, down the next. Blurbs about monthly inflation rates or high level policy stuff are on there. And occasionally updates about new ETFs or changes to existing ETFs that I own show up in the newsfeed. Of course some of yahoo finance's articles just seem like crap they throw between the ads so the pages don't have too much white space.

The Economist is a good resource for articles on news from the whole world, and it usually has a business or economics viewpoint to the articles. For example, the top two headlines this morning deal with Minnesota govt shutdown and Italy's finances.

As far as investing, I pretty much keep it automated and rebalance occasionally. Economic and financial news generally does not inform my investing as I stick to my asset allocation plan.

 

[studbucket]

Thanks to all of you for your helpful replies! I won't respond to each, but I have read and noted each, and they've definitely helped. I will respond to a few of you though. Hopefully this post isn't too long.

Can you be a little more specific about what you want to learn about.

I just want to be informed when it comes to financial & economic things. This forum is great (as Midpack alludes) and has helped me so much and I will continue to use it and monitor it. However, I'd like to just be more knowledgeable about what's happening in the financial world. Just a general knowledge, if that makes sense.

In that case, I'd recommend: books. Stay away from news. It's sensationalist. It's biased. It's entertainment. It's selling something. Ignore it, for the most part.

Oh, I mostly agree. I like to try to listen/watch PBS when I get home and check out the nightly business report or the hour-long PBS newscast, because it seems to be the only news that isn't exactly what you say.

I'd suggest a subscription to the Economist magazine.

Thanks to everyone who rec'd this magazine! As part of LBYM, I may not subscribe, but I'll see if our library has the magazine, because that's an easy way for me to get it.

Economic and financial news generally does not inform my investing as I stick to my asset allocation plan.

Definitely. Everyone here has helped me come up with a strategy for investing that won't really be affected by any of this stuff. I'd still trust this board over most of what I read.

 

[Midpack]

I'm also too [-]cheap[/-] LBYM to subscribe to The Economist, though I read it at the library and buy copies occasionally. But I follow The Economist on Twitter daily so I see articles with links as they appear and read and keep up very easily - at no cost. Food for thought...

 

[studbucket]

I'm also too [-]cheap[/-] LBYM to subscribe to The Economist, though I read it at the library and buy copies occasionally. But I follow The Economist on Twitter daily so I see articles with links as they appear and read and keep up very easily - at no cost. Food for thought...

Awesome, I love Twitter in that regard. It really is better than RSS feeds for me. Thanks!

 

[Midpack]

Awesome, I love Twitter in that regard. It really is better than RSS feeds for me. Thanks!

Great, the best feature of Twitter IMO. I keep up with most everything of interest to me thru Twitter. Ain't technology grand!

I follow a few close friends but I rarely use tweets to "talk" to people like the kids do.

 

[Gotadimple]

I'm also too [-]cheap[/-] LBYM to subscribe to The Economist, though I read it at the library and buy copies occasionally. But I follow The Economist on Twitter daily so I see articles with links as they appear and read and keep up very easily - at no cost. Food for thought...

Or you can read for free on their web site.

-- Rita

 

[Midpack]

Or you can read for free on their web site.

-- Rita

I do read it free. But instead of having to look to see what's there, their tweets tell me about new articles as they're posted and I can go directly to any of them only when something is of interest.

If you haven't tried it, you might be pleasantly surprised at what Twitter can do for you. Let's me monitor lots of interesting sites much easier than visiting each...

 

[bow-tie]

I like efmoody.com for financial and economic commentary (read his daily commentary). Some if it comes off as rantish, but I like it nonetheless....

 

[mickeyd]

Anything else you guys could recommend or suggest?

I have recently began watching Ray Lucia Show on aln (a cable station that I stumbled on by accident). My initial take is that he seems to have investing/personal finance ideas simular to mine. Time will tell.

 

[LOL!]

NYTimes business section always has a Weekend podcast. Very accessible.
Here's the link to the business section: Business and Financial News - The New York Times

 

[studbucket]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions. After a few months of listening, I've found that LOL!'s suggestion of the NYT Weekend Business Podcast has been a great one for me and complements the NPR Planet Money podcast well. It gives me just what I was looking for.

 

[obgyn65]

I like The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance

Given that, are there are podcasts you listen to, or any websites that I can use to relatively quickly learn or digest information?

 

[Htown Harry]

Funny that this thread was revived just when I was about to start a thread titled "I miss Louis Rukeyser".

Like most here, I just can't take CNBC for more than a quick shot of information on a day with breaking news. I recently added Bloomberg to my cable and was going to ask the board if there were any recommended financial shows on Bloomberg or elsewhere on cable.

When I was a young dreamer about the OP's age, I would catch Wall Street Week most Friday nights. The host was smart, on topic and kept things lively. The guests were calm and mostly stayed focused on investing over trading. I learned a lot.

Or maybe I just fell for the puns mixed in with the financial information. I enjoy reading Alan Abelson's column in Barron's for the same reason, but on his best day he couldn't beat Louis Rukeyser:

In answering a letter on investing in a hairpiece manufacturer, [Rukuyser] quipped that "if your money seems to be hair today and gone tomorrow, we'll try to make it grow back by giving the bald facts on how to get your investments toupee."



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