"Turn Off The Financial News"

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Taylor Larimore
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"Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Bogleheads:

The "Wall Street Physician" has written a timely article. It ends with this Conclusion:
The financial media wants to turn the stock market into a sporting event, drawing you in to watch. Investors should resist this urge and tune out the financial news. Stop watching CNBC and Bloomberg News. Delete the Stocks app on your iPhone. Don’t look at your investment account balances on a daily basis. If you tune out the financial news, you’ll have more time to enjoy more productive pursuits, and possibly a higher account balance as well.
Turn Off The Financial News

Best wishes.
Taylor
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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AnalogKid22
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by AnalogKid22 »

Couldn't agree more, but not easy to do.
BogleMelon
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by BogleMelon »

I watch it for fun and will never stop. Financial news have the same impact on me the same way GTA game series impacting me to become a criminal! Hint: I am playing GTA since GTA 2 was released in 1999 and still so peaceful and never broke a law!
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
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Sheepdog
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by Sheepdog »

Yes. Turn them off.
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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goodenyou
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by goodenyou »

It's not just financial news that should be turned off.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" | “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves”
lws
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by lws »

As with other TV programs , financial programs are put on for the benefit of the folks who produce them. They sell commercials.
hq38sq43
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by hq38sq43 »

Warren Buffett on active stock trading:
Calling someone who trades actively in the stock market an investor is like calling someone who engages repeatedly in one-night stands a romantic.

Stay the course,
Harry at Bradenton
Fallible
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by Fallible »

Thanks for the post, Taylor.

I agree that CNBC, which is popular mainly with the pro traders it's primarily aimed at, is one in particular to "turn off," especially if the average investor feels tempted to act on whatever it's pitching. (But if John Bogle happens to be on with his sage advice, then it's OK to watch.) :-)

As the "Wall Street Physician" says: "There’s a lot of financial information out there. Some of it is helpful, and some of it is unhelpful."

Because we all need to stay informed and well informed, it's really a matter of knowing what financial news is helpful and why. I think this means getting to know the better authors and publications, such as Jason Zweig, Jonathan Clements, etc., and always questioning and having a healthy skepticism.
Last edited by Fallible on Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
Murgatroyd
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by Murgatroyd »

The financial press will give you the same reason for up days versus down days.
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tennisplyr
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by tennisplyr »

Scare tactics=higher ratings=higher sales. That's it, that's all, good night my friend!
“Those who move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.” -Retired 13 years 😀
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steve roy
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by steve roy »

Watching and reading financial news is fine if you regard it in the same way most people regard reruns of “I Love Lucy”:

Entertainment from another time and place that has little to with people residing on earth in 2018.
jebmke
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by jebmke »

But you will miss gems like this:
The 10-year yield, at 3.21 percent on Wednesday, may rise to 3.50 percent to 3.75 percent, Craig said, without giving a time-frame for the move.
Stay hydrated; don't sweat the small stuff
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ruralavalon
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by ruralavalon »

Taylor Larimore wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:31 pm Bogleheads:

The "Wall Street Physician" has written a timely article. It ends with this Conclusion:
The financial media wants to turn the stock market into a sporting event, drawing you in to watch. Investors should resist this urge and tune out the financial news. Stop watching CNBC and Bloomberg News. Delete the Stocks app on your iPhone. Don’t look at your investment account balances on a daily basis. If you tune out the financial news, you’ll have more time to enjoy more productive pursuits, and possibly a higher account balance as well.
Turn Off The Financial News

Best wishes.
Taylor
I agree. I don't watch CNBC, don't have a smart phone, and don't have a stock app on my tablet.

I do check our portfolio balance often, but don't trade.
AnalogKid22 wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:38 pm Couldn't agree more, but not easy to do.
It's not hard, the TV has an off button.
hq38sq43 wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:38 pm Warren Buffett on active stock trading:
Calling someone who trades actively in the stock market an investor is like calling someone who engages repeatedly in one-night stands a romantic.

Stay the course,
Now that's funny :D :D .
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
2015
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Re: "Turn Off The Financial News"

Post by 2015 »

The problem with this is everyone says to turn off the financial press except for their own academic paper, or their own blog, or anything from the "well-respecteds", or the "good guys", or the 80 millionth version of a finance book, or the latest prognostication/pontification from an expert, etc., etc. Exceptions always seem to be made about what constitutes noise. Then reality sets in, the answers change, and suddenly there is a new reason to make an exception to what constitutes noise. To me, it's all noise. I will get flamed royally for this but to me even attending a Bogleheads conference is tantamount to noise (with the huge exception of the opportunity to meet Mssrs. Bogle and Larimore).

I've probably spent the last year and a half following Munger's warning to be able to make a case against your own belief or opinion. I have really really tried to make a case for at least some complexity, for listening to at least some noise, but the deeper I get into systems thinking, into the massive role luck plays in outcomes (I wholeheartedly recommend Annie Duke's new book, Thinking in Bets), into the folly in chasing maximization, into the frailty of human thinking, into the miraculous effects of compounding from simply doing nothing stupid in pursuit of brilliance, cleverness, or ego, the farther I drift from all noise, I don't care who is discharging it.

Maybe when one is learning one must wade through deep and muddy waters of financial "information" (making many mistakes as a result), but eventually one must find one's own clean shore, free of pollutants.
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