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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

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How Committed are You to Business News?

MJG
edited April 2013 in Off-Topic
Hi Guys,

I am prompted to submit this post by the amazing MFO membership reaction to the CNBC viewership demise story. Roughly north of 570 members have already participated. A natural question rises from that observation: What are our financial viewership habits?

Warning! Warning! This is a survey alert.

On average, how many minutes per business day do you spend watching or listening to stock market reports?

Wait. That investment question is not properly posed. Better is: On average, how many hours or fractions thereof per business day do you spend watching or listening to stock market reports?

The specification of the timeframe scale is a pertinent parameter in the survey question’s formulation. We handle and comprehend small numbers much more effectively than we absorb and interpret larger numbers. It is easy for us to appreciate the 59 minute time difference between one minute and one hour. It is far more challenging to comprehend the time lapse disparity between the 525,600 minutes in one regular year and its 8768 hourly equivalently. Large numbers and the processing of these numbers cause us some mental pain.

My answer to the question is a firm and absolute Zero hours.

I consider these information formats as a total waste of time. That judgment is mostly anchored by my investment philosophy and style. I am a long-term investor who only trades once or twice a year. If I were a day trader with a policy to be market neutral at the close of each trading day, my reply would be completely reversed; I would be glued to the pricing fluctuations. Since I am not a member of that high risk cohort, the random minute-to-minute pricing shocks are merely white noise to me.

I would be very surprised if your estimated hourly viewing is substantially larger than my commitment. Since you folks are regulars on a mutual fund website and that tells a lot about your investment program, it is highly unlikely that you day trade frequently. Mutual funds are the wrong vehicle for such actions. I recognize that some of you manage a mixed portfolio that includes individual stocks and ETF holdings. Certainly you will trade more often and will devote some viewing time each day to financial matters.

So let us know some measure of your investment time commitment. There are no right and no wrong answers. It is what it is.

Keep in mind that I will not interpret your replies in terms of a 24 hour day. I will subtract 7 hours for sleeping, 1 hour total for both breakfast and lunch, and an additional hour for dinner. So the denominator in my calculation will be 15 hours and not 24.

If you watch CNBC, Bloomberg, or even Fox Business for 3 hours daily, that task is consuming 20 % of your free optional hours. Is the information gained worth that time sink?

My answer is “No”, but I understand that it depends on your investment philosophy, time horizon, and goals.

Please respond.

By the way, the results from this survey will not be statistically meaningful. Many of the replies will not be representative of the entire MFO population. I recognize that the manner that I proposed the question influenced to some unknown degree the number and the types of replies. Hence, the survey’s findings will be distorted by biases and prejudices that I did not attempt to eliminate by its design. Those MFO members who contribute to Board exchanges are a small fraction of the entire MFO population.

Still respond; perhaps just for the fun of critiquing the survey’s faulty formulation. A solid survey is hard to construct, and flawed surveys can do considerable harm. That’s not the case in this instance, since our survey will be quickly discarded to the dust bin of history.

Best Regards.

Comments

  • Dear MJG,

    I watch the market, not the news.

    Or as Simon and Garfunkel sang -
    “Ohh, I can gather all the news I need on the weather report”

    And Rolf Dobelli recently said, “The more “news factoids” you digest, the less
    of the big picture you will understand. If information leads to higher economic success,
    we’d expect journalists to be at the top of the pyramid. That’s not the case.”
  • edited April 2013
    I'd like to be as succinct as possible here. I watch & listen because numbers intrigue me, I can get a grip on them and think about them and sometimes make some sense out of them. Compared to most of what passes for "news" today - I'll take business news over much of the rest. ... So think about it and digest it. But, for heaven's sake, don't act on it.
  • I read a fair amount of news online (seeking alpha, etc) I don't watch CNBC/Bloomberg anymore.
  • CNBC is a GOP tool. It just makes sense to be aware as I watch. Should I admit this? I often get up very early with my wife before she goes to work, then back to bed--- with either CNBC or Bloomberg at a low audio volume in the background as "white noise" to help me get back to sleep.;)

  • To glean:

    verb (used with object)
    1. to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
    2. to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.

    verb (used without object)
    4. to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.

    MJG noted:
    "I consider these information formats as a total waste of time." and "There are no right and no wrong answers. It is what it is."
    The topic of business news via tv or radio or Youtube; as described "how many hours or fractions thereof per business day do you spend watching or listening to stock market reports?" is the narrow focus of the post.

    If one is attempting to understand the vast nature of investments; and chooses to exclude watching video or audio format; then this format (MFO) may as well be skipped too, and one should hire an advisor or buy laddered CD's and get on with the remainder of the precious hours of a day that are gone forever, once spent. Forget any format for learning a trinket of knowledge here or there; that may impact your portfolio's well-being.

    Lastly, if one is able to gather all the knowledge they need to manage their portfolio in a positive fashion and exclude the areas of knowledge consideration in the original post; you are light years ahead of this house's abilities. I prefer to "glean" in all formats as my time allows, and indeed; there is no right or wrong answer. I spent 1/2 hour of my precious day in consideration of thought and writing here.

    Good Evening,
    Catch
  • You said "Roughly north of 570 members have already participated." You might want to rethink that as we readers have no way of knowing how many distinct views were made of the original post, rather than multiple views by any number of distinct individuals. I'm sure Dr. Snowball has been collecting this data for one of his "hhmmm" moments but I really don't give a crap.
  • edited April 2013
    I'm not getting the CNBC = GOP thing. Kernan (aka "I'm getting too old for this and I'll make my boredom obvious to anyone watching"), Caruso-Cabrera and Kudlow are right-wing, but others (Sorkin, Quick, Bartiromo) don't appear to be (Sorkin, who gets constant political one-liners from Kernan, clearly is left-wing). And for those who think Kernan is ultra right-wing, his daughter (who was on CNBC a bunch when they were trying to promote their book) makes him look like a hippie.
  • i dont watch the tv shows anymore, but since i spend a lot of time driving i do like bloomberg radio. probley 2 or 3 hours a day on weekdays.
  • edited April 2013
    Reply to @ducrow: Agree - Bloomberg's the main reason I keep sat radio on the car - paying just for their "talk only" programming. Our recorded music has better fidelity coming off the USB drive than what they pipe in off satellite for whatever reason. (I've read they lose a lot by splitting up their limited bandwidth into so many different channels.)
  • You raise some great points, MJG. It is probably that I am more attuned to market news than most other MFO members, since it is my business after all. I have Bloomberg/Google Finance/Money CNN open most of my working day, from 6:30 AM to 4 PM. But the actual time I spend reading is limited, and I seldom if ever listen to the talking heads. I will occasionally watch a recorded interview of someone I respect, but that's about it. We tell our clients to remember that the folks on Bloomberg and Money CNN (and Fox Business) are there to sell advertising. All potentially bad things are hyped, while all good things are under-reported. As for radio when I am driving, the LAST thing I want to hear is market blabber. Like another poster, I have Syrius radio, and until this morning tuned into the hockey channel (my Columbus Blue Jackets just missed a playoff spot), and will now move to one of the music channels. ANYTHING but market blabber. Managing one's portfolio based on any of the market TV channels would be hilarious at best.
  • edited April 2013
    Maybe we should talk about commitment/hard work and trading/investment success. Anyway, I am not proud about it, but during the week it is almost 24/7. I want to be aware of anything that might impact my positions. Shortly after our U.S. markets close, you have the after hours trading in the stock index futures. Later Asia opens and after that comes Europe.
  • edited April 2013
    Reply to @Hiyield007: Nothing to feel embarrassed about. In fact, it would seem darn incongruous that one would read MFO daily and then "tune-out" all other financial news.

    And, YIKES - What else do folk find of interest during the 9-5 period? I can only take so much C-Span. And, the daily cable "news" seems to consist of endless episodes of murder, rape, & other forms of inhumanity perpetuated by fellow humans against one another. Yes - the WSJ, NYT, and MFO are superior to the TV blabber - no doubt. But, still ... where's the harm in the other - as long as one keeps with their predetermined investment plan?

    Oops - time to go tune-in to my daily "soap."
  • edited April 2013
    OK - I've read MJG's original post. Apologies for not doing so sooner. His gripe seems to be with the 3 dominant business networks. First, though one of these is technically "on" more than 3 hours a day (week days), I rarely listen. It's "background noise" while driving, working out at the gym, reading, etc. Occassionally, a story will catch my attention. Stock indexes, commodity prices, prevailing interest rates - all of which are displayed - I find of some interest. ... Additionally - we have 2 TVs, the larger reserved for more dedicated viewing of sports or films during evening hours. A small portable set - off in one corner with volume lowered - suffices for CNBC or whatever other background chatter may be on during daylight hours. Evenings we view PBS News Hour and NBR. Generally, the TV is tuned off after that - as we prefer reading evenings while listening to recorded music. The exceptions are Detroit Tiger baseball, a few PBS specials, and the viewing of classic films from our growing collection. ... & OH - Some nights we catch Jon Stewart at either 11 PM or the replay at 1 AM. Stewart offers a nice blend of substance, wit & sarcasm - my cup of tea!

    HERE'S A BETTER QUESTION: What do you find of value on TV in general? Former FCC Commissioner Milton Minnow in the 60s notoriously referred to commercial television as "a vast wasteland." Minnow's days are long past - but I'll submit that the wasteland he envisioned has grown even vaster and "wastier" in the intervening years. Enough said.
  • No shoutouts to Suze Orman? I watch CNBC and Bloomberg everyday in small doses. I like Bloomberg West but not for an hour.
  • Reply to @hank: PBS huh? You commie- I knew it!

    Us too.

    "Vast wasteland" has been transformed into sterile desert.
  • Reply to @Hogan:
    No shoutouts to Suze Orman?
    I would not trust her helping me across the street even with my seeing eye dog.

    Mona
  • I think a lot of us realize its best to try to reduce the noise. And CNBC-type tv is just that.

    Suze Orman will blind you with her whitened teeth while she chastises newbies. And Cramer is just a loud nutjob desperate for attention. I want to punch him after 5 minutes.

    I am guilty of clicking on too many online articles, though. I guess that's how I prefer my dose of "noise".
  • OK, I'll weigh in here...

    I have a crush on Becky Quick, so if she's on, I'm committed=).
  • Reply to @Charles: I am big fan of Caroline Hyde at Bloomberg.
  • don't follow anything on TV, but check Bloomberg and WSJ websites several times a day. also, committed to reading certain institutional weekly research, specifically on relative attractiveness of different asset classes. read everying i can find re CEF investing....
  • Reply to @Charles: Good taste on your part. Much better than Suze.:-)
  • Reply to @Hiyield007: I am the same way. Therefore Saturday (day of least news) is difficult.
  • I'll weigh in, MJG asks:
    On average, how many hours or fractions thereof per business day do you spend watching or listening to stock market reports?
    My answer to the question is a firm and absolute Zero hours. - I consider these information formats as a total waste of time.
    I watch M-F for half an hour or so while eating breakfast, prior to heading off for work. I flip from CNBC (Worldwide Exchange) to Bloomberg and back in an effort to avoid commercials. Like most folk here, Joe Kernon annoys me, so often he has so much trouble conveying his views, when he starts into a series of "ahs" I flip away. Some days I watch the first half hour of Morning Joe but that Joe also annoys me. I suppose this is a waste of time, I learn very little, OTOH, if I listen to nothing, I assume I gain even less. I shall try to better apply myself and see what effect that has on my wellbeing.

    Rbrt
  • I am just disgusted with myself. We keep discussing how much business news we watch. I don't have to time to watch a nano second of Live TV.

    Need to get richer, not just older and wiser...
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