Every time a Bloomberg reporter gushes over a company or individual, I know this is a person or individual I should deliberately avoid when I invest or do business. Realistically I can’t capitalize on a Bloomberg article by buying stock in the shark companies, because by the time the article hits the news-stands, people who know about the shark(s) based on personal experience have already bid the shark companies’ share value up to or above its practical market value. Every time I buy when an “expert” tells me to buy, I end up holding the bag when the stock price stops rising or starts falling when the shark’s behavior catches up to him or her.

What goes around comes around, as my eminently wise 7th grade teacher used to say. It’s as true in the markets as it is on the playground. The only question is who’s going to be left paying for other people’s greed, arrogance, or incompetence. My job is to see to it that it’s not me, or anyone I care about.

Admittedly there’s a bunch of nonsense advertising targeted at people with more money than sense. I take note of *those* companies and avoid their products, services, and stock. Also, on the rare occasion when a company uses Bloomberg to advertise, that’s because the kind of financial predator who generally reads Bloomberg is considered a major market share, SO… that’s a company whose product I avoid buying, because when the sharks get their comeuppance (and they invariably do), companies that rely on the sharks probably will be in trouble themselves and certainly won’t have enough left over to honor their commitment to puny little me. The fact that puny little me (unlike the sharks) pays bills on time and reliably doesn’t seem to compute, any more than the fact that there are a lot more people like puny little me out there than there are sharks, so that if they marketed to people like me they might actually have a chance of staying in business in the long term.

Result of this strategy: despite the chaos in the markets, I’ve never been down more than about 7% to 8% since the start of the year using a weighted average formula. After the tax benefits associated with my investments, I’m still ahead, and some of my investments are doing just fine while producing a steady income. So I’m laughing (and dollar-cost-averaging) all the way to the credit union. Not the bank… the banks have been too irresponsible with the money of their customers and shareholders.

Thanks for using my photo. If possible provide attribution as per: http://flickr.com/people/thelastminute If not that’s cool too. Thanks!

I am heavily into our finances, her- not so much. So even if its utility to me is declining a bit, it may be worth keeping around the house for her to read so that we can both have a decent understanding of our finances.

Today, on the way to the bus stop, I bought Inc. for the first time, and was pretty impressed with the few articles I read on the way to the office.

If you have a rudimentary understanding of money and finances, the best magazine to keep you updated and educated, and for keeping your financial train on the track, is without a doubt Kiplinger’s. I have read all the rest. I think Money has some good issues. But if you subscribe to Kiplinger’s and read it for a year, you will see that it will pay for itself, and let you really understand the world of personal finances.

ddritter

Personal finance is taught in a lot of high schools (at least here in Oregon) – the problem being that it is an “elective”…. meaning lots of kids will NOT chose to take it. There used to be a “Budgeting for the Home” section in the Home Ec classes in middle schools… but now that Home Ec is no longer offered, budgeting is not either.

I do subscribe to about 6 personal finance or frugal blogs – but most tend to be for the younger investors; however, I enjoy them anyway!

TV is the oft-vilified purveyor of mindless drivel. The written word isn’t beyond reproach. Just like @almost there said, Money has turned into a watered down version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

I’m with Frugal Dad. I want to know what the guy making $40,000 a year is doing to feed a family of 4, building an emergency fund, getting out of debt, and applying sound financial principles for the everyman.

I have several web blogs and sites that I visit regularly. Here of course, Kiplinger.com, wesabe.com, get rich slowly, the simple dollar, and I listen to Dave Ramsey when I can.

Also when time permits, I watch Fox Business Network.