Financial News, Insights Wanted

I consume an embarrassing amount of financial media. I'm working on cutting back. If my avid consumption has taught me anything, most is just noise. Genuine insights are rare to come by and little is gained by paying such close attention.

Rumours, predictions, and frankly clickbait. Emotional headlines trying to trigger the classic animal spirits of fear and greed. The goal of many outlets are not your success but your engagement.

Stories are churned out at an unthinkable rate. Stocks move up, write a story, stocks go down, write a story, nothing happens, write two. Short term dopamine hits to get you coming back for more.

The most dangerous pretend to be advice. Billionaire doomsayers saids we're in a bubble. "Experts" finding hidden gems for you to go all in on. Fear and greed. Rise and repeat.

They focus on the short-term because stories about diversified portfolios and long term thinking don't pay the bills.

Financial news is not financial advice. Don't take it at face value. Ask yourself, does this matter to me? Will it matter 10 years from now? The answer is likely no.

There are a lot great finance writers out there, you won't find them giving stock picks or trying to scare you. Great writing is thoughtful. It won't drive you to take immediate action, they take time to savour and reflect on. Fine dining, not fast food.

Comments

Today's Special: Humble Pie

You champion a project, fight for an idea, and then...reality sets in. That churning in your stomach isn't butterflies, it's the realization you've missed the mark. Pride will puff up your chest, and kick in the "defend at all costs" instinct. But arguing with the umpire never changed a call. Admitting you're wrong isn't a sign of weakness. It can strengthen your professional standing. In a world obsessed with the illusion of infallibility, the courage to adjust course is a breath of fresh air. It shows you're confident enough to be wrong, and adaptable enough to learn from it. Do your research, think critically, and stand behind your decisions. But when the data whispers (or screams) otherwise, don't be afraid to swallow that slice of humble pie. Be the first to acknowledge. Don't wait for someone to point out your mistake. Be open, take responsibility, and most importantly, focus on what you're going to do to address it. Don't dwell ...

Negative Feedback, Positive Lessons

In the battle against plastic bags, a five-cent tax was shown to be much more successful at deterring usage than a five-cent credit for bringing your own bags. Carrots satisfy but sticks sting, and they sting hard. So we default to the less painful choice of avoiding loss. Loss aversion impacts the way we process information. A 2019 study invited participants to learn through a series of multiple choice questions. Each question only had two options to choose from. Whether guessing correctly or not, they would still learn the right answer. Despite the identical learning opportunity, participants were much more successful at recalling the answers they guessed correctly than those they got wrong. "You're right!" feels good. We savour the moment, analyzing every detail. "You're wrong!" stings. We want to quickly forget, dismiss, and move on. When we succumb to loss aversion, we miss opportunities to learn. Failure is part of the process. We'll experie...

Starting Really Really Small

On your desk is one of the most intimidating sights known to man. A blank page. The prospect of filling it up with anything resembling decent seems insurmountable. Staring at the long road ahead fills you with anxiety and dread. The first step is the most difficult. So we procrastinate. We " research ", we " prep ", we " plan ". We do everything except tackling the problem. We avoid the pain for as long as we can. To make a blank page less intimidating. Tear it in half. There, half as scary, twice as easy. Still too much? Do it again. And again. Keep doing it until the task is so small that it's too easy not to do. Getting starting is the hardest part. So make the hardest part as easy as possible. This doesn't guarantee amazing results, but it gets you in the game. You can't win if you don't play.

Herman Ye

Search