Active participants in the financial markets can’t avoid the news.  Whether it be a big macroeconomic news release, a company reporting earnings or the announcement of a takeover offer we are awash in news.  However nobody forces you to pay attention to every piece of news that comes down the pike, but there is a fear of missing out on some market moving piece of news.  In all likelihood by the time you read the news, and interpret it (hopefully) correctly, it is already priced into the market.  The bigger loss is that you could have spent your time on trying to truly understand the big trends affecting the world today.  In today’s screencast we note the dangers of focusing too much on news flow and not enough on ideas.

Items mentioned in the above screencast:

The case against news.  (EconLog)

“The more news you consume, the less you understand about the world” provocative claim by Rolf Dobelli @ #TED U (Bill Gross)

Avoid News:  Towards a Healthy News Diet.  (Rolf Dobelli)

Desperately seeking alpha.  (Modeled Behavior)

Daily price chart of the iShares S&P National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (MUB).  (Finviz)