Business News Media

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Business News Media

As more and more people invest, more and more publications and programs are springing up to provide information to investors. Daily publications, such as the Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily, provide a steady stream of fresh information to investors. In them, you’ll find yesterday’s closing prices for thousands of stocks as well as the performance of mutual funds, government bond issues, and world currencies. You’ll also read news of events that impact investments—changes in management, mergers and acquisitions, lawsuits, consumer and business trends, reports of key economic indicators—and plenty of discussion from analysts of every aspect of investment strategy.

Television and Internet

With the advent of cable and satellite delivery systems, television and the Internet are playing an increasing role in keeping investors informed. In addition to daily business programs on broadcast television, outlets like Bloomberg and MSNBC provide constant time-delayed information on stock prices and exchange indexes, as well as instant reporting on breaking business news.

Paper media

For more in-depth coverage of business and investment issues, periodicals such as Forbes, Money, and a host of others deliver news and analysis of trends and decision-makers. Increasingly, regional and local magazines deliver information about business and market conditions closer to home—stories that would never have made it into the pages of the national periodicals.

One of the most detailed periodicals for investors is Value Line, a monthly publication that provides in-depth reports and analyses on thousands of publicly traded companies, concentrating on a hundred or so in each issue. Value Line’s rating system is seen by many as an important indicator of an investment’s value.

Don’t forget the newspaper

With the explosion of new business media, you might be tempted to forget an important old stand-by: your daily local newspaper. Not only do most newspapers carry daily stock closing prices, but nearly all have sections devoted to business that tend to focus on local companies and business trends. If you happen to own stock in the company you work for, for instance, you may find more detailed and more up-to-date information about your investment in the local newspaper than you’re ever likely to find in the Wall Street Journal.

A trip to the newsstand can be your first step on the path to investing enlightenment!