Early on in my investing career, I came to realize that it’s better to read financial newspapers by starting on the back page and working toward the front.
How so?
As investors, we’re searching for information that is potentially important but not yet well known. Arguably, the best information won’t yet be in print. But as it does appear, it will usually come in the form of small articles on the back pages. Typically, when information is on the front page, or when it appears as a magazine cover, investors normally begin to think hard about adopting the contrary stance.
At first blush, reading from back to front is hard to do with online news services. Worse, the order of online news is constantly being curated, meaning that the most popular items are pushed toward the front. The less well-received–that is, the more interesting for us–are progressively pushed toward the rear.
Interestingly, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times both have introduced what is being described as a “new” way of reading the newspaper, a digital form of the print newspaper. Personally, I prefer the print newspaper. But I find this digital form just as useful when I’m on the road.