I am beginning to loathe most financial news. Magazines are too slow. Usually they are full of platitudes and “BGO-class” (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious) advice. Television shows are too timely—the perspective cannot change every day. The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times business section, and Investors Business Daily are dense reads if you try to plow through them every day—they take too much time.

I am beginning to think that the weeklies—Bob Brinker’s Moneytalk at http://www.bobbrinker.com/summaries/summary.asp and Barron’s —are among the best sources for information. I also like the Wall Street Journal’s Weekly Journal section that appears in local newspapers. I like good old Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street on CNBC. Call it misplaced loyalty, but I now refuse to watch the replacement show on PBS. I did not like the way Maryland Public Television managed the “transition”.

I really wish I had paid more attention to two or three books that I read a few years ago when allocating my investments. Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor and John Bogle’s Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor are about the only books you need to read. Bob Brinker’s web site has a large catalog of additional books, but I do not think that they add all that much to the basic advice. Here is a quote from Ben Graham’s that I wish I followed more every day—not just in investing, “Have the courage of your knowledge and experience. If you have formed a conclusion from the facts, and if you know your judgment is sound, act on it—even though others may hesitate or differ.”

Now if I could only stop second guessing myself…