Magazines

My past experience with the magazines that I used to purchase for entertainment ie Two Wheels, Waves, Tracks, Rock, Wilderness, was that they pretty much rarely had any substance to them.

Once i subscribed to API but found that I didn't feel like I was getting much value from it, and I didn't continue my subscription.

I accept that to educate yourself you must read, further I actually like reading and discovering knowledge and having the lightbulb go on. However there is a lot of choice when it comes down to investing related magazines, API, Smart Investor, You Trading Edge, The Economist etc etc. Subscribing to all of these is going to cost (I also accept that you need to spend $$$s to learn)

So my question is, which magazines to do religiously read and why ?

 

DRL,

Follow this link http://www.invested.com.au/forums/15/tate-trading-960/ . May be of some interest to you.

So my question is, which magazines to do religiously read and why ?

Do not forget that all magazines sell other people's opinions.

The only "magazines" to follow religiously should be your OWN trading/investing system!! (IMHO).

 

But isn't it old news then?

 

I read Asset religiously. But that's because I get it for free. One of the perks of working in finance. API is ahhh *not so good*. I have a read while standing in line at the Coles in the city when I'm buying groceries for dinner. I tend not to read much finance related stuff outside of work - but that's mostly because I'm surrounded by it all day, every day.

Mark

 

Am I the only one who still finds some "inspiration" in the API investor profiles???

Admittedly the quality of them is a bit uneven...but there has been some real stars. Our own yeslist for example

N.

 

Api

I enjoy reading API...

And find the Investor Profiles Inspirational, The Perth Cleaners who built a $6M Portfolio *blew* me away, what a great effort!

I used to read API ad-hoc but now have a Subscription free from my broker

 

I like real stories, and so API style appeals here. Tables in the back are also useful, even though I subscribe to Residex for NSW cg and yield rates, other states are included.

The new Smart Investor doesn't have enough property inclusions for my liking - great if you're a shares fan, however.

 

I do not find the write ups on individual investors particularly enlightening or inspirational, this is not due to the quality of the participants in these write ups, its more where I am at psychologically with investing. In other words, I know that people are capable of great things, that one doesn't need to start off wealthy to attain wealth etc etc. If I feel like declaring, I'll pick up an old text that got me to where I am now and re-read that until I feel sufficiently positive to bat on.

Regarding my investing education, I believe that there are three main areas, none of which are finite. They are:

1. Book learning- This is the education I gain from formal courses and reading books. It is the foundation of my education.

2. Uptodate learning - this is the education I obtain about the environment in which I invest (whichever it might be, property, sharemarket, local economy, global economy etc etc). Its not about timing but about looking to the future, being aware of new products and opportunities, understanding where we are in particular markets, what may impact them.

3. Experience - you can't stand on the edge of the pool and say you know what its like to get wet, if you have never been wet.

Book learning is easy, buy a book (preferrably recommended) read it, think, question, read some more. Experience - get in (not recklessly) and go from there. Uptodate information - I think this is the tricky one. I believe magazines are not there to educate, they are there to make money by selling advertising space. As a source of reliable information they are lousy, I was hoping perhaps there might be some indicators that some are better than others or there was a clear stand out but so far it doesn't appear to be so. I do not have the time nor the inclination to wade through the plethora of magazines to crystalize a few salient points that I may benefit from.

So the question now is what resources do you use to update your knowledge ?

 

"So the question now is what resources do you use to update your knowledge?"

Generally - I would suggest that any resources should be treated with a bit of salt. Problem is that it's not easy to recognize which resources are the best. Try to find people who are involved in the same endeavour as you are. Consider joining investment clubs and the like... I found that books (not all books are good) are the best resources for me, but after all hands on experience is the best source of education (sometimes costly).

 

I subscribe to API and definately think that at first when i started to read about property it was very useful, as you pick up many tips and tricks in an informal manner that are very useful and you wouldn't necesarrily know.

Now, however that i have been reading the magazine for about 2 years, i have to say that the articles do get a bit repetitive. The personal stories are probably the best part, but do lack the detail required to get enough real use out of them i think.

I would imagine that over time i would stop reading it as often as i do now, and keep up to date by maintaining active on this forum and SS. And of course communicating with the network of people that i meet along the journey that have similar goals to me.

 

What I usually do is use my lunch time (almost everyday) to read all investor/property related magazines at the Newsagency and if I find that there is an interesting article, I buy the issue.

 

I bet the newsagent owner loves you.

 

I agree with everyone who said API gets a bit repetitive after a year or so. I am suspicious that they might do a "find/replace" on investor's first names, suburbs and dollar amounts and just re-publish the same article on a cyclical basis ;-)

I just subscribed to The Bulletin for a year, partly because it was $200 saving, mainly because it put me in the draw for a new car, and not at all for the articles, although I am sure I'll enjoy the odd story

 

i read the proprety section in SMH on saturdays
it has some PT and auction results as well