Switch off CNBC

Is there a television on nearby turned to CNBC, Bloomberg TV, or any other financial news channel? If so, please get up and switch it off. Now. Don’t worry, I will wait here for you . . .

Let me explain why you shouldn’t watch what I call “Bubble TV.”

The people working at Bubble TV and their counterparts at financial newspapers, investment newsletters, etc., are not in the business of providing good advice. They are in the business of selling airtime, newspapers, and newsletters. And the best way to attract attention is to appeal to the emotions and instincts of their viewers and readers.

“If it bleeds, it leads” is an old saying in the news business. Spectacular earnings surprises and cratering stock markets generate more viewers and readers than stories about meeting earnings expectations and stock markets grinding their way up.

“Experts” who want to be mainstays on Bubble TV have to entertain. And it is much easier to accomplish that by stoking people’s fears of a crash or their desire to get in early on the next superstar investment. As a result, Bubble TV is full of “news alerts,” “breaking news,” and pundits predicting imminent doom or eternal bliss — often both at the same time.

But studies have shown that TV experts make bad investment advisers. So keep your TV switched off and focus on what really matters in investing: having a thorough understanding of each investment and how they interact in a diversified portfolio.-wrote Joachim