How to read the financial pages

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20. Conclusion

Since you've reached the end of this course, your intellectual stamina is not in doubt (!) and the chances are that you already read the financial press.

If the course has helped highlight certain unexplored areas, or clarify why figures are presented in the way they are, it has achieved its aim.

What the course does not aim to do is turn you into an information omnivore, spending hours poring over news and data. That would probably be as bad for your investment results as it would be for your personal life.

• Try to be 'self aware' about your approach to investment, and work out what information you need to make that approach successful. Be selective.
• For some people, it will be quite sufficient just to read the business pages of one newspaper and keep an eye on the share prices. Less can be more.
• Others, who trade frequently and who are more interested in short term market sentiment, will need to keep a more watchful idea on daily market movements.
• Remember that the price of a share is affected by a whole host of factors other than the company's immediate business prospects. In particular: the sector it is in, the general economic climate, the performance of US stock markets, interest rates and other macroeconomic factors.
• The attention you need to pay to extraneous factors depends substantially on whether you take a short term, medium term or long term approach to investment.
• You may not get rich by using all the available information, but you will probably get poor if you don't use any of it.

You have now completed the course. To test your knowledge, take the Assessment test.

1. What are the financial pages? 2. What to look for 3. Business news 4. Share prices in newspapers 5. Investment trust prices 6. Share prices on the internet and television 7. Commentary on share price movements 8. Anticipating company results 9. Finding company results 10. Interpreting company results 11. Takeovers and mergers 12. Indices 13. Sectors 14. Directors dealings 15. Unit trust information 16. Government bonds 17. Corporate bonds 18. Economic data - who needs it? 19. Key economic indicators 20. Conclusion

• How to Read the Financial Pages
• Eat The Rich