Ritholtz: Follow “good information hygiene”

Brian Stelter spoke to Bloomberg podcast host and investor Barry Ritholtz about the best practices for media consumption around turbulent markets in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter.

Stelter writes, “Some of it comes down to ‘good information hygiene,’ as Barry Ritholz writes in his new book ‘How NOT To Invest.’ The founder of Ritholtz Wealth Management and the host of Bloomberg’s ‘Masters in Business’ podcast tells readers to tune out “emotionally distracting” media and learn how to ‘use the news’ instead. I asked him to elaborate, given that everyone could benefit from this advice right now.

“‘I want content from people who have stood the test of time, have an intelligent approach, and have maintained their sense of perspective about the world,’ Ritholz said. ‘The people who are calm under fire? That’s who you follow into battle.’ He mentioned names like Jim Bianco, Michael Lewis, Ben Carlson, Derek Thompson, Morgan Housel, Sam Ro, and Kyla Scanlon.

“Conversely, ‘algorithmic social media is perhaps the worst sort of financial content – it’s filled with people trying to capture your attention via manufactured outrage, to say nothing of the endless grifters we see,’ Ritholz warned. The mute and block buttons exist for a reason, he said: ‘Use them.'”

Read more here.