No, I don’t shill for companies or own stocks

Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray writes on its Tech Trader Daily blog about how he responds to allegations that his business journalism is influenced by outside forces.

Ray writes, “I adhere to the Dow Jones rule of conduct, which is that I do not write about anything in which I have a financial interest. I got rid of any stock holdings when I joined Dow Jones in 2005, and have never returned to investing in any securities in the time since.

“Moreover, I have latitude to write about anything in tech, given that my only holdings of any kind of securities are via a Dow Jones retirement fund managed by Fidelity Investments. A portion of that fund is invested in stocks, and a portion is invested in bonds. I have no knowledge of what the securities are that are held or traded in those portfolios.

“Often the question of whether I may have a conflict emerges when some readers don’t like what they read. Some go beyond dissatisfaction with the article to opine that I must have a conflict.

“For those readers, I provide the following Q&A.

Aren’t you a paid shill for hedge funds, because you didn’t write that XYZ Corp. is the greatest/worst company/stock ever?

“I receive a paycheck from Dow Jones & Co., and that is the only compensation I receive. No one tells me what to write, nor what approach to take. I have full latitude to write about what I think is important and interesting, and to take an approach to the subject that reflects conversations about that topic that may influence the shares.”

Read more here.