My Two Sources: Bloomberg and the Hacker News Comment Section

What’s in It for You?

You don’t have to trade options or wear a Patagonia vest to benefit from financial media. If you care about:

• Understanding what actually matters in politics and policy

• Not getting fooled by confident-sounding nonsense

• Being a little early on trends your friends will bring up six months later

...then you’re better off with Bloomberg than BuzzFeed. Or, really, The Financial Times instead of The Washington Post, unless you really need another piece about “polarization in America.”

Financial News Isn’t Perfect. But It Is Incentive-Aligned.

Mainstream news is optimized for attention. Financial news is optimized for consequences. That means:

A Bloomberg reporter misquoting Powell might shake global bond markets. A New York Times columnist misunderstanding GDP might just get dunked on.

Financial News Gets to the Point

Let’s compare:

Mainstream version:

“With tensions rising in the Strait of Hormuz, analysts are split on what this could mean for global oil markets…”

Financial version:

“Crude futures rose 3.1% on fears of shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of global oil flows.”

Which one told you what actually happened? Which one can you act on? Financial news doesn’t waste your time on feelings when the facts are more useful.

But I’m Not a Finance Person

That’s fine. You don’t need to be. A good financial article will often explain what a thing is and what it means. The trick is to:

• Read for structure: first the what, then the so what.

• Ignore the parts that are too in-the-weeds. You’re allowed to skim over yield curve dynamics if you’re just there for the housing market analysis.

Also, most financial articles are written with at least two audiences in mind:

• Experts, who care about the specifics

• Informed civilians, who just want the signal

The best writing accommodates both. 

Financial News Breaks Stories Early

If you want to know what everyone will be talking about in six months, read financial media today. Why?

Because investors have to know before it’s obvious.

A few patterns:

• Tech layoffs? Financial news spotted the over-hiring in 2021 earnings calls

• Green subsidies? They were priced into energy stocks before they were headline news

• Chip wars with China? Covered with charts, not just rage bait

Think of financial news as the early detection radar. Mainstream news is the air-raid siren.

The Skim Test

Good financial articles pass the skim test:

• Clear subheadings

• Clear data points

• Clear tables, charts, and diagrams

You can look at the structure of an article and decide if it’s worth reading. If it’s just a wall of text? Close tab. If it’s a cleanly formatted breakdown with a “what it means” section? You're staying.

Financial news assumes its readers are skimming between meetings. It’s not offended by that. It’s built for it.

TL;DR 

• Financial news is more accurate because money depends on it

• It respects your time with facts first, interpretation second

• It spots trends early because markets price in the future