I want to make a realistic effort at reading the WSJ daily starting from March 1. I recently got a print subscription. How exactly do you go about reading the various sections?
I skim through and throw out the Personal Journal and the state section right away. That usually leaves me with the main paper, Marketwatch and Money&Investing. I try to read every article in those three but it takes me extremely long.
Are there particular stories/sub-sections I should focus on? How can I get through it quicker? How long does it take on average for an experienced WSJ reader?
Somebody please help me move along the learning curve.
You can get a lot by reading the section “What’s News.” It gives you a summary of the important headlines.
Then I look at Money & Investing. The headlines are important, and then I’ll dig down deeper at stuff that seems more relevant to me or if it sounds interesting.
Then I go back to the front section, skim the headlines (many of which already appeared in “What’s News”), and read what looks interesting.
If there’s any time left over, I’ll look at other sections.
Generally you can get most of it done in about 1/2 hour or 45 mins, although when you’re just starting, it can take a lot longer because you have to read more carefully to get what they’re saying.
During one of my MBA classes the professor actually took about 10 minutes to explain how to read the WSJ. Actually wasn’t a horrible use of time compared to some of the other crap we did.
It’s sad what Murdock did to that paper. Now, you have to spend as much time figuring out what’s right wing propaganga and what’s relevant news. WSJ is as far right as NYT is left – not good for a business periodical.
Agreed. I’m getting sick and tired of seeing the editorial page (and heck, sometimes even the front page) and scoffing at how bizarrely right-wing some of the pieces are. And as an aside, has anyone noticed that the amount of typos appears to have gone way up? Meanwhile, Bloomberg Businessweek gets better with every issue, which I’m pretty surprised by.
In response to the original question, I would say the entirety of the front page demands reading - namely because virtually everyone else on the street has read it. Big stories / stuff that interests you should be read entirely (meaning turn to page A-whatever and finish it) and you should also scan Money & Investing for stuff that’s relevant to the industries / companies / whatever it is you cover.
I would say the stuff I’ve listed above is “required”. Anything you do past this is a “nice to have read” but not necessarily “required to read”.
i read the WSJ internet edition…i notice spelling mistakes here and there, but don’t know about way up as there really aren’t that many…give these guys a break, they write the best financial literature around…FT is good too, but its not nearly as fabulous…WSJ is like the classiest of the classiest hottest babes around…
businessweek is ok, but there isn’t enough material…their articles are quite decent i must admit. get say i get off too much reading businesweek though.
Economist handsdown the most intelligent…economist makes the weekend worth looking forward to…
Thank you for all the helpful responses. I was able to work out a rule for going about reading the WSJ. Articles featured in “What’s news” are mandatory (expect for the obituaries). Rest is optional based on interests.
The smartass responses by some guys were amusing. However, you guys should refer to the Code and read what it says about helping others in the program grow.
Is that near the section on asking a question that leaves you wide open to sarcastic responses? Seriously though man it’s not rocket science and there’s no one-size-fits-all way to read the paper. If you have time, read it all. If you don’t, read what you find interesting and relates most to your current or desired job.
