Well That Was A Waste Of $10
March 30, 2008
– Comments (11)
Since I became an active investor two years ago, I've been getting various offers in the mail. Some of them are for penny stocks (which I've shorted in CAPS to great effect when they are rateable at all) Others are for various magazines. Somebody has obviously sold my name, but I'm not sure who. (I forgot to do the trick of using a different middle initial for the stuff I signed up for so that I could track who sold the mailing list. Bad me.)
One of the few offers that I did opt for was from Forbes magazine. I remembered Forbes from my childhood as being an imposing tome full of detailed if somewhat stodgy financial reporting. The offer was for 13 weeks for $10, which seemed like a pretty good deal. So I returned the card and paid my $10 when the bill came.
The problem is that Forbes isn't what I remember. It seems to be mostly ads catering to the those who would like to be mistaken for high net worth individuals. The editorials are of no value. A lot of the articles are useless. Really there are only about three articles per issue that are interesting and informative. By comparison The Economist (which I also take) is a veritable gold mine of reporting and analysis.
Now part of my plan to become a high net worth individual involves living like a low net worth individual and saving the difference. So ads for expensive watches (I've already got a watch, it works fine, thanks), expensive vacation resorts (lots of reasonably priced places to visit) and fractional jet ownership just aren't useful to me. (Yeah, I've read The Millionaire Next Door and think it's great!) Steve, I know you felt you had to change with the times, but what were you thinking?
Needless to say, I won't be re-upping when this trial sub runs out.
