Financial bloggers are literally a dime a dozen these days. But that doesn’t mean they’re not as likely to provide a good market tip or some insight into the state of the market. Any advantage can make a huge difference during these thin-as-paint volume days.
Just ask our own Shawn Langlois, who scours about 50 every morning while researching our Need to Know blog. As his own blog shows, financial bloggers have a way with treasure hunts, from details you overlooked to where-on-earth-did-they-find-that charts. But don’t forget: Bad calls and lousy advice come with the territory.
So which blogs should you be watching on a daily basis? Kitces.com, which also provides a bi-monthly newsletter and maintains a blog, has laid out the top 50 financial bloggers on the World Wide Web . The winners were determined using website media metrics measured by Moz Analytics, which also drew in page authority, external links leading to the blog and total links. Blogger/advisers must be registered through and SEC- or within state-registered investment advisers.
As for the latest rankings, which are updated monthly, here goes:
- The Big Picture is run by Barry Ritholtz, who left the law profession for finance, and was among the few who saw the housing implosion and derivatives mess well before it hit. Judge for yourself: Here’s arundown of his market calls. He’s currently the founder and chief investment officer for Ritholz
Wealth Management , which has $130 million in assets.
- The Reformed Broker by Joshua Brown, a financial adviser at Ritholz, Brown weaves together markets news, politics, pop culture and finance. He avoids giving financial advice or steering his readers toward particular investments. Instead, he offers up a “running commentary” of his market-related insights and points you to other content around the Web. For Wednesday, Brown was waxing about news as diverse as ripples from Iraq and oil to
Eric Cantor ’s disastrous primary loss Tuesday evening. “Both of these events could portend future trends that would not be especially palatable to the markets,” he said.
- Pragmatic Capitalism is often touted on Twitter. It was founded in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis and is run by Cullen Roche, founder of Orcam Financial Group, a financial services advisory firm. Roche previously helped to oversee more than $500 million in assets under management at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management. “I challenge everything I see,” says Roche, who’s current burning question is “how much longer will the dollar remain the reserve currency of the world?”
- The Aleph Blog, run by David Merkel, who has been running Aleph Investments, an equity asset management shop, since 2010. In his past he has managed corporate bonds for Dwight
Asset Management and also spent a few years at Finacorp Securities, where he directed research. A stint as a life actuary has given him a slightly different investing perspective: How to earn money without taking undue risk?
- Wealth Pilgrim, whose slogan is ‘No Money Worries.
No Matter What ’ rounds out the top five. It’s run byNeal Frankle, a CFA who grew up broke, with a father whom he has called a “speculator.” Feeling completely financially secure is what true wealth is, Frankle believes. “Contrary to what Wall Street wants you to believe, investing is not rocket science,” says Frankle on his blog. Among the latest burning topics he’s covered: ‘Can you enjoy life broke?’
So who else should you follow? The full list of bloggers is here.
Oh and don’t forget to follow our own marketwatcher/surfer dude, Shawn Langlois.
– Barbara Kollmeyer writes for MarketWatch.