A recent CFA Institute article identifies a list of the types of financial news stories that “have no value or insight and can be easily avoided.”

Here is a sampling:

• “The Market Moved.” The article describes these as “bland characterizations” based on historical comparisons—akin to “it rained yesterday” or “the temperature dropped to 5 degrees lat night.”
• “Jeff Bezos is $10 billion poorer.” The gains or losses of the ultra-rich don’t affect the “market value of our wallets.”
• “If you had bought…” There’s no point in knowing what you would or could have made had you purchased a stock ten years ago, the article explains, adding that “if such news also included a system or indicators on how to pick mega stocks well in advance, well, that would be helpful.”
• “This market pundit…” The article contends that market “experts” are “conveniently trotted out to explain why the market is behaving in a particular way” but that we have no good reason to trust their predictions.
• “This reliable indicator is flashing red.” These stories “ignore the fact that historical performance is never replicated.”
• “Warren Buffett…” Trying to mimic the strategies of billionaire investors like Buffett isn’t a great approach given that they typically have a “vastly different risk appetite than the average investment analyst let alone retail investor.”
• “Stocks rallied because…” These stories are all opinion since nobody can know for sure what moves the markets, the article says, noting, “And the underlying assumption is that all investors are rational beings who immediately adjust expectations and act logically based on the latest news.”
• “Must-Have Stocks” These types of recommendations, the article says, “tend to be based on sketchy information. Dig a little deeper and the analysis is often laughably shallow.”