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Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

Grumpy Old Lemons Like You
yorkshirelad1
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Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#374802

Postby yorkshirelad1 » January 8th, 2021, 3:47 pm

The Investors Chronicle (https://app.investorschronicle.co.uk/) has recently had a make-over with artistic portraits of the writers, and a redesign of the content and layout. What does any other reader think?

TBH, I hate it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It looks like a coffee table glossy magazine, rather than a serious financial weekly (if it was ever that). Paragraphs and pages of prose. More style than substance. Ironically, the subheading on the cover of this week's edition is "Style wars". I'm not interested in style in a financial magazine, I want substance and it's not got it.

I'm about to renew my subscription, and I'm seriously reconsidering.

bungeejumper
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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375048

Postby bungeejumper » January 9th, 2021, 10:06 am

As a former insider, I sympathise with your sense of estrangement. Well, sort of. :|

Every time the Economist magazine has a style revamp, people cancel their subscriptions. Every time the BBC website adopts a new format, or a new typeface, the world erupts in protest. Every time the Financial Times revises its online layout, they howl. "If the most respected news source in the entire universe is capable of a bungle like this, then how can I ever trust anything that I read in its hallowed pages ever again?" And blah blah blah.

Magazines and websites all need to update their layouts from time to time if they want to avoid looking dated. New typefaces, new column layouts, new headlines and subhead styles, bigger/smaller type - even the hallowed question of whether to use justified or ragged right margins, or how to do the leading. (Can you tell I work in the publishing trade?)

And should the text wrap itself sinuously around every curve of every picture, or should it stay blocky and square, with all illustrations square or oblong? The chances are that you never consciously notice these things, but they all have a measurable effect on the unconscious, and that's partly what the reader is feeling. I really hated the last BBC news revamp, but nowadays I quite like it.

What won't ever change is the Investors Chronicle's undying usefulness as a contrarian indicator. Read what it says and do the opposite. People have been saying that since the 1990s, so it must be true. :D

BJ

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375116

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 9th, 2021, 12:27 pm

bungeejumper wrote:What won't ever change is the Investors Chronicle's undying usefulness as a contrarian indicator. Read what it says and do the opposite. People have been saying that since the 1990s, so it must be true. :D
BJ

What's it saying about Scottish Mortgage?

I was feeling rather overweight in it even a year ago, as my holding had already grown to near 3x the size of any other since the buyout of 20-bagger ARM (hmm, it seems James Anderson shared my view of that).

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375132

Postby Arborbridge » January 9th, 2021, 1:15 pm

yorkshirelad1 wrote:The Investors Chronicle (https://app.investorschronicle.co.uk/) has recently had a make-over with artistic portraits of the writers, and a redesign of the content and layout. What does any other reader think?

TBH, I hate it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It looks like a coffee table glossy magazine, rather than a serious financial weekly (if it was ever that). Paragraphs and pages of prose. More style than substance. Ironically, the subheading on the cover of this week's edition is "Style wars". I'm not interested in style in a financial magazine, I want substance and it's not got it.

I'm about to renew my subscription, and I'm seriously reconsidering.


I can empathise with that! I guess the question for you to resolve this is whether the "substance" you still get is worth the subscription you pay. If so, you will have to suffer the style part.
My suggestion is that it is still worth it, but you could let it go one more year and put IC "on report" then see how you feel next year..

Arb.

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375172

Postby johnhemming » January 9th, 2021, 2:18 pm

bungeejumper wrote:What won't ever change is the Investors Chronicle's undying usefulness as a contrarian indicator. Read what it says and do the opposite.

I find that a bit unfair. I normally ignore their tips, but sometimes they are some good.

bungeejumper
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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375176

Postby bungeejumper » January 9th, 2021, 2:24 pm

johnhemming wrote:I find that a bit unfair. I normally ignore their tips, but sometimes they are some good.

If I flip a dozen coins, sometimes they'll come up heads. ;)

BJ

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375182

Postby Hypster » January 9th, 2021, 2:39 pm

I love the new look. I don’t see it as style over substance, the content is still there it’s just a new font, layout, and replacing photos with pencil sketches.

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375183

Postby MaraMan » January 9th, 2021, 2:39 pm

Just one of their tips (Sylvania Platinum) that I followed has increased so much over the past 2 years that it would pay for an IC subscription for many decades, so I personally wouldn't write them off so casually.

MM

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Re: Chronic investor: make-over: what do you think?

#375186

Postby scrumpyjack » January 9th, 2021, 2:44 pm

I have subscribed for many many years and still find it useful. I agree that quite often, but not always, one should do the opposite of what they suggest and I frequently find myself disagreeing with their analysis. But it takes 2 views to make a market.

It lost an awful lot of credibility with me when it recommended buying Naibu which many commentators on MF had already pointed out was so full of holes and was clearly a scam. It was a scam of course.

Also one should bear in mind that it is part of the FT, so influenced unduly, IMO, by city fashion and group think.

Still useful in spite of that.

Back to the OP's point, yes the new layout does jar and I really can't see any point. Change for change's sake and for the worse.


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