Jonathan Clements's Blog, page 451

Eat, Drink And Obfuscate

WE MIGHT OVERINDUGLE this holiday season—but we probably won’t be honest about it. For my Money Guide, I took a look at how America spends. There are two key sources: the Commerce Department and the Labor Department. The Commerce Department relies on top-down economic data, while the Labor Department surveys consumers.

It turns out that consumers aren’t entirely honest. The Commerce Department found that, in 2013, U.S. households spent an average $900 on tobacco, $1,100 on beer, wine and spirits, and another $700 on alcohol when eating out. But households that were surveyed by the Labor Department admitted to spending just $330 on tobacco and $445 on alcohol.

Don't Look Now

IN OCTOBER, LUCINDA and I spent a week in Venice. We rented an apartment with no Wi-Fi, so every day for 30 minutes we’d settle into a café with Internet access. While my wife dealt with work issues, I’d catch up on the news, check email, see how the markets were performing and look at the Amazon rankings for my various books.

There was nothing extraordinary about this—except that I was doing it just once a day. By contrast, when I’m home in New York, I’m constantly checking the news, markets, email and my book sales.

But there’s a difference between information and insight. Here at home, I may be getting a lot more information. But it also chews up a heap of time and I doubt it’s making me any wiser. In fact, I suspect the constant flow of financial information is bad for investors, prompting them to fret too much over their investments and make too many trades.

The Perfect Gift for Your Father-in-Law?

YESTERDAY'S WORK DAY started shortly after 4 a.m. and ended just before 9 p.m. Admittedly, I did take time off for lunch (30 minutes), the gym (40 minutes) and to talk to my mother (50 minutes). But the rest of the time was devoted to updating my Money Guide with all manner of financial data, including yesterday's stock- and bond-market close.

Result? You can now order a print edition from Amazon. In addition, the Kindle edition, which also has data through Dec. 15, can be pre-ordered. That version will be distributed to buyers on Friday. I created the early edition, in part, because some folks had asked whether they could buy the Money Guide in time for the holidays.

On New Year's Eve, I'll be creating a second edition with data through Dec. 31. That version should be available Jan. 1. But beyond small tweaks to the numbers, the Dec. 31 edition will be the same as the Dec. 15 version. And, yes, there will be a version for the Nook--but not until next week.