In the olden days, to get the news you wanted, you would have to sift through a physical newspaper (or several) and scour the text for the key pieces of information that are valuable to you. Nowadays, with the advent of the internet and the proliferation of newsletters, you no longer have to.
Newsletters are great for people who want to have a strong pulse on the world and current events, but may also have some attention span issues or a wandering mind. The information will often overlap, which should help you determine the more important things going on and will also help you retain the information better. You can read as many as you would like based on your goals and interests, but be warned you may develop a slight newsletter addiction (not a bad thing). Information and learning is contagious and I definitely have a bit of an addiction myself. It is a very effective way to stay on top of things in the world or in your industry while being efficient with your time. They are essentially a nice middleground between twitter and a full newspaper.
Every morning, I spend about an hour reading the newsletters below while I wait for my coffee to kick in and the workday to start in earnest. I have divided them into three categories:
1. General – business, politics, and current events
2. Real Estate – national and local industry news / trends
3. Miscellaneous – other interesting or useful newsletters
GENERAL
The Economist (Espresso) – I am a huge fan of The Economist and I suggest everyone get a subscription for themselves. It is one of the more seasoned newspapers (in print since 1843) but is fervently committed to its original values of classical liberalism. They eschew clickbait content and instead focus on balance and well-thought out reasoning, both of which are becoming scarce nowadays. Espresso is their daily morning newsletter and brings their wonderful and calming coverage to your inbox every day. It has been the first thing I read every morning since they created it 5+ years ago. It is included as part of The Economist subscription, which while not exactly cheap, is definitely worth it.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/57na7atw
1440 – on the other end of the age spectrum is 1440, a pretty much brand new company that also has a nicely written and balanced daily newsletter covering current events. I really like how well organized it is and it covers not only business and politics but also sports, entertainment, and science among others. This would be a good alternative to Espresso if you do not want to sign up for an Economist subscription as I find these two overlap a good bit.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/374yhr7v
Kenny Polcari – I do not even remember how I found this guy but I definitely feel like I found a diamond in the rough. Kenny is an experienced trader and investor with a no-nonsense attitude and great takes on the economy and markets. He sends this fairly long, almost stream of consciousness, daily newsletter covering major economic activities as well as the movements of stocks, bonds, and commodities. Some of his ideas have rung so clear to me that I invested based on some of them and have done pretty well. Not saying that will happen to you but you know advice is good if it feels clear and actionable to you. If you read this every morning, you will be well in tune with what the economy / Fed is doing and what is going on across the major subsets of the market. As a bonus, each newsletter ends with a delicious food recipe!
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/ykmvd8pe
The Daily Upside – this is another newcomer that I have taken a liking to. They specialize more on business / companies and I believe they are a superior alternative to older incumbents like Morning Brew or The Water Coolest. At one point I read both of those each morning but they just seemed to get cornier, more annoying, and less funny. These guys have not made me feel this way so far. They are to the point, written in a style similar to 1440, and provide just a pinch of humor.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/md85uj2j
PlanSponsor NewsDash – this is a much shorter one than the rest and is probably more optional as well. The reason I like it so much is that it is succinct and only covers three things every day like clockwork: (i) major economic events you should know of (ii) summary of what markets / treasuries did the previous session and (iii) major historical events that occurred on that day. Nice and simple. I always end with this because it is nice and short and gets me ready to start the day.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/y6rr7c2y
REAL ESTATE
Local Business Journals – these are the most important sources to get real estate information from in your market. While broader real estate news is of course important, real estate is really a local business and you should have absolute fluency on the happenings of your city or town. This is what Business journals are there for. They are paid subscriptions and therefore offer higher quality information, provided by excellent researchers and reporters, with a sole focus on your area. Have your company pay for the subscription, read the headlines in the newsletters every day, and click on the articles that are pertinent enough to fully read. If you read these consistently, you will stay right on top of whatever is going on in your locale.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/mr3s3b7h
CRE Daily – I believe this is a relative newcomer as well as I only discovered it a little while ago but this is a very solid one. It is a modern version of the more staid real estate news sources and is in the same style family of 1440 and The Daily Upside. They simply do an excellent job distilling the biggest real estate news stories of the day while providing useful charts, data, and links. You will get many good nuggets of information that are relevant to your day-to-day in this newsletter.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/3vwjxeh6
Bisnow – these real estate newsletters are where I spend the bulk of my time reading, for better or for worse. I am probably signed up for too many of them but that is because they have so many options! I subscribe to several geographies that I am both interested and/or active in as well as other useful newsletters covering specific subjects like debt capital markets. Everything is free and the information is solid. Even if you read just the headlines, you will get plenty of useful information if you skim attentively. A bonus with them is they often plan events with local leadership panels that you can often get good deals on and are often worth attending.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/3u5d9z68
WMRE Daily – this is the newsletter I have been subscribed to the longest and I view it as one of the “OG’s”. Each day they send a quick hits summary of the biggest 7-10 stories going on in the real estate world. While the curation is helpful, the sparknotes they give often are not and are honestly a bit lazy. They just clip the first sentence or two of the actual article so you still need to click and read. On the positive side, they also do plenty of original interviews and articles that are often fantastic. This is a must have in the newsletter arsenal.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/npf7datj
Commercial Observer – similar to Bisnow, CO has a lot of options and you should make sure you do not sign up for too many or else your inbox will be way too busy (to the point of frustrating). Pick the most relevant ones and only click headlines that are truly pertinent. At this point you will probably also notice overlap in your news sources, which is completely expected, and is good because your brain will naturally notice the most important stories and retain them.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/22z5vnw7
Eastdil Secured Weekly Update – this is a powerhouse newsletter provided weekly but is not publicly available. These are fairly long-form but are incredibly insightful on major real estate trends and offer well thought out and original opinions. They cover all the major bases and often go into depth on the plumbing of the financial world that you will find both confusing and useful once you understand it. Highly recommend you request to get on this list once you find a contact at ES.
Signup Link: Contact an Eastdil Employee
MISCELLANEOUS
The Dividend Cafe – this is another one of those newsletters where I do not recall how I found it, but am very thankful that I did. The newsletter is written by David Bahnsen, an economist and fund manager with an affinity for dividend growth stocks. However, it is not just dividend stocks he covers. He provides a lot of great commentary on the world, markets, and even occasionally real estate. I very much enjoy his mindset, investment philosophy, and view of the world. Most of what he says gets my head bobbing in agreement. I would highly recommend subscribing to this free weekly newsletter and see what he has to say. It is a perfect thing to read on a Saturday morning with a fresh cup of coffee.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/4vfkxrmy
Tangle – last but not least is Tangle, a daily political newsletter and podcast. Let’s be honest, the mainstream media is mostly a joke with a lot of cringeworthy biases and subjective reporting. I have made a concerted effort to move away from mainstream sources and support high-quality, independent news instead. As I was making this change, Tangle fell into my lap. They are brand spanking new but they are awesome. Like me, they despise the nonsense of the mainstream media and cover major political stories each day from the perspective of the right and left and then offer their take afterwards. It is refreshing to read / listen to balanced news and I hope to find more sources that offer that.
Signup Link: https://tinyurl.com/mxsmm9jh
