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Customer Reviews of Barron's

Has lost cache, but there's still no substitute
Veteran Barron's readers (I'm going on 12 years) will tell you that the magazine/paper has deteriorated into the equivalent of an eccentric, pessimistic, stubborn old man who fancies himself wiser than the rest of the world. It is easily the most skeptical mainstream business/investing publication out there, which makes for reading that is entertaining at times and frustrating at other times. That tone is pervasive throughout, from the Alan Abelson's opening editorial to the technology-oriented "Plugged In" column. But this publication has its strong points, which is the reason I continue to subscribe:

- Market Laboratory section, which provides a huge amount of market, economic, and performance data that I rely on weekly
- A frequent focus on undiscovered or ignored stocks which present unusual values
- In depth interviews with various money managers, often those who are not popping up on CNBC every five minutes

Beyond that, Barron's still has the rep for breaking new stories, and stocks will definitely move on Monday after being prominently featured over the weekend. Almost without exception, my issue is at the doorstep by the time I get up on Saturday - a perfect complement to my morning coffee. It's no bargain compared to the glossy business mags. But as I noted in my title, I can't find a substitute for it. If you can get past the attitude, the meat of Barron's makes it worth reading.

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Detailed investment news and review
For the advanced investor.
A great weekly; usually in the mailbox Saturday morning with Friday's closing numbers. Voluminous info, including data on many microcaps and thinly-traded issues, as well as futures, options, commodities and foreign stocks.
Excellent commentary with weekly columns on bonds, politics, European trading, Asian trading, commodities, options and other stuff.
Warning-- bearish outlook-- was bearish throughout the entire late 90's, but still a great source of news and opinion, with a wide variety of interviews and sources.

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Barron's Doesn't Match Up
From the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Barron's attempts to provide a weekly look at personal finance. As such, it must be compared against other publications such as Money, Forbes and the like. It does beat each of these publications hands-down.

However, with so many other information sources out there such as the Internet and the WSJ, I just don't see Barron's as a must read. If you're keeping up with daily events, you aren't going to be very surprised with what is in Barron's, and the columns frequently end up a bit off the deep end of conventional investment thought.