Economics, Finance, and a Whole Lot More!

Financial Times is a daily newspaper publication that is designed to keep the reader abreast on the latest financial trends, economic news, current events, and other important information. This newspaper is headquartered in London, England, and it presents news information from all over the world.

Contents of This Publication:

Financial Times is divided into two primary parts, with occasional special sections, too. You can count on finding the following in each edition:

Main Section- This is the front cover section of each copy of Financial Times. This part of the paper is usually between 12 and 20 pages in length and it covers current events, letters to the editor, arts, and analysis. There is also a weather map of the U.S.on the last page along with a listing of forecasted high temperatures for selected world cities. There are some U.S. cities mentioned here, but they are mostly foreign cities.

Companies and Markets- This is the second section of the paper, and it’s usually between 10 and 15 pages in total length. This is the place to turn if you are primarily interested in looking up world financial data and investment information. In this section, you will find closing prices for important world stocks, with expanded coverage given to the U.S, U.K., and Japanese markets. You can also lookup world currency exchange rates, bond prices and yields for key U.S companies, and present treasury rates. There’s also a handy company index, showing you the pages that contain any mention of a specific corporation (in any part of the paper- not just in this section) and several graphic illustrations to help the reader to visually understand certain financial data.

Other Sections

You won’t find additional sections in every issue of Financial Times, but you will find them periodically- usually at least once per week. These “special” sections can cover a wide range of topics. I have seen them with titles like “World Market Trends”, “Business Education”, “Corporate Earnings”, and other miscellaneous categories. The Saturday edition also has a section all its own, titled “FT Weekend”, in place of the Companies and markets section. It includes non- financial information with stories on such diverse topics as home and garden, arts, travel, personal budgeting, and others.

Pricing/Delivery:

Financial Times is published six times per week: Monday through Friday, with a weekend edition that’s delivered on Saturday. There are a total of 308 issues per year.

With so many issues, the price to subscribe to Financial Times is high, like you might expect. A one- year subscription sells for a standard price of $149, which works out to about 48.4 cents per copy. If you want fewer issues of Financial Times, you can opt for a six- month subscription, which includes 154 issues for the price of $79. This breaks down to 51.3 cents per issue. The cover price of this paper is $1.00 in the U.S., $2.00 in Canada.

Final Thoughts:

Financial Times is a very good publication, for both world financial news and current events. The journalists are top- notch, and the writing covers a broad range of topics from around the globe.

Speaking of the “range of topics”, this is one aspect of Financial Times that might not be to everyone’s liking. With a title like “Financial Times”, one might assume that this paper focuses on finance, investments, and nothing more. That’s not the case at all. In fact, the front page of each issue of this newspaper usually highlights something that is not directly financial. For instance, the last few weeks’ issues have devoted considerable coverage space to the war in Iraq. Other issues have highlighted similar, important world events. You can find plenty of information on finance, but the headlines are centered on other topics. This might bother financial “purists” who want to read exclusively about finance when they read a financial publication. Besides current events, there is a good amount of space given to other non- economic information, too, like the arts, movies, and home improvement.

Each issue of Financial Times is about 25 to 35 pages in total length (weekend issues are about 10 pages longer). This is shorter than most newspapers and, in my opinion, it’s just right. With other, lengthier newspapers, there are more sections than most individuals have a chance (or desire) to read. The majority of readers will just skim through the paper and read maybe one or two sections. But with Financial Times, you get only two sections of quality writing without a bunch of filler material. This is just the right length for a day’s worth of reading. I also like the pinkish hue of the pages. Most all newspapers are published in black and white/gray. The coloring scheme used by Financial Times makes it more unique and appealing.

If I had to point out something negative about Financial Times it would have to be the fact that it’s an English publication and is, therefore, more geared toward the nation of England. More specifically, many of the advertisements have phone numbers that are foreign, and will not be of much use to people here in the U.S. If you find an article that interests you, then I recommend looking up the web site (most of the advertisements include web addresses) to see if there is an American affiliate.

Another way I have found Financial Times to be useful is for teaching. I’m an instructor at a local university where I teach a course in Finance, and I have found several articles that are timely and helpful for use in my classroom. For example, just a few days ago there was an article on cost of capital and the use of the capital asset pricing model. This is exactly what we were covering in class that week, and the article proved to be a helpful classroom teaching aid.

Financial Times is a very good newspaper publication to read. It covers a wide range of topics, with the majority of these in the areas of economics and finance. It’s a little costly, but it’s an excellent choice for those who like to stay informed about finance and world events.