Skip navigation

The Best Alternative Financial Blogs

By: John Carney, Senior Editor, CNBC.com | 27 Jan 2012 | 02:56 PM ET
Text Size

Today's Best Money Blogs
Photo: Bill Lai | Photolibrary | Getty Images
So what are the best alternative finance and economic blogs out there? To assemble our list, we polled our friends, our sources, and our followers on Twitter. We excluded many of the sites we really enjoy because they are associated with major media organizations. So no Felix Salmon, FT Alphaville, or DealBook. These are the sites that have struck out on their own, untethered to the “mainstream media.” Some of them — like Business Insider or Minyanville — have become so successful that we almost disqualified them as being too mainstream. On our list you’ll find some representatives of the old school, some of the new school, and hopefully a few that are new to you. There are liberal fraud-busters, Austrian economics free-marketeers, and jaded market cynics on our list. And now, here’s the best of the web for 2012. By John CarneyPosted 27 January 2012

DealBreaker
Photo: dealbreaker.com
We still can’t let a day go by without checking on the new ways Bess Levinhas discovered to hurl hilarious bile at the news. She’s what Jon Stewart would be if Jon Stewart were a dirty-talking Wall Street tabloid reporter. Plus, she’s got the best hedge-fund sources in the business.

Business Insider
Photo: businessinsider.com
It has grown a lot since the days when it was just a finance and technology site. Still central to Business Insider’ssuccess is the tireless warp-speed blogging of Joe Weisenthal.

Zero Hedge
Photo: zerohedge.com
When I first started blogging about Wall Street, a wise sage once said that you would have to be a paranoid Russian poet to understand global finance. ZeroHedgeproves the truth of this every day. It’s the first and last stop of the day for many traders.

The Money Illusion
Photo: themoneyillusion.com
Economics professor Scott Sumner claims he’s “not a natural blogger,” yet his blogalmost single-handedly pushed the idea of basing monetary policy around nominal gross domestic product — that is, economic growth without stripping out inflation — right to the center of the economic debate. Even U.S. Federal Reserve governors are talking about the idea these days.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis
Photo: globaleconomicanalysis.com
For as long as anyone can remember, Michael Shedlock’s websitehas been a must-read. When many people were predicting runaway inflation and a declining dollar, “Mish” correctly called deflation and the end to the long “flight from the dollar.”

Credit Writedowns
Photo: creditwritedowns.com
Edward Harrison’s “Credit Writedowns”boasts one of the best stables of columnists around. Harrison’s unconventional approach to economics — one part Austrian, one part Modern Monetary Theory, and four parts original Harrisonism — makes it a real standout. I won’t bother trying to explain it all right here. Just go check out the site.

Of Two Minds
Photo: charleshughsmith.blogspot.com
Charles Hugh Smith isn’t a household name...yet. Even a lot of avid blog readers I talk to haven’t heard of him. I suspect that’s about the change. Smith says the “end game” of “extend-and-pretend” will play out in 2012 and 2013. Watch out!

Naked Capitalism
Photo: nakedcapitalism.com
Yves Smith is another of the old stalwarts of financial blogging. A harsh critic of Wall Street who believes that fraud was at the center of the financial crisis, Smith is always a provocative read.

The Big Picture
Photo: ritholtz.com
Barry Ritholtz is another “old school” financial blogger. Often cranky, often funny, and always informative. Stop by dailyfor the 10 a.m. ET read.

Calculated Risk
Photo: calculatedriskblog.com
The best place to go for the latest U.S. economic developments,particularly in the mortgage and real-estate market. It warned early and often how badly mortgage standards had become.

The Reformed Broker
Photo: thereformedbroker.com
Josh Brown has taken the Internet by storm with his insightful and often hilarioustake on markets and the people who make them.

The Epicurean Dealmaker
Photo:epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
Do you want your global finance commentary mixed in with deep philosophical reflection? This is your spot.

Pragmatic Capitalism
Photo: pragcap.com
Cullen Roche has done more than anyone to inform the Internet about Modern Monetary Theory, but he’s much more than a publicist for MMT.His daily takeon the markets is highly informative and infused with a burning enthusiasm for figuring out that all-important question: What’s next?

Economonitor's Edward Hugh
Photo: economonitor.com
This is where we go to figure out what’s going on in Europe.

Ludwig von Mises Institute
Photo: mises.org
The one stop shop for everything Austrian, free-market and Ludwig von Mises related.

Minyanville
Photo: minyanville.com
Todd Harrison's powerhouse sitefirst came to our attention years ago because of the Bull and Bear cartoons, but it has developed into a powerhouse of market info perfectly suited to the retail investor.

Abnormal Returns
Photo: abnormalreturns.com
Another of the “old school” financial blogs. Abnormal Returnsmade its name as the best link blog in finance. If you need a quick guide to the smartest things on the web each day, Abnormal Returns will point you there.

Distressed Debt Investing
Photo: distressed-debt-investing.com
This one is not on most people’s reading list yet. Its name is pretty self-explanatory. In these days of sovereign debt crises and record-setting bankruptcies, you really do need a guideto the world of distressed debt.

© 2012 CNBC.com
Tools:
Add This share icon

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Google Goggles
  • People who check a smartphone will soon have another option: Google-made glasses that stream information to the eyeballs.
  • Twitter
  • How does a business handle complaints on a social network site that goes out to millions of consumers?
  • Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel lays out the changes ahead from the Obama healthcare legislation he helped design. Does reform mean greater access and affordability?
  • Should a mom or dad stay at home to take care of the kids? It’s a tough issue these days. Here’s Suze Orman’s take.
  • Corruption is a major issue in developing and developed nations. So which are perceived as the most corrupt?
  • Sony Playstation Vita
  • While the handheld gaming market has evolved in recent years, Sony's betting there's still money to be made.

MORE SLIDESHOWS

Current DateTime: 01:25:37 23 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 03:38:30 22 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 12:30:55 22 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29779197

Current DateTime: 02:40:55 23 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29779199
CNBCCNBC
About CNBC  |  Site Map  |  Video Reprints   |  Advertise  |  Help  |  Contact
Privacy Policy  |     |  Terms of Service  |  Independent Programming Report
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2012 CNBC LLC.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBCUniversal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters