Correct me if I am wrong but Bill dropped out from Harvard University, and I presume not because he was stoned out of his mind and was planning to spend the rest of his life surfing in South California mixing dude and awesome with every second word uttered. Consequently, presenting his choice for leaving Harvard as an example is illogical. Most people who drop out of High School pay the price for the rest of their lives. Same but to less painful degree applies to those who left college before receiving a sound education.
IMO the best is knowing either: 1 - nothing (and you do nothing because you don`t know what to do, just holding the stock) or... 2 - a lot and gaining a lot of experience (and you trade successfully) I think that most unsuccessful traders come from the range between these two points.
To see movements in charts? There is no reading necessary. BUT: To become a successful trader a lot of reading - as an ingredient of learning - is necessary. In addition with the WEB 2.0 also writing, producing content (pictures, videos, analyses), collaborating, etc. is important. There is a multidimensional grid of knowledge, skills, live experience and art required to make it as a successful trader in the future. If you are on the contribution side, you are often already on the winning side. SHARE if you want to learn quicker and to GET back valuable information from the community.
Jack, So if the media is the message, then I need to discern the authors intent. If I opine there was nothing newsworthy the next conclusion would be the psychology of the message and its effect. Yes? No? I at a brick wall with my thoughts.
Maybe in some small way, I'm trying to sort out historical data from the market and its correlation to the media. An example being the presidential cycle. Plenty has changed in the world yet historical data supports the repeated trends. Is there too much dependency on the news which isn't relevant (or any of it relevant or it appears to be) because the market repeats? We may then conclude it is human nature, if it is then why read the news?