There are lots of places you can go for advice on picking stocks, but a celebrity feature magazine probably isn't at the top of the list. Unless it's Us Weekly, which, over the weekend, returned a volley from White House communications director and spokesperson, Sean Spicer, spiking and slamming it over the net.
The Washingtonian news outlet on Friday had reported that former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie had interviewed with the White House for a press secretary position. Spicer responded via Twitter the next day, "Getting government updates from @Washingtonian is like getting stock tips from @usweekly."
Delightfully, Us Weekly kept the ball in play: ".@seanspicer Thanks, Spicey! @usweekly does not recommend investing in individual stocks. Stick with a broad mix of low-cost index funds." That tweet garnered more than 2,600 retweets and 10,000 likes. (Index funds are a broad mix of individual stocks bundled together that track or mimic the market as a whole. This creates less exposure in case one company's stock price goes south, and is generally less expensive and requires less turnover and maintenance by an individual investor.)
And then the Twitterverse chimed in, amplifying the feud. Responses ranged from commentary on Us Weekly's advice, GIFs and memes of amusement (my personal favorite was one of a young Michael Jackson smiling and eating popcorn) and general acknowledgement that the point went to US Weekly.
But was Us Weekly's advice actually sound? Experts say yes.
"This is how I invest my money. I prefer to invest in low-fee index funds rather than picking specific stocks," said financial consultant Ashley Feinstein Gerstley of The Fiscal Femme. "It's important to have a diversified portfolio (or put more simply, to not have all of your eggs in one basket) so for those who choose to pick individual stocks, they'd want to invest in an array of companies. This is a lot more work and often not as successful. People dedicate their entire careers to choosing companies that will outperform the market. Investing in low-fee index funds is a great way to invest in the market in a cost and time-effective way, especially for those with smaller portfolios. I'm a fan!"
Stock-picking can be a little more nuanced for the advanced investor. Nellie Huang, a senior associate editor at Kiplinger, recently wrote an article about how to optimize your investment in index funds, but added: "If you index, you cannot beat the market; actively run funds at least give you the chance to outpace a benchmark."
And as ever, the best way to learn about investing is to talk to financial professionals and read as much as you can before you put your money into anything. But if you want to get full coverage of Beyoncé slaying everyone at the Grammys, Us Weekly is your first stop.
