News, news and more news…staying on top of current events is part of an equity analyst’s job.

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Part of an analyst’s job (a pretty big part, by the way) is staying on top of current developments and how these may affect a sector’s or, more specifically, company’s performance. The internet has provided investors many sources for news, opinions and commentary, though some are more reliable than others. I provide here some of the news sources I use and have found quite helpful:

1. Company news feeds – Most public companies have news feeds that will send you an alert every time a press article is released. I definitely recommend signing up for these alerts once you have identified particular companies you would like to follow (e.g. Biogen email alerts at http://investor.biogenidec.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=148682&p=irol-alerts).

2. Google Finance or Yahoo Finance dashboards – By setting up a portfolio watch-list on either of these websites you will see related news items every time you visit the site. I also like their sector-specific new feeds as events affecting the sector or a competing company may have an impact on your company of interest (e.g. Yahoo Finance Industry Center – Biotechnology at http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/515.html).

3. Fierce Biotech or Fierce Pharma – These are a few of a number of Fierce products (http://www.fiercemarkets.com/). I like their daily news feed, which get sent to my email. They are a meta-news feed engine and get their leads from many reputable sources. They do a good job at capturing the day’s most pertinent breaking-news items.

4. New England Journal of Medicine – Yes, that’s correct. The NEJM continues to be the most impactful journal for the biotech and pharma industry. An article in this journal can have tremendous impact (positive or negative) on a company. Start reading it if you don’t already.

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It is a must for analysts in the biotech/pharma world. 5. Wall Street Journal and Financial Times – These journals provide many macro-level opinions and news reporting. I find that they are more useful at capturing high-level sentiment than in-depth analysis on a particular topic, unless of course it is a special report. But they do capture the pulse of the economy and the Financial Times does well at reporting on news beyond the U.S. border. These are a must for those in the investment community.