Where can I get/subscribe to a up-to-date, up-to-the-minute news feed? It seems I’m always the last person to know the results of economic report or some other news action…
Thanks
Apogee,
I had a real-time news-feed once — but no more. It was expensive, and time-consuming. The feed produced an endless stream of one-line news items. Each line was either a headline, or a short summary of the news item, which I could then click on to read the article, announcement, or press release in question.
I found that I could not digest this endless flow of information. What’s even more important, I had no success using any of this information to predict market reaction. Basically, the only way to avoid missing some late-breaking news item was to watch the news feed non-stop. And I don’t mean letting it run in one corner of the screen, while I concentrated on other things —
it required my undivided attention. I decided that this was a major waste of time, and [B]I ditched the live news-feed[/B].
One day in July 2005, I was scalping the European opening, when the GBP/USD went off a cliff. I had no idea what was causing this, but I jumped right on it, and ran my “scalp” for 80 pips before cashing out. It was only after I was out of my trade that I learned of the terrorist bombings that had just occurred in London, causing the pound to crash. If I had been watching a news feed on my computer, or a news network on cable t.v., instead of watching and trading the forex market, I might have been alert enough to jump on my trading platform and short the pound — but, my entry would have been delayed. And my profit most probably would have been smaller. The lesson from this experience: [B]Price action is the best “news-feed” you will ever use.[/B]
And there’s a simple reason why this is true. The kind of news that moves markets is analyzed best and quickest by the heavy-hitters who have the clout to push prices up or down. These heavy-hitters are the big banks, trading for their own accounts; and big hedge funds, giant multi-national corporations, and certain mega-rich individuals, who trade directly with those big banks. These movers-and-shakers can analyze news faster than you or I can. They can make buy/sell decisions faster than you or I can. And their actions can move prices in ways that you and I will never be able to do. So, it makes sense for us to follow their lead, rather than trying to out-guess them.
So, what about [B]scheduled economic data releases[/B], like a U.S. Non-Farm Payroll Report, or an ECB Interest Rate Decision? We refer to these things as “news”; but, because they are scheduled and anticipated, they are different from something like a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster. To my way of thinking, they should be treated just like any other sort of news, except for the fact that we know when they are coming, and therefore we know when to be paying close attention to the market.
To know when economic data is going to be released, I rely on: Forex Calendar @ Forex Factory Part of my preparation for trading each day is to check this listing, to see what’s scheduled for release.
When I trade these economic data releases, [B]I trade the price-action in the market[/B], without regard to what the data releases actually said. I can always check the numbers later.
Clint
Clint - this is great advice. Thank you for your detailed and well thought responce.
I think you are right - a news feed might make me more edgy and less centered on my system.
Cheers!