Ways to get economic news first?

Trading Discussion News and Economy
1

hi newbie here.
i find trading the news an appealing idea to build a system.
trouble is things move so darn fast once economic data is released, if only there was some way to get these data slightly before everyone else. i currently get my figures from seveal economic calandars, includeing the babypips one. :slight_smile:

i remember hearing reauters, or whatever its called, have a pricey primum news subscription thing that gives you figures/ news a couple mins early.
any news specalists out there? could you illuminate me as to the realities of things?

2

Bob, there are so many ways to ‘trade the news’.

Rule No. 1 - There is no need to spend any of your hard earned cash. (this may sound simple, but believe me you will be tempted.)

Some people straddle, they set OCO’c (one cancels the other) trades, the theory being 'I cannot figure which way price will go on release, it is now sitting at 2000, so I’ll set a sell order at 1975, or a buy at 2025 ( with OCO, the first trade to trigger becomes live with it’s opposite then being cancelled).

Now this really cannot fail, this is … they talk about some sort of grail thing… today’s NFP this would have made an absolute mint…(check 1.3570 at release time with a straddle as above)

Now the Reuters subscribers are all sitting with their hair triggers ready to fire, eyes glued to the screen, bang flash, what…, re-read the numbers, make sure to buy and not sell, or did I just read it wrong, no I didn’t , maybe I did, quick, hit it… which one, price is rising, BUY BUY button pressed, re-quote, press again - phew!!!, what price did I get? …
Absolute mint to be made.

Realities of things - neither are a great way to trade long term. The 2 min thing is often a disadvantage as happened this week on one of the crosses ( cable I think) where a lot of the reuters got spiked.
Straddling will work sometimes, most often you’ll get stopped out due to lack of bias, price will take you the wrong way first.

For me, best way to trade the news is to form an intelligent bias pre the news, then you can set your orders after say the Asian for EU or UK news or later for NY news if you prefer.
For leading news like pmi’s you can wait for the release and then trade in it’s direction with reasonable confidence, especially if price is continuing a current path in agreement with the pmi direction.

Your interest in news which is based on fundamentals is refreshing, you have the opportunity to go far, don’t disregard the techs, they will can help you with your entries and exits, the news being your bias driver.

These are news streaming and free:

Economic Calendar - Investing.com

Forex News

Want to really learn how to trade the news?? (also free), here is a key:

COUNTRY LIST CURRENCIES | ECONOMIC INDICATORS | DATA LIST BY COUNTRY

3

peterma, thanks you loads for your comprehensive and amusing response. im just so mezmerized by how quickly price moves on surprize figures. 50 pips per minute isnt unusual.
i like the idea of having a bias as it would allow you to buy at a much better price, with tighter stops and be less paniced. however producing better forcasts than the ‘analysts’ concensus seem like a tricky thing to do.
if it works for you though, i wont dismiss it.
and thanks for the encouragement, thats always welcome :slight_smile:

4

There is only one way to do it - cheat, but I dobt many have the wit and money.

High-Speed Trading Isn’t About Efficiency—It’s About Cheating - Matthew O’Brien - The Atlantic

5

I usually just keep the TV on and wait for real-time updates on finance channels or check out the Bloomberg terminal for instant releases. I do know that Reuters has a similar service but I’m not too sure about getting updates a couple of minutes early. If you’re not willing to pay a huge premium for those though, you can try forexlive.com as well. It’s a few moments late but their updates contain good summaries with important details.