Believe it or not, there is a resource that tells you what the markets are expected to do. It’s called an economic calendar. This calendar lets you know when there will be volatility in the markets. I currently use the Economic Calendar available at DailyFX.com. It lists the important global economic events for each week and even tells you what time the news is expected to be released. It also gives you the expected release numbers and the level of impact the announcement is expected to have on trading.
For example, today, March 10th, at 8:30 AM Eastern time, the US is releasing initial jobless claims from the month of March. That is expected to have a low impact on trading. The forecast is 378K and the last number reported was 368k. If the actual number misses the forecast by a large amount, however, the impact on the markets might be a little higher than expected.
Tomorrow, March 11th, the University of Michigan confidence survey numbers will be released at 9:55 AM Eastern. That has a high level of projected impact. The expected confidence number is 76.3 and the last number reported was 77.5. So confidence is expected to fall which indicates less consumer confidence and a possible downturn.
The “University of Michigan Confidence survey is considered one of the foremost indicators of US consumer sentiment.”You can use the economic calender in your trading strategy for options volatility strategies or just to get an idea of where the market might open.
Have you used economic calendars to increase your trading effectiveness?
Nice tip LaTisha! A good resource to predict the pulse of the market and a boon for short-term traders!
Definitely, this is a tool that all traders and investors need.