News traders in the foreign exchange (FOREX) market depend on news reports to cause volatility in the price of the currencies being trade. Due to the rapid change in price following the news event, the news traders are often able to capitalize and profit significantly. Free online tools are readily available to assist the news trader in the quest for lucrative returns. Let’s briefly review three of these tools.
Free Official Time Sync
A news trader must be cognizant of the importance of time and timing with respect to the reports being released and the manner in which the trade is executed. Certain news reports come out monthly at a designated time. Other economic data may come out a couple of times per quarter or with other regularity. Knowing this, the news trader will prepare for the trade accordingly.
In order to execute the trade with the necessary competence, the news trader must be sure that the time piece relied on is precise. This means than hours, minutes and seconds must be properly synchronized with the official time used by the governmental agency releasing the report. There is a website showing the official U.S. government time. This can be found at http://www.time.gov. One can utilize this website as a reference in adjusting the PC time to comply with the official time.
Free Clock
The Windows XP clock shown in the tray at the lower right hand corner of most PC monitors does not reflect the time in seconds. Yet, news trading typically requires action measured in seconds, as opposed to mere minutes or hours. This is because the market reaction to the contents of certain major reports is usually fast and furious. Therefore, a clock showing the seconds is critical if the trader wants to capitalize on the spike in price.
There is a free download to help with this. A trader can obtain a free digital clock by going to a website located at http://www.softdemon.com/freeclock. The clock is referred to as the “Topmost Clock”. In keeping with its descriptive name, the clock remains open and viewable, without minimizing, on the PC monitor regardless of which window is open. For convenience, this transparent device can be re-sized, relocated or re-colored. In addition to the hour, minutes and seconds, it shows the day and the fully date. Once the PC clock itself is properly synchronized, this digital clock is, likewise, automatically synchronized to the official U.S. government time, since it feeds off of the PC clock.
Free News Calendar
In order to be a successful news trader, it is imperative that one knows not only the hour but also the date on which the pertinent news will be released. Although there are many places such information can be found, one popular resource for these details is the website at http://www.forexfactory.com. On the homepage, a regular weekly listing appears showing the economic data to be released during that time period. Fortunately, the website also provides an explanation of the various reports issued for the benefit of traders unfamiliar with the same. The expected impact of the specific news item on market prices is demonstrated with color coded indicators. Traders discover the usefulness of the free forum as well as the daily market analyses. Finally, the trader is shown which currency to trade with which report. Since currencies are traded in pairs, the highlighted currency accompanying the listed report should ideally be one of the components in the pair traded.
Resources for trading the FOREX are abundant. Many involve no financial outlay. The task of unearthing the most affordable, appropriate and beneficial resources for your trading activities can be daunting. With dedicated effort and connection to the right network of support, however, one should be able to locate those that can result in a more convenient and pleasurable FOREX experience.
Sandy Robinson, J.D.
Copyright 2007
The trademarks mentioned herein are the intellectual property of their respective owners.
