The simple fact is that whatever your portfolio contains, and whatever markets you favour, you absolutely must ensure that you know what’s going on at all times.
Developments can hit the markets quickly and significantly, so if you find out too late, you may find that you make an unnecessary loss. If you know what’s happening at all times, you can quickly react. This goes the other way too – a particular news announcement or development might actually mean that a new opportunity is presented, and you don’t want to miss out. If you only look at the news once a day, then you could well be missing out, as markets react very quickly indeed.
So how do you go about making sure that you’ve got all the information that you need?
Well, the first rule is that you’ll need to use multiple sources. If you stick with just one news provider, then you risk receiving slightly biased news. It’s far better to have a pool of media outlets that you trust – this way you’ll get different perspectives on the matter, and can come to a more accurate conclusion when it comes to your own portfolio and investments.
In the age of smartphones, there’s no excuse to not have push notifications that make sure you’re getting the news as it happens. Set up alerts too – Google will let you do this – and you can receive a summary of everything that’s happened in the relevant markets during the day. If you use a broker like FX Pro, then there’s a good chance they’ll have a blog – this is a good way of being prepped for the day.
Now, if you’re more of a technical investor, then you might be reading this wondering if there’s actually any point following the news – many do after all believe that the markets are ‘perfect’, and that all prices already have all publicly available information built into them. Why follow the news if its impact has already happened? Well, this only really works for very liquid and widely-traded markets such as the major forex pairs. Relying purely on technical data, particularly when trading in a more exotic market, could mean that you’re actually trading blind.
So, if you’re in any way serious about your investments, then you’ll want to keep as up-to-date as you possibly can, whether you’re a technical forex day trader, or you like to place your money straight into stocks and shares.
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