What do professional traders read before starting the day?
Hi monkeys,
I am a recent graduate with no internship or graduate job lined up, graduated with an average grade in the U.K (so basically effed ). However, I have always been interested in trading and was wondering what things I need to know inside out if I want to break in. A comprehensive list of must knows information that professional traders read would be much appreciated because I am literally a tool if someone asks me where the market is heading towards. Could be anything like an index you religiously follow, interest rates, indicator. Anything is much appreciated.
Thanks,
From what I have seen most read economic releases, as well as anything material on the macro level, and what global markets did overnight/what futures are doing. This is what i observed from a muni bond trader, I am sure it differs quite a bit when you narrow the scope of your market.
Edit: For example Initial jobless claims, unemployment, PMI, non-manufacturing ism, credit spreads, treasury curves, and a handful of other things. If you have a BB Terminal it is much easier to obtain all of this information quickly.
Depends on what market you're responsible for. Macro / news doesn't greatly affect wholesale power unless it's weather.
More generally, technical reports on your industry of choice as well as more broad information on outlook.
Typically will be sent morning reports about overnight market performance along with why said market reacted that way. Depending on the desk some preference will be placed in either interest rate changes overnight or commodity price changes. Along with a whole host of macroeconomic data and upcoming events.
Further the trader will often be sent research reports from their firms analysts regarding any recent news in relation to sectors covered.
Weather, Bentek Observers, production forecasts, prop models/balance sheets, and some new bitcoin for lols (this is all for nat gas)
Hi fellow monkey,
Here is my 2 cents. I know you asked about what to do on a daily basis, but I will take more of a wholesome approach to answering your question
First: You need to understand how to perform fundamental and technical analysis. Basically, fundamental analysis involves analyzing the underlying fundamental value of a given stock/company. This includes the company's strategy, macro/micro factors that could influence the future value of the company, employer-employee relationship,..etc.
Technical analysis which is what most traders do is to study the stock charts, carefully analyze them, and try to figure out if there is a re-occuring pattern that you can utilize to make an educated trade. If you are interested you can look up A/D line, MACD, and the GAP charts. Try to absorb each chart (this will take time), but also take everything with a grain of salt. There is a ton of variables affecting market movements and it is not likely one thing, or a couple, can tell you a lot.
Second: Educate yourself by reading as many books and articles as possible. "Stock Market Wizards", "Trading for a Living", and "Winning on Wall Street" are good for beginners
Third: Read the news. Extremely useful. A lot of the market inefficiency is because of positive/negative news that sometimes has nothing to do with the underlying value of the stock.
Fourth: Practise. The more experienced you get, the better you will be. Be patient :)
I'm not saying finance-wizard is wrong--just that my approach is completely different. Ultimately whatever prepares you to do what you need to do best is what you should be doing.
I don't read anything.
I'm not a believer in fundamentals. There may be isolated exception but their correlation with future market moves is, at best, weak.
I only believe in technicals to a limited degree. While they can tell you about the current state of the market, using them to predict what's going to happen next is a probability game and requires an extensive system development methodology.
I find books and articles okay for new ideas but largely fluff and unnecessary distraction.
I try to avoid the news. The media specializes in retrospective attribution and hindsight bias. Their job is to sensationalize to get ratings--not help you make money trading.
never look at what direction the ducks are moving -- try to get an underwater view of where their feet are paddling. because that way you'll see where their trying to move, which will come to fruition once the current eases.
and yes, i absolutely came up with that aphorism just now. that's what a dual econ/philosophy degree does to you.
Nobody become a millionaire simply because of how many books they read.
Read a few of the essentials - and then focus on constantly developing and refining your own trading and investment frameworks
in case no one understood my previous post, what i'm trying to say in plain English is:
instead of "reading the news headlines", take a deep dive into the underlying market sentiment. take a look at previous day's closing trade imbalances, current put/call ratio, any large blocks of bids/asks on your Tier2, etc etc. you're looking at people's ACTIONS here, as opposed to their WORDS when you read headlines.
of course, this is more for day/weekly traders. if you're a long-term macro guy, this won't help.
Where do traders usually get morning brief ? (Originally Posted: 01/15/2014)
Every morning is very busy for trader trading for big move. They usually come with big news. So I am wondering where we can get these very critical news, like outperform/ down-perform, patents for pharmaceutical companies, or acquisition? Any quality source or websites for them?
Thanks in advance.
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