There are about a half dozen reports that are released to everyone at the same time so even the institutions don't get and advantage. If you simply read these reports you will have the raw data that influence the moves of the major markets everyday. Here are some of the most important economic reports you must know: 1) beige book which the FOMC uses to adjust interest rates, 2) Consumer Price Index (Inflation gauge) 3) Durable Goods, 4) Home Sales, 5) Retail Sales. These reports give hard data to the health of the economy and future prospects of the stock market. Read the Free Ebook of Economic Indicators and you will learn the meaning of the major economic reports as well as anyone. Most of the reports are common sense. For example, If housing starts are up, the economy is probably doing well. If retail sales fall by 30%, trouble is ahead as companies will likely miss earnings as profit falls due to missed sales forecast. And best of all its a Free Ebook.

Forget Business Week and Read Psychology Today

Don't forget Business Week as they are a respected publication, but Business Week won't make you as much money as a publication like Psychology Today. Most information expressed in periodicals like Business Week, and others are already priced into the financial markets by the time it's available to the public. Trading Method is about getting tactics and psychology personalized for your success in financial markets. All investors and online traders are privy to virtually the same information, so your edge must come from your Trading Method.

The real news are Economic Reports published by the U.S. government and released at the same time to The big traders and the small investors alike. Economic Reports like unemployment, retail sales, housing starts, consumer sentiment and store sales are some of the important economic reports to help you get a handle on the health of the financial markets. These reports are simple to understand as a rising unemployment rate is good for the bond market and increased store sales is good for the stock market. You can look back 12 months or more and identify trends and measure the magnitude of change if any. A 0.1% increase or decline in a report may be reacted to by the financial markets short term but a 0.1% change isn't significant in most cases.