FOREX TRADING SIGNALS AND NEWS

Economic indicators occur in a steady stream, at certain times, and a
little more often than changes in interest rates, governments, or natural
activity such as earthquakes etc. Economic data is generally (except of the
Gross Domestic Product and the Employment Cost Index, which are released
quarterly) released on a monthly basis.
All economic indicators are released in pairs. The first number reflects
the latest period. The second number is the revised figure for the month prior
to the latest period. For instance, in July, economic data is released for the
month of June, the latest period. In addition, the release includes the revision
of the same economic indicator figure for the month of May. The reason for
the revision is that the department in charge of the economic statistics
compilation is in a better position to gather more information in a month's
time. This feature is important for traders. If the figure for an economic
indicator is better than expected by 0.4 percent for the past month, but the
previous month's number is revised lower by 0.4 percent, then traders are
likely to ignore the overall release of that specific economic data.
Economic indicators are released at different times. In the United
States, economic data is generally released at 8:30 and 10 am ET. It is
important to remember that the most significant data for foreign exchange is
released at 8:30 am ET. In order to allow time for last-minute adjustments,
the United States currency futures markets open at 8:20 am ET.
Information on upcoming economic indicators is published in all leading
newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the
New York Times; and business magazines, such as Business Week. More
often than not, traders use the monitor sources—Bridge Information Systems,
Reuters, or Bloomberg—to gather information both from news publications
and from the sources' own up-to-date information.