Market Watch
When you begin investing your hard-earned money in the stock market, BetterTrades wants you to keep an eye on several daily activities that can offer potential entries or throw warning signs at you. Just watch these things each day and you'll be making better trades in no time.
Futures: Check each morning to see how the S&P futures and NASDAQ futures are moving. If the numbers are negative, the markets will like have a lower open. If the futures numbers are high, the markets will normally have a higher open. Think of the futures like a wind; the higher the number, either positive or negative, the bigger the change will be in the market's opening style.
Upgrades and downgrades: Stocks are rated by various brokerage houses and assigned a target price. If the brokerage firms believe in a company, they might upgrade its stock; if they see negatives in a company they might downgrade it. If a stock is downgraded from a "buy" to a "sell," it might affect the way the stock will move. Conversely, a stock that is upgraded might get a bullish boost.
News: The factor of news trumps all indicators. News can change everything and affect the price of stock in ways that would have been unforeseen just a day earlier. Example: A pharmaceutical stock has been moving higher, but the FDA unexpectedly orders the company's top-selling drug to be taken off the market because of defects. Do you think that bit of news might affect the stock? It absolutely will.
Earnings: Each publicly held company must report earnings every quarter. These earnings announcements should be watched closely. Earnings will often affect a stock's price, whether the earnings news is good or bad.
Federal Reserve announcements: A group of seven officials direct the Federal Reserve System. The Fed decides on everything from monetary policy to whether interest rates should be changed. Their announcements can change the direction of the market.