The most important data for traders to watch – and what to ignore

It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by the wealth of information available when spread betting, and to get too absorbed by minor details that you can't see the wood for the trees. So here's what to watch and what to ignore.

In today's markets, with incredible amounts of information at our fingertips via the internet, it is all too easy to feel overwhelmed. That can lead to inaction. The modern phrase 'paralysis by analysis' describes this perfectly. Many relatively novice spread betters get so absorbed by minor details that they can't see the wood for the trees.

Not only is there the hard data, such as the US economic reports, there are blogs galore espousing opinions, and newspaper and magazine articles covering a wide range of financial themes.

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John is is a British-born lapsed PhD physicist, who previously worked for Nasa on the Mars exploration team. He is a former commodity trading advisor with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and worked in a boutique futures house in California in the 1980s.

 

He was a partner in one of the first futures newsletter advisory services, based in Washington DC, specialising in pork bellies and currencies. John is primarily a chart-reading trader, having cut his trading teeth in the days before PCs.

 

As well as his work in the financial world, he has launched, run and sold several 'real' businesses producing 'real' products.