Johannesburg, January 2023: 

Alon Roslyakov Manager CMTrading South Africa shares his insight into the planning and preparation of trading...

“Successful investors thrive on information. Before choosing to invest in a company, a good investor will do hours of research into that company’s industry, prospects and financials and try to make the most informed decision possible. However, external factors can affect the day-to-day share price, and everyone from casual traders to professionals should be aware of these so that they too can make the best choices.

“An economic trading calendar is one of the most useful tools for gathering this external information and trading signals. This calendar is a schedule of economic events, which might impact the financial markets and individual share prices. When it comes to trading in forex, shares or any other commodity, it would be wise to keep an eye on this calendar for hints on how these commodities may be affected. 

“There are many online economic calendars, all offering similar information. Typically, these list the important events and dates for major companies and countries across the globe on each calendar day. Some of the most common events include the dates for central bank interest rate decisions, GDP figures, trade data, new car sales data, employment reports and inflation information. By focusing on a single day, week or month, traders can track movements and plan trades accordingly. 

“It is essential to keep an eye on these calendars for several reasons, as they can indicate how companies you have an eye on buying are doing, or the market conditions in which they operate and allow traders to plot long and short term strategies. Perhaps their most important role is that they will enable you to be prewarned on events that can cause panic selling and market sell-offs. Panic selling happens when investors dump an asset because of its disappointing data, whereas market sell-offs occur across an asset class. Knowing in advance when such a move might happen can help traders make decisions when it comes to the assets they hold in those classes.

While there are numerous different economic calendars you can use, https://www.dailyfx.com/economic-calendar is a good one for worldwide events and https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/calendar will help you view South African specific dates.

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For more information on CMTrading, visit their official website at www.cmtrading.com or call +27 10 157 19 89, and one of their friendly staff will assist you.

CMTrading is the brand name of Global Capital Markets Trading Ltd (A Seychelles company, company no. 104785)