During the beginning of my trading career it was difficult to decipher the numbers that were released with economic data. One of the biggest challenges is to determine which category of information is more accurate and the market will react to.

For example, often times we will see economic data released that not only has the headline numbers for the report but also core numbers. It was said for some time that it was mostly the US that chose to focus on core numbers. While many disagree with this idea of looking at core numbers because it often skews the data, it does pose a problem because of all the confusion.

At the moment economic data is released most news traders will simply listen to the headline numbers and make a decision. However there are often times subcategories which the markets/traders will often want to focus on. If you are not aware of the specific report you are trying to trade and spend some time studying the details and reactions for some time, I would be very cautious trading real money on a gamble like this.

In the past news trading was an eccentric trading technique. Which of course did Data Monetization not last very long as brokers were able to determine how to prevent traders from scoring on easy money.

I will stress, trading is a serious business. If your goal is to make a living as a trader making a consistent income, then you will need to spend time understanding what moves the markets you are trading. You also must understand how other markets can affect the Forex markets.

When I began my trading career I realized from the start I would need to study slowly and consistently. I also realized I can only see the market's reaction to a specific economic report once a month for the most part. So having a good understanding of how the market interprets the news will take more than two or three opportunities to witness the results of the report and the reactions.

Now the challenging part is... as markets change, so will the way traders react to a specific economic report. Markets move in cycles. For example there are times when markets are watching economic reports such as employment numbers or perhaps data that will affect the Feds decision to change interest rates. Other times it's expected that interest rates will stay at current levels and markets will then be focusing on other issues and economic reports.

Of course all of this seems overwhelming especially in the beginning of your career. So what can you do for an opportunity to trade around the news?

The first thing to remember is trade slowly. If you do not trade during economic announcements, it's okay.

No one should ever be in a hurry to lose money on something they do not understand.

Even to this day, the way I trade the news is to wait for the outcome or the reaction of traders to specific economic data reports. If it is uncertain at the time of the data release, I will either stay out of the trade or wait until I see a technical opportunity develop after the news is released. I prefer to see this technical trade develop and point in the same direction that I am able to determine (with a little more time), the direction of price and momentum.