A squawk service is usually a subscription service that keeps brokers and traders informed of
market news. As fast as the markets move today, traders can’t afford to miss out on important
announcements. They need to learn of them as soon as they happen. A squawk service can
sometimes mean the difference between profit and loss.
It is now extremely easy to trade online and on the go. Modern squawk services are much the
same — available on desktop, tablet, and phone. And though they are more expensive than a
normal newspaper subscription, they aren't so expensive that they are beyond the means of
most people with limited investments. To see if one is right for you, read on.
What is a Squawk Service ?
A squawk service is usually a subscription service that you can have on your desktop, tablet, or
cell phone. Traders can get all kinds of pertinent market news and information using a squawk
service. Some of the information available includes things like breaking market news, market
analysis, block trade information, price levels, recommendations, and more.
And this is all without news commentator opinions, commercials, and other interruptions you
don’t need while making trading decisions. There are advantages when using a squawk service
instead of just following certain people on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Breaking News !
During the trading day, there can be all sorts of breaking news that affects the markets and
trading decisions. There is always social media to get breaking news, but can traders always
trust social media platforms to be accurate.
Twitter accounts can be hacked. For example, a trader is following some well-known analyst
who tweets bad news from some big stock. A trader might take this news and sell a big position
in that stock, only to find out later that the Twitter account he was following had been hacked.
And there was no bad news on this stock.
Using a squawk service can eliminate hacked social media account worries, false news, and
bogus information.
Price Levels
You can have a squawk service set for various types of information. Technical traders might be
interested when a stock, currency, or index breaks a certain price level. They can set their
squawk service to alert them when a price level has been broken in whatever stock or index
they are interested in.
This allows the trader to focus on other aspects of buying and selling instead of staring at the
price movement charts all day long. Not only will a trader listen for price action on their trades,
but also on something that can affect their holdings.
Data Announcements
Another advantage with having a squawk service is that traders can get data announcements
such as:
● Latest economic news like employment reports and interest rate announcements
● Earnings announcements
● Pre and post data announcements.
This last item can be important to traders. Pre-announcements are just telling you that a certain
key number is about to come out and what the number is expected to be. The post-
announcement tells traders what the actual number was and how it is different from what was
expected, and how the market is reacting to the announcement.
Post data announcements can also alert traders to an important number that might have come
out as a complete surprise versus the expected number. This type of surprise can really affect
market action.
Types of Squawk Services
There are different squawk services for the various types of traders. A trader can flag the most
important information that they want to get. A currency trader will probably want to get the
information most important to worldwide currencies and news that affects them.
Day traders in stocks will want a squawk service with the data that affects their trading, like
stock price movements, breaking news, and price breakout announcements.
Before choosing the right squawk service, traders should ask themselves the following
questions:
● How often do they trade?
● What do they trade?
● What are the most important types of news they need during the trading day?
● Are they mainly interested in technical or fundamental analysis?
Conclusion
Squawk services are essential to any serious trader, no matter what market they trade. Traders
get the information they want when they want it, without all the distracting noise that can come
from television or social media.