Economic data is reported every day for traders and investors to digest. While it is important to keep a close watch on market fluctuations, following every single report is not practical. This is where economic calendars play a role. They put forward all the important market reports and fluctuations in one place for you to refer to.
An economic calendar allows investors to run detailed research of past highlights of market-moving events. They play a crucial role in determining trade and investing decisions. So, if an economic calendar is this significant, there must be a specific calendar that is the holy grail of all investors and traders, right? Well, no.
Differences Between Various Economic Calendars
If you search for ‘Economic Calendar’, you will be confronted by an overwhelming number of economic calendar providers. That is nothing to worry about, though. You could refer to almost any trusted Economic Calendar and will get the information you require.
All economic calendars are more or less the same. They all have to provide the same data as quickly as possible so that traders can make prompt trading decisions. Then what sets one calendar apart from another?
There are a few subtle but important structural differences between all economic calendars. Even though all calendars show the same information, it is the way that the information is presented that matters. While some calendars are straightforward and only provide market information, some give a detailed history of particular market events.
Economic Calendars for Forex trading also differ in terms of the economic indicators that they are based on. While some calendars use GDP, others use GEP or other parameters to calculate national wealth. This is an important distinction as economic indicators change the perspective of the calendar and the events listed in it.
The volatility levels indicated on economic calendars also tend to differ from provider to provider. The indicated volatility level is crucial since they state the likelihood of that event in making a change in the market. For beginners, especially, but also for the experienced trader, this is an important distinction.
7 Best Economic Calendars to Refer To
The question of the suitability of an economic calendar to your liking is personal. However, you will find 7 of the best economic calendar providers in this article. All of them have basic structural differences and have something unique to offer. We hope that the following list could be of help to you.
1. investing.com
If you are a beginner, you would want to use a free economic calendar that is easy to use and understand. The Inversting.com calendar is helpful in that regard.
The layout of this economic calendar is clean and simple. It follows the basic calendar formatting, including the expected impact ratio on currencies. The impact ratio, as with most free economic calendar services, should only be used for reference. They are not the most appropriate.
The important thing that sets this calendar apart is the event listing hyperlinking. What this means is that when you click on any of the data points mentioned in the calendar, a new window will open on your browser. What this separate window does is that it gives you detailed information and context about the particular event.
You can also find recent news articles along with contextual information. This helps better the understanding of particular events.
Another great thing about this economic calendar is that it accounts for commodities like gold and crude oil. These things have a great impact on the market but are generally overlooked in top economic calendars.
2. Forex Factory
The Forex Factory Economic Calendar is extremely user friendly, which is why it is ideal for new traders. Its usability is great to help new traders get a hold of forex trading. They can then either choose to stick to Forex Factory economic calendar or could venture out to paid calendars.
The Forex Factory economic calendar has a nifty time navigation tool that allows you to change the GMT. What it does is that it allows you to see all the news events in your local time. This eliminates a lot of market-time confusion involved in forex trading.
This calendar includes a forecast column that indicated the aim of the consensus. However, just as the impact ratio, this statistic is generally more accurate in paid calendars. Just like the Investment.com calendar, this one also shows you the trends and history related to specific events. It also has historical charts for the economic indicators related to that specific event.
The usability is made easier by the Central Bank interest rate that is placed at a comfortable location. This is great for beginners who might face trouble reading and understanding economic calendars.
3. MetaStock
MetaStock’s economic calendar is called Xenith. It is a premium subscription-based economic calendar that provides the best global data analysis and listing. It provides powerful charting in the Xenith calendar.
The MetaStock Xenith puts all the power in the hands of the private trader. It gives a real-time display of news, analytics, fundamentals, and economic reporting. All the essential commentary and data that might be needed are provided on your desktop.
Each result search on the MetaStock Xenith delivers content related to your investment interest area. It has the capability to help you anticipate your next step and make the best trade decisions.
4. Econoday
Econoday provides a very clean website that is easy to use and understand by everyone. It can be used by new traders and investors because of the ease of usability. It can also be used by experienced traders and investors to refer to market conditions without qualms.
The defining factor of this economic calendar is something that makes the function of an economic calendar apparent. It has a clean layout, just like the previously mentioned calendars, and displays straightforward data.
The main data layout stars the most important events in this economic calendar. Since following and understanding all the reports is a difficult task, this calendar efficiently highlights the important ones for you.
The things that are marked with red dots are thus etched in the trader’s mind. When they’ll be making trades or watching the market, they will have those highlights in their mind. This creates a great memory tool that is efficient in trading.
5. FxStreet.com
FxStreet’s economic calendar is a great one when you want to do a quick background search. It is good for people who invest and trade for extra gain and do not religiously follow the market.
This economic calendar is a crisp and clean solution for quick referral. This economic calendar lists news and reports from over 40 of the most influential countries in the world. This includes China, which is usually a country that is difficult to get hold of in short economic calendars.
The primary economic indicator is GDP, which means that the calendar is completely based on GDP. This contributes to the to-the-points of the calendar. However, some people do not prefer GDP based calendars. The FxStreet economic calendar is also downloadable, which increases its accessibility.
6. Babypips.com
If you want to exclusively trade forex lots and want to keep a watch on pips, babypips provides a great economic calendar for you.
This is an easy to use economic calendar that states all the important information that you might need in a forex trade. The calendar is also incredibly easy to use and understand.
Instead of stating all market events, this calendar focuses on currency fluctuation. The homepage has a list of countries and how a specific event has impacted their exchange rate. The babypips calendar gives insight into what kind of fluctuations can be expected from certain currencies.
The calendar has an overall clean and to-the-point look to it. This makes it a great choice for forex traders and investors through a varied experience level.
7. tradingeconomics.com
The website tradingeconomics.com provides a comprehensive real-time economic calendar. It is a quick economic calendar that can be quickly referred to before making any trading decisions.
An important distinction that sets the economic calendar apart is that it has an Application Programming Interface (API). This helps the calendar become extremely fast to update. If you’re looking for a comprehensive economic calendar that has a huge archive of historical economic data, you might like this one.
This calendar is one of the most packed economic calendars out there. It is full of information regarding all important economic and market events. It also has a great user-friendly interface that allows you to access the history and relevance of certain events.
In Summary
Economic calendars are powerful tools in trading. However, all economic calendars vary in some aspects. Therefore, you should refer to two or more calendars at a given time. This helps you to be sure that you haven’t missed any important data and news.
Choosing an ideal economic calendar is not as difficult. You should be aware of your expertise level so that you can determine what kind of features you are ready to take on. With that understanding, you can progress to more advanced calendars as you gain experience.
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