In my time as a trader I have never seen the benefit of announcements as being that great for off-the-floor traders. Generally anything you hear in the news is old information in the trading game because the floor traders have access to this just before everyone else. Often the traders on the floor have already establihed the correct positions before the announcement is made. This put the public trader at a disadvantage.

The forex market has came along and changed that because there is no trading floor everyone receives the information at the same time. This creates an even playing field for everyone. There are sveral announcements that are made each month that forex traders can use to their advantage. Since everyone get the info. at the same time, its like being on the floor yourself.

Some of the announcements that are beneficial to the U.S.dollar traders are unemployment, interet rates, inflation, GDP, and the consumer price index. There are others and you have to consider announcements by the countries for the other currency in your trade. Using these announcements can be very beneficial to the part-time trader.