I subscribe to both TTN and Need To Know News. NTKN is much more concise, timely and accurate than TTN for news releases. I mainly use NTKN's futures channel (they have both equities and futures coverage). I only switch NTKN to equities when I need confirmation on some equities announcement. Daytrading without some news service is risky, in my opinion, given the low cost of these services.
Ripley.... I strongly suggest you write a daily routine that remains in the middle of your desk (if you haven't done so already). Economic and news releases are top on that list as far as your pre-market research. If you trade equities, then you should have a calendar with notices on earnings releases, dividend payouts, splits, etc. For futures, you should note expiration dates, roll over dates, options expirations, etc.
For an explanation of the various economic releases, you should have a look at this:
http://www.forex-books.com/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=132
There are many calendars online. I use a combination of them in addition to those available from TTN and NTKN. The best calendars I have found are:
http://www.dailyfx.com/calendar/briefing/
(go to the link to the PDF file for this one to get a more comprehensive picture)
and
http://mam.econoday.com/calendar/US/EN/New_York/year/2006/month/01/day/04/daily/index.html
You need to look up and understand what the release is for and what it means for your particular stock or product. Different releases have different significance at different times. The current environment is focused on inflation, so pay attention to anything related to that.
I hope that helps. Good luck and happy New Year to all.
