In an article a year ago, I introduced you to the new News Manager in eSignal. This replacement of the older Text Manager brought news directly into the eSignal application and kept you from having to rely on an external program.

This year, I thought I’d discuss the services available for use in this great tool with a focus on the additions in our Dow Jones offering. We’ll look at the best ways to view the headlines, as well as a companion tool available to those of you who subscribe to the full text Dow Jones News Service.

Let’s start with a list of news services available to eSignal subscribers. Some of the services are based on where you’re located because some are only available to domestic U.S. users, and others are only available to international users. Please visit the Features section of eSignal.com Here to get a description of available services, and Here for pricing information.

Basic News Package
PR Newswire
Business Wire

Other News and Commentary
Wall Street CustomWire by COMTEX
Dow Jones Business News
Dow Jones Capital Market Reports (North America only)
Dow Jones Economic Report (North America only)
Dow Jones News Service Full Text (including Dow Jones NewsPlus)
Dow Jones Professional Investor Report
Dow Jones World Equities Report (North America Only)
TheFlyOnTheWall.com
John Bollinger's Group Power
MarketWatch News and Commentary
RealTime Traders Pro Newswire
Vickers Insider Trading
Zacks Earnings Surprises

International News
dpa-AFX Germany
AFX CNF
AFX UK
AFX Europe
AFX Asia
Dow Jones Economic Report (outside North America)
Dow Jones European Equities Spotlight (outside North America)
Dow Jones Financial Wire

Futures News
Dow Jones Commodities Basic
Dow Jones Commodities Service
Dow Jones Commodities AgriWire
Dow Jones Commodities MetalsWire
Dow Jones Commodities miniFin
Hightower

Now, let’s look at the News Manager that is now incorporated into the eSignal application as its own window type. This window allows users to search for news based on symbols, services, keywords and categories. That last one, categories, is one of the most important ways to get the most out of the News Manager when you subscribe to a Dow Jones service.

We worked with Dow Jones to create a comprehensive list of commonly used categories to look for news headlines that match an individual’s specific interests. When you open the News Manager, you can click on the category pull-down at the top of the window and select a specific category from the grouped list (as seen in Figure 1).

Once you select a category, you can click Go on the right side of the toolbar to bring in headlines that match the category, and to continue to bring in new headlines as the day goes on. You can also enable an alert window, which will pop up each time a new headline comes in. This will pop up even if eSignal is minimized or hidden behind another application, so you don’t miss anything important. (See Figure 2 for a look at the pop-up alert window. This window can be moved and sized to fit your specific needs and will retain these settings for future use.)

Figure 1: List of Dow Jones News Categories

Figure 2: News Manager Alerts Window

When you subscribe to the Dow Jones News Service Full Text service, you also get access to a powerful tool called Dow Jones NewsPlus. This web-based tool can be launched from the Research menu on the eSignal main toolbar, which takes you to a private part of the Dow Jones site.

The site contains stories, calendars and columns and allows you to do full searches, including the ability to search the contents of each story. This is one of the most comprehensive news sites on the web, and it’s a free companion tool for all eSignal users who subscribe to the full service.

Figure 3: Image of Dow Jones NewsPlus Website

There are many tools available to eSignal subscribers to help you make the best trading decisions possible. Windows, such as advanced charts and market depth, can give you a great analytical advantage, but it’s just as important to understand what events are moving the market and pushing the companies you follow up and down.

Using news effectively will give you another edge and help you make the most out of eSignal. If you’re already a news subscriber, take the time to learn more about our News Manager. If you’re not subscribing to a news package, or you’re only using the basic news service, please take a look at the descriptions for each service and consider upgrading your subscription to take advantage of the advanced features, such as the Dow Jones categories and the Dow Jones NewsPlus companion tool.