Right now is a great time to make money on the markets. Capitalising on share price moves is, by its very nature, about thinking ahead. Market investors already follow the news, but to get the real edge, you need to be armed with the right research tools.

A casual investor is often stuck “in the moment”, thinking only about what’s moving up or down right now and how to take advantage of short-term positions. They often get their eyeballs glued to the ticker screen, see UK 100 surging ahead, pick up the phone and scream ”Buy! Buy! Buy!” at their broker. Sure, you can make money that way, but trust me, you could be doing a lot better for yourself!

A smarter investor thinks beyond what’s going on right now. They have the foresight to think about what’s going to rise and fall later in the day, the next day, the next week. They have the discipline to wait out momentary price adjustments and capitalise on the big events as they are about to occur.

And they have the support structure in place to let them know when the most important reports come out, and how to correlate past events with upcoming news. Get access to next week’s events here.

Here’s a real-world example. This week saw the release of quarterly results from major US banks (Bank of America on Monday, Goldman Sachs on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley on Wednesday, BoNY Mellon on Thursday, in addition to JP Morgan, Citi and Wells Fargo reporting the previous Friday). All of them reported revenues above or in-line with analyst expectations, as well as beating consensus EPS (earnings-per-share) projections.

The only real competition was between these financial institutions on who could post a higher Q1  figure, with JP Morgan ruling the roost on the back of massive $27.9B Q1 revenues (vs. $27.53B estimate), while Goldman Sachs EPS of $6.95 smashed estimates of $5.58, a 24.5% consensus beat. Investors who tracked the announcements and took advantage of getting in on the action ahead of the general crowd certainly improved the size of their nest egg.

Is this an indication of things to come? Are UK banks, reporting next week, poised to track with their American brethren and post equally glowing income statements? Now that US banks have already reported and UK banks are poised to make their announcements in a few days, smart investors who are bullish on the sector are already securing their positions to take advantage of the news and make a healthy profit from trading UK banking shares.

Here are the big movers and shakers of the UK financial world reporting next week: Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Metro Bank (MTRO) on Wednesday, Barclays (BARC) on Thursday, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Friday. If anyone out there is looking to make a solid buck on the back of these announcements, now is the time to lay the groundwork, look at the earnings projections, do a survey of analyst expectations and get ready to trade these stocks. We’ve recently done a report on UK Banks Q1 results, so get it touch with me if you want to get a copy.

Stock markets are a very exciting place to be in right now and you need to have all the best tools in your arsenal to be an even more successful investor. To take advantage of this opportunity, click here to equip yourself with our award-winning research, tailored directly for your financial needs.

Joe Nguyen, Trader at Accendo Markets, 20 April 2018