The market update portion of the Dedicated Trader appears on the welcome page. it's the first thing a user sees when they sign in and could be the most important signal of the day, if heeded by a trader.

The market update portion has two charts in this part of the page. One is a chart for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the other for the NASDAQ Composite average. Both charts are updated throughout the day to give a visual picture of the way the markets have ebbed and flowed.

The market update headlines are changed constantly throughout the day, approximately every 30 minutes or when a big even occurs that requires immediate attention. A snippet of the news is found here, with more information inside the site once a user clicks the ?more? link.

The market update begins before the U.S. markets are even open. The BetterTrades team of financial analysts will report the morning results from the foreign markets (the Nikkei and Hang Seng from Asia, the FTSE and DAX from Europe) and report the leanings of the S&P futures and NASDAQ futures. All this information is helpful when it comes to making the proper trading decision. If you're expecting a bullish open and the futures are down, it's probably a good idea to rethink that position.

Throughout the trading day the market update is changed to include the ongoing news, perhaps how a company?s earnings announcement is affecting the market. The market update reports big movers, big losers, strong sectors, lagging sectors, federal news, weak areas and leading indicators. You can also keep up with the price of oil, gold and other commodities.

At the end of the day the BetterTrades team produces an end-of-the-day recap that sums up all the activity of the day. it's a good way to catch up on how the market has moved during the day and is particularly helpful for people who work during the hours the market is open and need to be brought up to speed before reviewing possible trades for the next day.