On an alumni mailing list I am on, the following query was recently posted: “I need to find as much of a cycle as possible in business news. Does anybody have any ideas as to where I might find a listing of business data and/or conferences that are released or take place each year? In other words, I’m looking for the equivalent of a year-long AP Daybook.”
Arik Hesseldahl, a senior editor at Forbes.com (and a friend and former student of mine), offered this response: “Not sure if this quite cuts the mustard of what you want, but have a look. We produce a constantly updated list of what we call ‘corporate events’ … earnings reports and that sort of thing. It also includes, if you look at the bottom, economic events … numbers of economic data of varying levels of import.”
I took a look at the link that Arik provided and I think it’s worth sharing. It’s the Forbes.com Event Calendar and is a useful collection of business-related events — from economic events that affect the market to conferences and earnings reports. It’s produced in conjunction with Corporate Communications Broadcast Network.
For example, one of the economic events taking place this week is the release of the U.S. Consumer Confidence report for February (even before the month is over). The site provides the announcement time, the consensus number and, after the event is over, the actual number. Most importantly, it offers a couple of paragraphs of “How does this affect the market?” For this particular report, here’s what it says:
Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy, so the markets are always dying to know what consumers are up to and how they might behave in the near future. The more confident consumers are about the economy and their own personal finances, the more likely they are to spend. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how this index of consumer attitudes gives insight to the direction of the economy. Just note that changes in consumer confidence and retail sales don’t move in tandem month by month.Business reporters and editors should definitely bookmark this.
Your turn: Send your thoughts — and useful sites — to poynter@sree.net.
Sree’s Links:
