The News Terminal Built for US Traders FOMC sub-second · SEC EDGAR live · AI earnings summaries · Reddit retail buzz

The structure of the US trading day

The US equity market trades regular hours 09:30–16:00 ET. But for any active trader, regular hours is only one of three meaningfully tradeable sessions:

• Pre-market (04:00–09:30 ET): Where the day is built. Overnight earnings releases (META, GOOGL, AMZN, AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, TSLA usually report after-hours; banks, retailers, healthcare often pre-market), economic data (NFP at 08:30 ET, CPI at 08:30 ET, Retail Sales at 08:30 ET), and overseas catalyst spillover all hit here. E-mini S&P futures (ES) trade nearly 24 hours and absorb this flow first — by the time the cash market opens at 09:30, the move is often half-done.
• Regular trading hours (09:30–16:00 ET): Liquidity is highest, spreads tightest. Most Fed and Treasury officials deliver public remarks during cash hours. The first 30 minutes (09:30–10:00) and last 30 minutes (15:30–16:00) account for 30–40% of daily volume.
• After-hours (16:00–20:00 ET): Earnings dump zone. AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, GOOG, META, AMZN, TSLA report at 16:05–16:30 ET on average. Single-stock can gap 5–15% in seconds. Liquidity thins after 18:00 ET.

TNT tags every news item with its session via 🌅 PRE-MKT or 🌙 AFTER-HRS badges. Click the badge and the entire feed filters to that session — instantly see what's moving the tape outside cash hours.

The Federal Reserve playbook: FOMC, dot plot, press conferences

Eight times a year the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) makes a rate decision. Of those eight meetings, four (March, June, September, December) include a Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) with the "dot plot" — the median Fed member's projection of where rates will be at year-end across the next three years. The dot plot can move markets more than the rate decision itself, because rates are usually well-telegraphed but the forward path is not.

The statement is released at 14:00 ET. The Fed Chair's press conference begins at 14:30 ET. The first 60 seconds of the press conference are when the algorithmic moves happen — the Chair's tone shift in the opening remarks often signals the meeting's posture. The Q&A from 14:35 onward is where institutional positioning rebalances.

SEC EDGAR: the institutional information layer

SEC filings are how the institutional world communicates material changes. Every US-listed company files reports through EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval). The forms that matter most for active traders:

• 8-K (Material Events): Filed within 4 business days of a material event. Earnings releases, CEO departures, M&A announcements, regulatory actions, customer wins/losses. Item 2.02 = "Results of Operations and Financial Condition" — this is the earnings press release. Item 1.01 = "Entry into Material Definitive Agreement" — often M&A. Item 5.02 = "Departure of Directors or Certain Officers." Read the item codes first, then the body.
• 10-Q (Quarterly Report): Filed within 40 days of quarter end. Detailed financials with management discussion. Footnote 2 (recent accounting pronouncements) and the legal proceedings section often contain forward-looking risk that the call doesn't cover.
• 10-K (Annual Report): Filed within 60 days of year-end. Risk factors section is gold — companies disclose what worries them. Read the new risk factors added vs prior year — that's where management is signaling concern.
• 13F (Institutional Holdings): Filed quarterly by institutional managers with $100M+ AUM. 45-day reporting lag, so positions are old. But useful for spotting concentrated bets — Berkshire's Apple stake, Pershing Square's portfolio rebuilds.
• 13D / 13G (5%+ Stakes): Within 10 days when an investor crosses 5% ownership. 13D = activist intent (might push for changes). 13G = passive (no intent to influence). Activist 13D filings often coincide with stock pops.

TNT polls all six form types every 12 minutes. New filings appear in the feed within ~15 minutes with the ⚖ SEC EDGAR source chip and ticker tagging. Click the chip to filter the feed to SEC filings only.

Earnings season: the highest-information-density period of the year

US corporate earnings season runs four times per year, beginning 2–3 weeks after each quarter closes. The schedule concentrates the most market-moving individual stock events into a 5–6 week window each quarter. What matters:

• EPS vs consensus: Beat by 10%+ = typically 5–15% gap. Miss by 10%+ = 10–25% gap. But the magnitude of the beat matters less than the quality — is it real growth or one-time tax benefits?
• Forward guidance: Guidance for the next quarter or year often matters more than the current results. A "beat and lower" (current quarter strong, guidance lowered) = sell. A "miss and raise" (current quarter weak, guidance raised) = buy.
• Mega-cap leverage: AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, GOOGL, META, AMZN, TSLA together represent ~30% of the S&P 500 weight. Their individual earnings can move the index 0.5–1.5%.
• Sector tone: Banks kick off (JPM, GS, BAC in week 1) and signal credit + economic health. Semis (NVDA, AMD, INTC, AVGO) signal AI / data center demand. Retailers (WMT, TGT, AMZN) signal consumer health.

Reading Reddit retail sentiment without getting trapped

Retail flow moved from message boards to Reddit in 2020 and has been a real factor since the GameStop event. The signal exists, but it's noisy. Useful rules:

• Mention velocity matters more than absolute count. A ticker with 50 mentions trending toward 200 (4x in 24h) is a different signal than a ticker steady at 200/day for weeks.
• Subreddit weighting matters. r/wallstreetbets is high noise / momentum-chasing. r/options skews more sophisticated (real positioning). r/investing skews long-term / boring. r/stocks is mixed.
• Cross-reference with institutional news. A Reddit-trending ticker with no corresponding institutional newsflow = pump risk. With matching news (earnings beat, SEC filing, analyst upgrade) = high-conviction setup.
• The fade exists. Mega-momentum names on WSB often peak within 3–5 days of going viral. Buying the breakout works for 1–2 days; holding past the meme peak is where money gets lost.

TNT shows the top 60 tickers in the Reddit Social Buzz panel (Sentiment tab). Each chip displays mention count + 🔥 momentum badge + sentiment color. Click any chip to filter the news feed by that ticker — the fastest way to confirm whether a Reddit-trending name has corresponding institutional newsflow.

The macro calendar: economic data that moves equities most

In approximate order of typical equity market impact:

1. FOMC rate decision (08 per year, 14:00 ET): Highest individual event impact. 1–3% intraday equity moves on statement / press conference surprises.
2. Non-Farm Payrolls — NFP (first Friday of month, 08:30 ET): Strong NFP = mixed signal for equities (growth positive, rate-negative). Weak NFP = rate-cut hopes rally equities. Wage growth component is the most-watched detail post-2022.
3. CPI — Consumer Price Index (mid-month, 08:30 ET): Hot CPI = sell equities (especially long-duration tech). Soft CPI = buy equities. Core CPI (ex-food and energy) is what the Fed watches.
4. PCE Price Index (last Friday of month, 08:30 ET): The Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Direct input into rate decisions.
5. GDP (quarterly): Three releases per quarter (advance, second, final). A big GDP miss raises recession risk and sells equities (especially cyclicals).
6. Retail Sales (mid-month, 08:30 ET): Direct consumer health proxy. Drives retailer stocks and consumer discretionary sector.
7. ISM Manufacturing & Services PMI (1st & 3rd business day of month, 10:00 ET): Real economy pulse. ISM < 50 = contraction.

Every one of these is in the TNT economic calendar with countdown, consensus, prior reading, and live release coverage. Pro users get sub-second alerts on the release; Basic users see the release after a 5-minute delay.

S&P 500 sector rotation: where the leadership shifts

The S&P 500 isn't a single thing — it's 11 sectors with distinct macro drivers. Understanding sector rotation tells you what the institutional flow is signaling about the next 3–6 months:

• Technology (~29% weight): Rate-sensitive (high-duration cash flows). Outperforms when rates fall, underperforms when rates rise. AI infrastructure (NVDA, AVGO, MSFT, GOOGL) has been the dominant subsector since 2023.
• Financials (~13%): Benefits from steeper yield curve + higher rates (better net interest margin). Credit quality concerns dominate in recession scenarios.
• Healthcare (~12%): Defensive. Drug pricing policy, FDA approvals, biotech M&A are the catalysts. Often outperforms during equity drawdowns.
• Consumer Discretionary (~10%): Cyclical. Tracks consumer confidence, retail sales, credit conditions. AMZN dominates the sector weight (~25% of sector).
• Communication Services (~9%): META, GOOGL, NFLX, DIS dominate. Ad spending cycles + content competition drive the sector.
• Industrials (~8%): Capex cycle proxy. Defense, aerospace, transports each have distinct catalysts.
• Consumer Staples (~6%): Defensive. Pricing power matters most in inflationary periods.
• Energy (~4%): Tracks oil. OPEC decisions, geopolitical events, US production levels drive the sector.
• Utilities, Real Estate, Materials (~10% combined): Smaller sectors but each can outperform in specific macro regimes.