🔎 Where to get reliable market information, and how to judge the rest

🎯 In 30 seconds: The most reliable market information comes straight from the source: company filings on SEC EDGAR, company press releases, and data published by government agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. All of it is free. News outlets summarize those sources, with varying care. Social media is fastest and least reliable, and it is where many stock scams start. Learn where the primary sources live, check the economic calendar every week, and before you trade on any claim, trace it back to a filing or an official release.

The information ladder

Not all information is equal. A useful habit is to ask, for every claim: how close is this to the original fact?

A primary source is the original: the company's own filing, the agency's own data release. Everything else is someone's version of it. Secondary sources are useful for speed and explanation, but when money is on the line, go to the top of the ladder.

SEC EDGAR: what companies are required to say

EDGAR is the SEC's free database of company filings. You can search by company name or ticker, and its full-text search lets you find keywords across more than 20 years of filings. The filings you will use most:

Companies generally have four business days to file an 8-K after a triggering event, so an 8-K is often the first official word on big news. Earnings season explains how earnings releases fit in, and Qualitative analysis shows how to read a 10-K's risk factors.

Company investor relations sites

Almost every public company has an investor relations (IR) page on its website. It usually has press releases, quarterly presentation slides, webcasts and transcripts of earnings calls, the dividend history, and an events calendar.

IR sites are primary sources for what the company says, but remember who is talking. Slides and releases are written to present the company well. The 10-K and 10-Q are legal documents with more caution and more detail. When the two seem to disagree, trust the filing.

Economic data: the agencies behind the headlines

Stocks react to the economy, and the economy's numbers come from a handful of agencies. All of them publish release schedules a year or more ahead.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): the monthly jobs report (officially the Employment Situation), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for inflation, the Producer Price Index (PPI), and the Employment Cost Index. Major releases come out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
• Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): gross domestic product (GDP), and the monthly Personal Income and Outlays report, which includes the PCE price index the Federal Reserve watches for inflation.
• Federal Reserve: the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) sets the Fed's interest rate target. It holds eight scheduled meetings a year; the 2026 calendar lists meetings from January through December. Statements, press conferences, minutes and economic projections all move markets.
• US Treasury: daily Treasury yields, the interest rates on government debt of different maturities. These rates feed into how investors value stocks.

What each of these numbers means for stocks is covered in The economy and stocks. The site's news and economy page and today's interest rates pull some of this together.

The economic calendar

An economic calendar lists upcoming data releases and central bank events with dates and times. Traders check it every week so a scheduled report does not catch them by surprise. Here is the actual week this chapter was written in:

A week like this one, with a Fed decision and GDP and inflation data within three days, tends to bring bigger index moves than a quiet week. If you are holding positions with tight stops, or trading options that expire that week, the calendar tells you when the risk is concentrated. Trading news and events covers how to plan for these days.

Exchange and index sources

Exchanges and index providers publish information that is easy to overlook:

• Trading halts. Exchanges list current and recent halts and the reason codes. If a stock suddenly stops trading, the halt list tells you whether news is pending. See The rules every trader runs into.
• Holidays and hours. The official market holiday calendar and early-close days. See Market hours and settlement.
• Index methodology and changes. Index providers publish their rules and announce additions and deletions in advance, which can move the affected stocks. See Market indexes.

Judging news

Most of what you read about markets is secondary. These questions sort the useful from the noise:

1. Is there a primary source? Does the article link to the filing, release or data? If it says "according to a filing", find the filing.
2. Who is the source? A named executive on the record, a document, or "people familiar with the matter"? Unnamed sources can be right, but they are a reason to wait for confirmation.
3. When was it published? Old stories get recirculated. Check the date on the story and on the underlying event.
4. Is the headline supported by the body? Headlines are written to be clicked.
5. Does the writer have a position? Many newsletters and commentators own the stocks they write about. Look for a disclosure.
6. Does it explain a move after the fact? "Stocks fell on worries about X" is often a story fitted to a move, not the cause of it.

Social media and chat groups

Social media is where information travels fastest, and where false information does the most damage. The SEC and its investor education office have warned repeatedly about stock tip scams on social media. In a February 2026 investor alert, they listed red flags that include:

• Clicking an ad and then being added to an investment group chat.
• Someone claiming to be a famous investment professional or an employee of a registered firm.
• Promises of high returns with little or no risk, sometimes 100% or more.

The same alert notes that pump-and-dump schemes are not limited to tiny stocks; even shares listed on a major exchange can be targets. You can check whether a person or firm is registered using the free search tool on Investor.gov. Scams and red flags covers how these schemes work and how to report them.

A worked example: checking a rumor

At 2:10 p.m., a popular account posts: "Company X being acquired at $60 a share, announcement imminent." Company X trades at $44 and jumps to $49 within minutes. Here is a sequence that takes about five minutes:

1. Search EDGAR for Company X's latest filings. No new 8-K today.
2. Check the company's IR page. Latest press release is two weeks old.
3. Check the exchange's halt list. No halt for pending news.
4. Search established news outlets. One story quotes "people familiar with the matter" saying talks happened but "may not result in a deal".

Conclusion: there are reports of talks, no agreement, and no price confirmed anywhere official. Buying at $49 means paying a $5 premium for a rumor. If it is false, the price could fall back to $44 or below; if talks are real, the final price may differ from $60. The disciplined choice is to stay out, or to treat it as a small, defined-risk speculation with a stop, not an investment.

Try it

Pick one company from your Watchlist. On SEC EDGAR, find its latest 10-K, its latest 8-K and any recent Form 4 insider filings, and write one sentence on what each says. Then open the news and economy page and the earnings calendar, and write down the three scheduled events next week most likely to move that stock or the market. After the week ends, check whether they did.

Sources

• SEC: Search filings (EDGAR)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Release schedule
• Bureau of Economic Analysis: Release schedule
• Federal Reserve: Meeting calendars and information
• US Treasury: Daily Treasury par yield curve rates
• Investor.gov (SEC): Social media and stock tip scams, investor alert