What are the best news services,within reason? I would like to have a Bloomberg, obviously. But, is there a more affordable service? Erik Kolodny, from The Modern Stock Operator, suggested Acquire Media, but that is almost $400
Check out Newsstrike It is free. They have some US stock info and macro events. Not a lot of news but it is free.
You didn't mention what kind of news you are looking for (equity press releases, editorial, economic, foreign currency, agricultural, etc). "Best" is going to mean different things to different people and price sounds like it is part of the criteria you are looking at as well. With a basic IQFeed subscription ($60 per month) we include full feeds from PR Newswire (press releases), Business Wire (press releases), RealTimeTraders.com (press releases, big stories, economic, analysts updates, technical alerts, etc). In all, you will see several thousand stories per day. We also have premium options to add Marketwatch.com, Midnight Trader, Dow Jones, Reuters, flyonthewall, and others. Each premium wire is priced between $20-$100 per month.
There are 2 options: If you have a 3rd party app (see IQFeed compatible software at www.iqfeed.net by clicking "Compatible Software") you can sign up for a trial of IQFeed at www.iqfeed.net (click "Get Free Trial Now"). IQFeed is $60 per month and includes the news mentioned. If you need an analytic platform along with the news, you can take a trial of DTN ProphetX Active Trader at www.dtniq.com (Click "Get Free Trial Now"). This product is $95 per month ($75 per month with annual subscription) and includes the ability to do full text searching of the news coupled with our full quotes and analytics workstation. You can also call 800-475-4755 and our sales group will make sure you get a trial of the product that best fits your needs.