New to forex: which economic releases do you actually put in your calendar?

FTC Community TeamStaff149 views

This week had a Fed decision, UK and Canadian inflation, US retail sales and more. For someone starting out, the economic calendar can look like a wall of events.

If you've been trading for a while, what would you tell a beginner?

New to forex: which economic releases do you actually put in your calendar? — central bank rate path diagram
A central bank's policy rate path across recent meetings
  • Which releases do you always mark: CPI, payrolls, central bank decisions, something else?
  • Do you close trades before high-impact news, or just avoid opening new ones?
  • How did you learn which releases matter for the pairs you trade?
New to forex: which economic releases do you actually put in your calendar? — bid-ask spread diagram
The bid-ask spread on a currency pair

And if you're new, ask here. There are no silly questions, and the Learn section walks through the basics in order.

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  1. FTC Community Team1 mo ago

    A simple starting method for beginners, before the more experienced replies come in.

    1. Start from your pairs. If you trade EUR/USD, only euro area and US releases matter for it.
    2. Mark the big three for each currency: the central bank decision, inflation (CPI) and the main jobs report. Add retail sales and PMI surveys later.
    3. Note the time and the forecast. The market reacts to the difference between the actual figure and the forecast, not to the number alone.
    4. Decide your rule in advance: close positions before these releases, keep them with smaller size, or avoid opening new trades in the hour before.

    This week was a good example of a busy calendar: the Fed's decision, UK inflation and US retail sales all landed within a few days (US retail sales).

    Background: how to read an economic calendar, CPI explained and NFP explained.

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