How to Trade Forex after a Major News Release

Article Summary: News trading often brings the biggest moves of the month. Because of this, it’s no wonder that trader’s seek out high importance news events to try and catch a big move. However, if you don’t have a solid plan for trading the upcoming event, you’re likely better off not trading at all. Here is a plan to make sure you’re ready when a big move comes your way.

“Don’t think about what the market’s going to do; you have absolutely no control over that. Think about what you’re going to do if it gets there. In particular, you should spend no time at all thinking about those rosy scenarios in which the market goes your way, since in those situations, there’s nothing more for you to do. Focus instead on those things you want least to happen and on what your response will be.” – William Eckhardt

Have you ever wondered why markets move so much before a news release? Quite simply, it’s because of massive amount of traders are entering or exiting based on the news release and these traders want to do so at the price they feel is best. This causes a relatively large move immediately following a news release.

Now, trading the news is exciting. However, it’s also risky due to the large moves that follow a news release and because of these moves you need to be well prepared ahead of time if you’re interested in trading around big news events. First, it’s important to cover how to know when a big news event is coming out.

A Quick Primer on the DailyFX Economic Calendar

The DailyFX Economic Calendar is a key tool to help make you aware of when a High Importance event is coming out like the Federal Reserve Minutes or a Bank of Japan Rate Decision. To find the news that will most likely move the market, you should adjust the filter to only see High Importance events so that your calendar isn’t flooded with news that has little probability in moving the market. Once the filter is applied, you can begin looking for news events on currencies that you’re trying to find good opportunities in.