Economic Calendar
Also known as: forex calendar, news calendar, economic data calendar, event calendar
What is it?
An economic calendar is the published schedule of upcoming data releases and central-bank events, listing for each one its date, exact release time, the expected figure and how much market movement it usually causes. Its value is that these are the only market-moving events whose timing you know in advance. A US inflation print lands at a announced minute; a central-bank rate decision at another.
- 107:00 UTC - Pre-session: read the day's schedule List every high-impact release and the currencies it touches. Anything landing on a pair you hold becomes a planned pause rather than a surprise.
- 208:30 UTC - European data window Euro-area and UK prints land as London opens. Euro and pound pairs widen briefly; new entries wait for the spread to settle back.
- 313:30 UTC - US high-impact release An inflation or employment print. Spreads on EUR/USD can go from under 1 pip to 10 or more, and a tight stop can be hit by the quote alone. Stand down.
- 413:45 UTC - Spreads normalise Within roughly 15 minutes the book refills and quotes return to normal. Automation resumes and the first clean setups of the afternoon appear.
- 519:00 UTC - Central-bank decision and press conference The statement moves price and the press conference afterwards often moves it further. Treat the whole block as one window, not a single instant.
In the seconds around a high-impact release, spreads on EUR/USD can widen from under 1 pip to 10 or more, and price can travel 40 pips before a retail order is filled. A stop that would never be touched in normal conditions gets taken out by the spread alone, without price ever trading against the position. So the calendar is used two ways.
Discretionary traders use it to decide what not to do, typically taking no new positions for 15 minutes either side of a high-impact release in the currencies involved. Automated traders wire the same schedule in as a news filter that pauses entries during those windows and resumes once quotes normalise. Both are the same idea: because the schedule is known, the exposure is a choice.
Why it matters: The calendar is the one list of market-moving events whose timing you know in advance, which makes your exposure around them a decision rather than a surprise.
Holding a normally-sized position through a high-impact release exposes it to spread widening and slippage that can take out the stop-loss without price moving against the trade.
Real-world example
A EUR/USD position with a 12-pip stop was opened four minutes before a US employment release. The spread widened to 14 pips at the print and the stop was hit by the quote alone, before price had moved against the trade at all.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots connectors support a news filter, so your automation can stand down through the scheduled high-impact windows and resume once spreads normalise. See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Filter by currency as well as by impact. A high-impact Australian release is irrelevant to a EUR/GBP position and should not pause that trade.
Common pitfalls
Reading the calendar in local time and mis-setting a filter by an hour when a daylight-saving change shifts the release relative to your clock.
Frequently asked questions
Which releases move forex the most?
Central-bank rate decisions and the press conferences that follow them, employment reports, inflation prints and GDP releases. For any given currency, its own central bank's decisions and its inflation data dominate everything else.
What do the impact ratings actually mean?
They are the calendar provider's estimate of how much movement an event usually causes, normally low, medium and high. Treat them as a rough sort rather than a guarantee: a medium-impact print that badly misses expectations can move more than a high-impact one that lands as forecast.
How far around a release should I stay out?
A common rule is 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after a high-impact event, widened for rate decisions where the press conference can move price more than the decision itself. Match the window to how long spreads actually take to normalise at your broker.
Can I trade the release itself?
Some strategies do, but it is a different game: fills are unreliable, spreads are wide and slippage is large. Treat news trading as its own strategy with its own position sizing, not as your normal strategy run at an unusual moment. Your capital is at risk.
Why does price sometimes move before the release?
Positioning. Traders adjust exposure in the minutes beforehand, and surveys or early wire reports can move price ahead of the print. The scheduled time is when the number lands, not when the repositioning starts.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
