What you'll learn
- Read every column of a calendar entry
- Rank releases by importance for the pairs you trade
- Build a routine around the calendar
The columns
| Column | Meaning | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Release time, usually convertible to your zone | Know exactly when spreads will widen |
| Currency | Which currency the data belongs to | Filter to your pairs |
| Importance | Low, medium, high, from the calendar provider | High is the tier that moves prices; prop firms define news windows by it |
| Previous | Last period's figure, sometimes revised | The baseline; revisions are news too |
| Forecast | Consensus expectation | The number the market has priced |
| Actual | The published figure | The surprise is actual minus forecast |
Which releases matter
- Always: central bank decisions, statements and press conferences; CPI; employment reports.
- Usually: PMIs, GDP, retail sales, central bank minutes, speeches by governors and chairs.
- Sometimes: confidence surveys, trade balances, housing data, producer prices.
- For specific currencies: oil inventories for CAD, Chinese data for AUD and NZD, Japanese intervention comments for JPY.
A daily routine
Before the session, list the high-impact releases for the currencies in your open and planned trades. For each, decide: close before it, hold with a stop beyond the likely move, or wait until after. Note the times in your own zone. During the release, do nothing for the first minutes; the first move is often reversed. After it, read the actual against the forecast and the previous, and reassess the higher timeframe view. The market hours tool on this site shows session times; pair it with a calendar.
Importance ratings
Ratings differ between calendars and are set by the provider, not by the market. Prop firms define their news windows by a specific calendar's high-impact list, so use the one your firm uses. And note that the same release can be high impact for one currency and irrelevant to another.
Key takeaways
- Read time, currency, importance, previous, forecast and actual.
- Central banks, inflation and employment are the top tier.
- Decide before each release whether to be flat, hold or wait.
- Use the calendar your prop firm uses for news windows.
Knowledge check
Trading forex, CFDs and other leveraged products carries a high risk of losing money. This lesson is general education, not advice. Risk disclosure.