Recently I have been noticing a huge influx of newbies entering the market who do not bother checking for news releases. This can be a critical mistake as news releases can turn a good trade bad in seconds.
I realise many of you reading this blog are not absolute newbies so you may already check news releases daily. However, there are a lot of newbies here that do not know how to check news. So this is what I do at the beginning of every week to prepare myself for news releases.
Set your time on Forex Factory
1. Log on to forexfactory.com
First of all I make sure I set the clock to match my local time. This way the report releases match my clock, making them easier to keep track of.
2. Filter out useless data
ForexFactory has a great filter system which allows you to remove data you do not need. I keep USD reports as they have a market wide impact. I then keep any reports for countries related to the pairs I trade. So if I trade EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY and EUR/CHF I will keep all EUR, GBP, JPY and CHF reports. I also filter out low impact reports (yellow).
3. Print it
I print the calendar and keep it beside my keyboard all week.
Hopefully this articel some of the less experienced traders. You should always know whats going on with the market you trade. Only Forex losers enter trades blindly!
Art
I’ve been having to calculate new releases based on GMT time for over 1 & half….Thanks for pointing this out to me; it’ll save me time.
WhooOOHoOO!!
Art
*1 & half years
chris
Good points but check daily, not weekly as news releases can change schedule and burn your ass. Not offten , but it does happen.
NeilA
Just shows you, I have been using Forex Factory “correctly” for 2 years, or so I thought. The “Filter” is brilliant I have just cut my report page in half at the cast of a few tick removals (still feel a bit of a “dork” for not knowing). Again thanks young Nick
Noob4ever
Hi Nick, I’ve always just kept the Forex Factory calendar open as a tab on my home page. But I like this even better, so think I’ll do both. Thanks again.
John
Thanks for such a simple tip Nick, like Neil I thought I had it right too, cheers John
Jezzy
Check FXStreet and Babypips Economic Calendars as some news releases are missed by other calendars.
John Morrison
OK, but what’s a noobie to do with all this avalanche of data? Not trade until familiar with all the economic reports of all the currencies of each of the pairs we trade, or just close out any open positions every time a major report comes out?