Reference
The economic calendar as a risk filter
Most blown stops aren't bad entries. They're good entries opened ninety seconds before a red event, when the spread on EURUSD triples and your stop fills two pips past where it should. The calendar's job isn't to predict the number. It's to tell you when to keep your hands off the mouse.
Set it up once
Open the right-hand toolbar and click the calendar icon — that docks the Economic Calendar beside your chart. Then filter hard: Importance to high only, Countries to the currencies you actually trade. Trading EURUSD? US and Euro Zone, nothing else. A calendar that lists every New Zealand building permit just trains you to ignore it, including the row that matters.
The ones that move price
- NFP — first Friday, 08:30 ET. US jobs. Wide, fast, whippy.
- CPI — monthly inflation. Since 2022 this drives rate expectations more than jobs do.
- FOMC / rate decisions — the statement moves, the press conference thirty minutes later often moves more.
Each row shows actual vs forecast vs previous. Price reacts to the gap between actual and forecast, not the raw number. CPI printing 3.2% is bullish or bearish for the dollar depending entirely on whether forecast was 3.0% or 3.4%.
The rule that saves accounts
Don't open a fresh position into a red event. Spreads blow out, liquidity thins, and stops slip through the gap. Already in with a profit cushion? Fine, manage it. Flat with an itch to enter? Wait for the number, let the first spike exhaust, trade the retest against a level you already marked. Pair the calendar with an alert on your key support and resistance so you're not glued to the screen at 08:29.