# High Impact News Events: NFP, CPI and FOMC · DT Academy > Which economic releases move forex most, what a news spike does to spreads and stops, and how to check the calendar before you trade. [Back to The DT Intensive](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/courses/dt-intensive) Day 6Key news events Chapters done # Key news events Day 06 of 26 · 8 min read · By DT Terminal Scheduled economic releases such as interest rate decisions, inflation and jobs data can move price further in a minute than in the hour before. This lesson shows which releases matter, what a news spike does to spreads and stops, and how to check the calendar before you trade. Unlock the full lesson in the app Worked examples, the quiz and the interactive tools are in the app. Free account. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events) Chapter 1 of 6 ## Why news moves price A price is what traders expect something to be worth. Scheduled releases change that expectation at once: inflation, jobs, interest rates. **Rates matter most**, because they decide what a currency pays to hold, so they move currencies, gold and stock indices together. Before each release, economists publish a **forecast**, and much of it is already in the price. What moves price is the **surprise**: the gap between the forecast and the **actual** figure. A match barely moves the chart. A wide miss can move it more in a minute than all morning. **Price reacts to the surprise, not the headline.** The calendar shows the forecast and the previous figure next to each release. Chapter 2 of 6 ## What happens around a release Three things change around a high-impact release, and all three work against a stop loss. - **Spreads widen.** Liquidity providers pull their quotes, so the spread can grow to several times normal. - **Price spikes both ways** while the market works out what the number means. - **Stops fill worse.** A stop closes at the next available price, which can be well past your level. That difference is **slippage**. A good setup can be **stopped out by the spike**, then go exactly where you expected. News spike right idea, stopped out anyway [Replay in the app](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Daround-a-release%23around-a-release) Illustration of a common pattern on a 5 minute chart. **Not every release spikes both ways**, and the second move is not always the one you expected. DT Terminal Charts XAUUSD · M5 An NFP morning on five minute candles. The 08:30 candle drops through the stop on the biggest volume bar of the morning, and within the hour price is back above the entry. The backtester can show the release on the chart as you replay it. **A stop loss is not a guaranteed price.** Around news it can **fill late**, for a bigger loss than you planned. **Go deeper** A short closes at the ask, which sits above the bid candles on an MT5 chart. So **a wider spread alone can reach a short's stop** without the chart seeming to touch it. The chart below the sketch is the same morning on five minute candles: the size of the release candle, and the volume behind it. When a good setup is stopped out by the spike and then goes where you expected, the idea was right. The timing put the stop inside the release's noise. Chapter 3 of 6 ## The releases that matter Hundreds of figures come out every week. A handful move the market reliably. Calendars rate each release **high**, **medium** or **low** impact. | Event | When | Moves | Impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) | Usually the first Friday of the month, 08:30 New York | Every USD pair, gold and US indices | High | | US CPI (inflation) | Monthly, usually mid-month, 08:30 New York | Every USD pair, gold and US indices | High | | FOMC rate decision | 8 times a year, 14:00 New York, press conference 14:30 | Everything priced in dollars | High | | ECB, BoE and BoJ rate decisions | About 8 times a year each | EUR, GBP and JPY pairs, and their local indices | High | | GDP, retail sales, PMIs | Monthly, or quarterly for GDP | The currency of the country releasing it | Medium | | US weekly jobless claims | Every Thursday, 08:30 New York | USD pairs, usually a smaller move | Medium | | Company earnings | Quarterly, before the US open or after the close | That stock CFD, often with a gap | High | | Crypto-specific news | Unscheduled | Crypto, sometimes all of it at once | Varies | Times are New York time unless stated. Each central bank publishes its meeting dates for the year in advance. Find this week's releases in the Economic Calendar Filter to high impact and your pairs, and find each release above that lands this week. **Clock changes and crypto** Release times are fixed in the releasing country's clock, so they **move on yours when clocks change**. For a few weeks each spring and autumn the gap between New York and Europe is an hour shorter than usual. **Crypto has no calendar of its own.** Its biggest moves often come from unscheduled news such as an exchange outage, a hack or a regulator's announcement, while it still reacts to the big US releases. Chapter 4 of 6 ## A routine before every session 1. **Open an economic calendar before you trade**, filtered to high impact, your instruments and your timezone. 2. **Mark a no-new-trades window:** 15 minutes either side of a high-impact release on anything you trade. 3. **Decide what to do with each exposed open trade** before the release, while calm. 4. **Remember what else moves.** USD news moves gold and the US indices too. No new trades 15 minutes either side A common rule while you learn. A release with a press conference has two times, so the window runs from **15 minutes before the first** to **15 minutes after the last**. Interactive tool ### News exposure check This interactive tool runs in the app, with your own numbers. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Dnews-routine%23news-routine) Free account **Check the calendar before you check the chart.** Most news losses are **trades opened minutes before a release** nobody looked up. Make the window a rule Add the 15 minute window to Trading Rules, marked critical, so every break is counted. **Go deeper** **Set a reminder** for the releases that matter to you, so you hear about them even with no chart open. The window is a common rule while you learn. USD news moves gold and the US indices, not only the pairs with USD in their name. When you write up a day in the journal and one of your trades broke the rule, name it there, and the misses are counted instead of forgotten. Chapter 5 of 6 ## Two releases, worked through Illustrations with realistic prices, not real trades. Contract sizes and spreads vary by broker. Worked example ### Example 01: NFP day on XAUUSD The worked example, with every number walked through, is in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Dworked-examples%23worked-examples) Free account **The full working** From 08:00 gold trades quietly between 4,006.00 and 4,012.00. The trader buys on 0.10 lots. On most brokers one lot of XAUUSD is 100 ounces, so each 1.00 move is worth $10.00 at this size. Planned risk: 6.00 × $10.00 = $60.00. The first release candle drops to 3,996.40, 7.60 below the stop. Actual loss: 4,010.00 minus 4,001.20 = 8.80. By 09:15 gold is at 4,031.00. Check your own platform's symbol specification for contract size. **A second release: CPI on NAS100** Worked example ### Example 02: A CPI print on NAS100 The worked example, with every number walked through, is in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Dworked-examples%23worked-examples) Free account Chapter 6 of 6 ## A rate decision is two releases A rate decision with a press conference is **two releases**. The no-trade window runs until 15 minutes **after the press conference starts**. Worked example ### Example 03: An FOMC press conference reverses the first move The worked example, with every number walked through, is in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Drate-decisions%23rate-decisions) Free account **The full working** EURUSD is at 1.16500 before the statement. Rates are held as expected. The dollar falls and EURUSD reaches 1.16900 by 14:10. After the press conference the dollar recovers, and by 15:00 EURUSD is at 1.16250, 65 pips off the high. The trader waited 15 minutes after the statement and bought at 1.16850, with a 25 pip stop on 0.20 lots ($2.00 a pip, since one lot is $10 a pip). The stop filled at 1.16570, 3 pips of slippage: 28 pips × $2.00 = $56.00. Fifteen minutes after 14:00 is **not fifteen minutes after the last release**. Quick review ## Check yourself Quick review · 0 of 0 Quiz ### Check yourself: 1 question Answer each question and see why it is right, in the app. [Continue in the app, free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fkey-news-events%3Fsection%3Dcheck%23check) Free account [All lessons in The DT Intensive](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/courses/dt-intensive) [Previous](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/market-sessions) ## Market sessions Day 05 · 9 min read [Next in Learn to trade](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/placing-your-first-trade) ## Placing your first trade Day 07 · 8 min read ## Try it on your own account Connect a broker and DT Terminal verifies every trade against it. Free to start. [Start free](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&from=academy&entry=closing_card&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy) [Back to DT Academy](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy) DT Academy is education, not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Trading carries a high risk of losing money, and past results, examples and backtests do not guarantee future results. [Risk disclosure](https://www.thedtterminal.com/risk-disclosure) --- Risk disclosure: Futures, forex and options trading contains substantial risk and is not for every investor. An investor could potentially lose all or more than the initial investment. Risk capital is money that can be lost without jeopardizing one's financial security or lifestyle. Only risk capital should be used for trading and only those with sufficient risk capital should consider trading. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. [Read the full risk disclosure](https://www.thedtterminal.com/legal/risk-disclosure). This is the Markdown version of https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/key-news-events. 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